You must control "X" or else others will
If you've been reading my emails for the last few months, you've seen the emphasis I place on having a dedicated event web site. One of the counterpoints I hear regarding my dedicated site recommendation, even from clients: "why not social media? Everyone's doing it, and it's so easy!"
With the masses focusing on "social media marketing," the importance of a dedicated (and smartly designed) event website has never been so significant. Plus, most event organizers (not all) are making a total mess of their social media efforts.
How so? I'll put it bluntly. I continuously hear event organizers say, "look at all the stuff we're doing, on social media" (page likes, posts, shares, comments, etc.) with little to no ticket sales to show for it!
More importantly, there is one critical factor to your own website that crushes anything you can do on social media. Would you like to guess what it is?
Simply put, a dedicated event website puts you in control of nearly all your user DATA! You do not have that level of data control with any social media presence. If you read the social media company's terms of service, it's evident who owns user data, and it's not you!
Furthermore, all those people who like your page on "Facebox" or follow you on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. ... go try and download your follower's information. It's a no go! Because that data is controlled by the social media companies, not you.
You must control "your data" or else others will. Managing your data is also crucial for long term event success.
Where can one start?
Install Google Analytics (event for its downsides) and start selling all your tickets online.
Google Analytics allows you to see insights on what people are doing on your website. Your customer data from ticket sales helps you build a proprietary customer database for future event marketing.
Yes, the suggestions above barely get you started. But it's more than most event organizers have in their possession. You can beat the competition by merely doing the essential things they refuse to do!
Want to get more info on designing a money making event website? Check out the articles below: