Ouch! Wasting Your Money on Something That You’ve Already Paid For ...
One of the most expensive event advertising mistake is paying to reacquire previous customers. Over the last 20+ years, I’ve seen countless events waste millions of dollars to reengage previous customers.
A few years ago, I helped one client discover information on over 14,000 former customers hiding in a neglected database file. These customers were the result of an initial advertising expenditure of $100,000+ that took place over three years. On average, those 14,000 “lost” customers purchased about $30 per transaction.
Over the years, the client spent tens of thousands of dollars on “mass” advertising (television, print, radio, billboards, etc.) just to reacquire that same customer base. In other words: "Attracting new customers will cost your company 5 times more than keeping an existing customer." Source: Forbes / Lee Resource, Inc.
Following this discovery, the client is now leveraging their entire customer database to develop marketing campaigns that are laser-targeted at proven buyers. This sort of responsible client database management exponentially increases the effectiveness of each dollar that’s spent on advertising.
Furthermore, conservative estimates for the above client show that they have the potential to gain up to $400,000 of revenue at a $1-$2 re-engagement cost. The question is, “Would you pay $14,000 to $28,000 to generate up to $400,000 of event revenue?” Remember, you’ll be marketing and advertising to previous event attendees, proven ticket buyers for your event ... who already know, like, and trust you!
In short, it will be much easier to sell tickets to them than to acquire a new customer base.
What's up with the towel dispenser photo?
It's from a local area Wegmans. It's a great example of simple (yet effective) "Call-To-Action" with a little humor mixed in.
Your Profit Action:
Here's the biggest takeaway from the above suggestion and case study. Focus on building a high-quality customer database that can be used to leverage customer profiles with targeted marketing campaigns. With online ticketing services available to you, this has never been easier!
Additional Event Marketing and Advertising Resources:
- David Ogilvy's "Secret Weapon" for Advertising Success
- Simple Event Advertising Tracking with Google Analytics
- Measuring Advertising Effectiveness
- An Important Event Web Site Statistic for Promoters and Event Planners
- Did You Buy a Snickers Bar Yet?
- Hold Your Event Marketing Accountable!
- Web User Traffic Trends to Your Event Web Site
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