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November 2009

Event Marketing: Your Email List - Quality versus Quantity

Event_marketing_email_list It’s slightly aggravating when I hear people bragging about email their email list size. You've probably heard the same from some local advertising or marketing firm. Here in Rochester, NY, we have a local advertising company that tries to impress everyone with their ridiculously large email list. Don’t be fooled by big email lists! The size of an email list is rarely related to your return on investment from that list. In many cases email lists are haphazardly thrown together. Internet marketing dude Frank Kern said it best, “It's not about the size of the list. It's about the quality of the relationship you build with the list.” You should strongly consider Frank's advice, he made over $150,000 in 20 minutes with an email list of less than 800 people.

If you’re using an email list to market your event, focus on building a high quality list that you can engage in meaningful conversion. The relationship you have with your list is huge factor in determining how many people actually buy. It’s also imperative that you vet any partner lists that you might use to market or promote your event. Below are a few ideas you need to consider . . .

Lessons from the Battlefield
My own client projects have helped to drive home the quality versus quantity ideology. Recently, one client sold $61,450 worth of event tickets in 6 just days with a house list of 3,100 people. Their list of 3,100 people was grown from zero, all online, in less than 2 months with organic traffic. Another client who focuses on establishing an online relationship with his list is doing amazing at quickly converting new list prospects into buyers. He’s able to convert over 40% of new subscribers to his list into buying customers in less than 30 days. The previous examples are not meant to brag, but merely to impress what one can accomplish.

  • Ask yourself, “What can I start doing today to have a better relationship with my list?”

Joint Ventures/Cross promoting
If you’re considering a joint venture or cross promotion for your event, check some of the most basic metrics of your partner’s email list. Here are some simple questions you need to ask when marketing your event to another list:

  • How was the list built? (Purchasers, Opt-ins, Co-ops, or What kind of offer)
  • What's the recency and frequency of communication with the list?
  • Where the names and email address collected online or offline?
  • Is the list segmented? (leads versus customers) 
  • Is the list single or double opt-in? (double opt-ins are better)
  • What is the average open rate? (look for a minimum of 20%)
  • What are the click through rate?
  • How often is the list emailed?
  • What are the average subscribe and unsubscribe rates?
  • When an offer is made what are the conversion rates?

There are other important questions you should ask, but most people neglect to find out the basics. If you find out the answers to the above questions, you’ll be well ahead of the pack.

You Need Your Own List!
At the end of the day a high quality house list is the single best list for promoting and marketing your event.  I’ve seen a house email list of 3,100 people completely crush a partner list of 23,000. Both lists had very similar demographics and psychographic profiles. Another client promoted their event using a partner list almost twice the size of their house list. The client’s own house list generated 98% of total revenue. If you haven’t started your list for marketing and promoting your event, start one today! Check out the helpful resources below to get you started.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 10:13 in Event Promotion and Marketing | | Comments (0)

A Simple Formula to Pack Your Event

Over the last few years I've looked long and hard at killer tactics that sell out events. As an event planner or organizer, it's in your best interest to methodically look around your own industry and outside your industry for successful event marketing strategies that you can adopt. A casual look will show you that the simple things usually work better than the complex. Some of my best event marketing strategies (ideas that have made clients hundreds of thousands of dollars) have come from unrelated marketplaces. Through all my observations and experiences I've formulated a very simple formula that any event organizer can use to pack their event. Here is the formula:

 Hype + Massive Value = Monstrous Demand

The formula above might seem overly simplistic, but it works when you put into practice.

Hype
Event_marketing_formulaYes, it's extremely important to hype up your event!  Hype is a strategy right out of P.T. Barnum's playbook. Barnum was a master at using the right amount of hype to pack his events. Unfortunately, most event organizers, planners, and marketers completely screw up how they leverage hype. In most cases events are under hyped. Don't be afraid to be loud and proud trumpeting the benefits of your event! Let people know what's in it for them. This next part is really important . . . if you're going to hype your event, you damn well better make sure you exceed your patron's expectations. Yes, it is possible to over hype, but only if you don't deliver on the promises you make to the consumer in your advertising.

+ Massive Value
Your hype needs to be followed up with massive value. If you hype your event and then fall short of the consumers expectations, your dooming your event. Focus on delivering massive value with your event by exceeding your customer's expectations. You know you've nailed it when most of your customers leave your event saying "That was amazing!" Don't forget that you can also create value for your event before it even begins. Can you think of ways to let people experience your event before they've even attended? For more info on delivering value beforehand, check out "Front Loading Value for Your Next Event." The Internet has made "front loading value" easy and inexpensive. Value is such a powerful factor in your event marketing and promotion that it can create its' own demand. If you do nothing more than focus on providing massive value for your event, it's hard to go wrong.

= Monstrous Demand
Here is formula's payoff . . . When you couple hype for your event with massive value, you create monstrous demand. My favorite example of monstrous demand is the World's Largest Disco in Buffalo New York. In 2009, the "Disco" sold out over three months before the event takes place.  That's 7000+ tickets selling between $50-$150 that nobody can purchase anymore. You know you've hit it when people are lining up to attend your event like a pack of ravenously hungry wolves. Do everything you ethically can to stoke demand. Ridiculously high demand is the key doing really well with advance ticket sales.

Recurring Events
A big key to seeing success with the formula above is having a recurring event. I understand for some people having a recurring event isn't possible. If you aren't going to have a recurring event, it's even more important to deliver value on the front end. If you have a recurring event, make sure you're collecting feedback from attendees. Here is a counter intuitive way to collect feedback, World's Largest Disco style. Give it a shot and let me know how it turns out.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 22:12 in Event Promotion and Marketing | | Comments (0)

Event Planning: The Customer Avatar and Your Event

Event_planning_avatar I’m going to present a great marketing concept from two of my mentors, Eben Pagan and John Carlton.  A few years ago Eben Pagan came up with the concept of a customer Avatar.  An Avatar is the personification or manifestation of your ideal customer.  In the event marketing world your Avatar is the ideal prospect for your event.  You use your customer Avatar to better plan and market your event.

Your Ego = a Surefire Way to Sink Your Event
A cardinal sin committed by many event planners, organizers, and marketers is planning an event around their ego.  When planning your event keep in mind that people attend your event to satiate their wants, needs, and desires. I’ve seen far too many events fail miserably because an event planner or marketer thought they were smarter the people they were trying to serve. You can avoid the “ego” mistake by utilizing a customer Avatar.

Simple Questions to Build Your Event Avatar
Below are some quick questions that will help you in creating your customer Avatar for your event.  The questions below are derived from John Carlton’s Simple Writing System.

  • Who is your ideal customer? (Demographics & Psychographics)
  • What are your customer’s wants, needs, or desires regarding your event?
    (Do they have an irrational fear or desire?)
  • What message can you present to your prospect that drives them toward action?

By answering the questions above you will put yourself into a position to better understand what someone attending your event wants and how best to serve them.

Do a Survey
It has never been so easy to find out what your customer or prospect wants. The Internet gives you the ability to quickly collect information from your target market.  With a few hours of work you can quickly find out critical information about your customer and your event. Minus the details, here is what you can do . . . find online search phrases related to your event, start a PPC campaign, drive traffic to a landing/survey page, collect the data, and then compile the results.  If you have a recurring event, do a follow up survey before you start to plan your next event. 

An Already Done Avatar
If your market or industry has survey data on potential customers be sure to reference it.  You can build a very good Avatar from industry data. Most of the research might have already been done for you.

When you build your event around your customer’s wants, needs, and desires, you can’t go wrong. Having a customer Avatar to reference for your event planning and marketing is a huge step in the right direction.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 22:31 in Event Planning | | Comments (0)