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Peter Parker beats back the pandemic

Over the weekend, Disney/Marvel's Spider-Man: No Way Home raked in over one billion USD worldwide. All in the middle of a significant uptick in COVID cases from around the globe.

Given the circumstances, one might think, what about COVID restrictions, vaccines, and lockdowns?

On its face, Spidey's success doesn't seem possible!

Source: https://www.avclub.com/box-office-experts-try-to-solve-the-mystery-of-why-spid-1848249964

To be clear, if people want to see a movie in these times, that's a personal choice. To that point, there was an expectation that all theater moviegoers wear a mask here in Rochester, New York.

Heck, we had it easy!

In other parts of the world, you need to provide proof of vaccination just to enter the movie theater. Of course, that's in addition to wearing a mask.

Remember, movies are very similar to events. Like events, movies get a group of people to spend their hard-earned money to be entertained, educated, or to help others.

Yet, despite COVID ...

Spider-Man was an enormous financial success. That's because Disney/Marvel manufactured a massive amount of demand for a high-quality "event."

The second essential component is that Spider-Man has been on the silver screen for about 20 years. Thus, creating demand is easier when you have a known event that people want to attend.

Much like Disney, you can stack the deck in your favor.

Be sure to click on the source link above for a peak into No Way Home's early success. After you click on the link, replace any movie references with the word "event." There are at least a few great knowledge nuggets for you to take away.

P.S. - In case you're wondering, Spider-Man: No Way Home was an excellent movie and worth a watch. The movie an interesting take on personal choices and consequences.

Want to get more info on promoting your event? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 12:53 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

The Ultimate Event Advertising Solution

If you've been receiving my emails for a while, you'll probably remember the following story.

Today, I'm going to suggest something radical based on the busted billboard story.

So, here's the short version ...

About six years ago, a client invested almost 30,000 USD in billboard advertising in one of the largest metropolitan areas in North America.

After the client hired me, I asked a straightforward question about their billboard investment during an advertising audit:

"How many dollars of revenue did your billboard investment generate for you?"

The client reluctantly acknowledged that they did not know.

After completing the client's advertising audit, I recommended not renewing their billboard contract because no data supported that ad buy. Not even a notable uptick in Google Analytics!

Without the billboards, the client increased their year-over-year revenue by approximately 30% and kept 30,000 USD in their bank account.

Allow me to take the story above one step further. Though overly simplistic, I also believe it to be tremendously self-evident.

----

The simplest way to determine the effectiveness of any advertising is by not engaging in that activity and noting what happens!

----

With the above said, I would strongly recommend taking a measured approach to eliminate any advertising or marketing efforts.

Make sure you leverage the classic direct-response process of changing only one element at a time. You might have to group multiple efforts into a single channel in some instances.

e.g. Pull back on all your social media efforts and take note of what happens. You probably won't be able to use a single post to make a sound assessment.

Additionally, the above recommendation is a 40,000-foot suggestion. Depending on the complexity of your marketing efforts, there could be a little bit of work involved.

If you have a similar example where you eliminated a marketing or advertising buy with positive financial results, I'm all eyes!

Want to get more event promotion advice? Check out the articles below:

 

Posted at 17:43 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

Ticketmaster: Much Maligned & Possibly Misunderstood

Have you ever mentioned Ticketmaster around an event organizer?

To date, I cannot think of a single instance where someone had anything positive to say about Ticketmaster. Yet, ironically enough, for all the hate, I believe that Ticketmaster is the biggest ticketing company in the world.

Years ago, my friend Doug Doebler shared the following interview with Fred Rosen, who originally founded and served as President of Ticketmaster.

In the interview link below, Fred Rosen directly addresses the ticket fees and all the nitty-gritty details most people have never heard. And it’s not what most people think!

Source: ArtistsHouseMusic

Remember, after you click the link, you can speed up the clip by selecting the “Cog/Gear” on a desktop computer or three dots on mobile. With those menus, look for the “playback” speed option. I recommend 1.5 to 1.75X.

When you get a chance to check out the video, mash the reply button and let me know what you think. After watching the interview, did your option of Ticketmaster change?

Want to get more event ticketing advice? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 18:01 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Are all your event announcement ducks in a row?

Here's a timely combination of a few previous rants ...

Last week, a headlining act announced their 2023 performance dates for a well-known local event. After the announcement, local news outlets featured the upcoming event on television and online.

Overall, there was some decent media coverage. All at zero advertising cost!

Unfortunately, it was also a missed opportunity.

For some unknown reason, the local event organizers didn't have their "official" website available. When you tried to access the event website, you are met with a strange hosting company message and zero information about the event.

Almost a week later, the event website is still unavailable.

"But wait, there's more!"

One of the local news outlets linked an online story to the headlining performer's website, "For more information, click here." After clicking the link, the performer's website has no reference to the local event. It's like a double dead end.

Though it seems overly simplistic, you probably know where I'm going with this ...

At a minimum, make sure all your marketing assets, especially your event website, is ready to go before any major announcements.

In 2009, a local event client had all their ducks in a row and generated hundreds of new leads, in one week, for their event. All the collected leads were put through a dedicated marketing process and converted into event attendees. Zero ad dollars were spent.

What seems trivial can have a colossal impact on your event.

Don't let highly qualified traffic go to waste!

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

Posted at 13:58 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Systematizing a Little Healthy Ticketing Paranoia

Multiple clients found themselves refunding significant amounts of ticket revenue this year. Ultimately, it came down to an issue with selling tickets at higher pricing than the pricing schedule.

Thus, today's takeaway is about as straightforward as it gets.

Do you have a simple system in place to check your online ticket buying process?

If not, consider setting up a routine of clicking on and checking the “buy ticket” buttons for your event regularly. You might even want to include a simple checklist item or post-it note on your monitor.

After you click on the button, is the ticket price correct?

Do you click through and validate the entire check-out process?

The simple advice above is essential if you're involved in sophisticated marketing and advertising campaigns. Simple and small ticketing mistakes can add up quickly. For example, in 2021, over 40,000 USD of event ticket revenue had to be refunded due to pricing mistakes.

Last but not least, if you ever get called out on a pricing discrepancy, act immediately and issue the appropriate refund.

One overcharged person on social media can be problematic; a few angry people can turn into a public relations nightmare.

Remember - when you're busy playing damage control and customer service, you can't focus on selling tickets to your event!

To the client's credit above, they automatically issued refunds to buyers. However, in some instances, buyers didn't even realize that they were overcharged.

Checking buy buttons is just one example where what many consider trivial can become costly to your event. A little healthy paranoia and a few validating clicks can go a long way.

Want to get more event ticket strategies? Check out the links below:

Posted at 17:15 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Behind the Black Friday / Cyber Monday Scenes

Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Both days are full of discounts, occasional poor consumer behaviour, and seemingly "once in a lifetime" deals. In total, it's a massive day for online and retail revenue generation.

Retailers offer consumers something to buy with a discount, value-added proposition, or other unique combination to incentivize a person to buy immediately. You must buy on Black Friday, or else ... wait until Cyber Monday. After that, some other arbitrary sales day that is sure to follow.

Ok, Eugene. That's very nice. But what does Black Friday or Cyber Monday have to do with my event?

When you peel down through all the layers of advertising and marketing madness, you're left with a few essential selling components. One of the biggest drivers of Black Friday sales is an offer. And that's the dirty little secret ... an irresistible offer.

My question to you is do you have a surefire offer that ticket sales like crazy for your event?

The above question is one of my favorite questions to ask of event organizers. And most event organizers don't have an answer. A usual response goes something like, "we've tried a bunch of different things and nothing seems to work." As a result, a mountain of potential ticket sales are left on the table.

To maximize your advance ticket sales, you need to have your own irresistible ticket offer.

Over the last 11 years, clients have used one ridiculously simple offer. The offer used by clients was directly borrowed from the dating industry. That modified dating industry offer has generated millions of dollars in advance ticket sales and has an unbelievable track record of success.

Some outdoor event clients now enjoy the confidence of selling 89% of their tickets, before a single person walks into their event. With two days of rain in the forecast.

If you don't have a super-duper ticket sales offer, use the marketing lessons of Black Friday as a template. Look at what's being offered, the results (using Google News), and insights you can integrate to create your own irresistible offer.

Additional Ideas for Marketing Your Event:

Posted at 15:33 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

"If you can't track it, don't do it!"

Here's a friendly reminder as we approach the year's end.

If you haven't already, please make sure to take some time to put all your advertising and marketing under the microscope. Take a look back at advertising and marketing that worked and what failed to meet your expectations.

If you're unsure of the effectiveness of your advertising efforts, here's an overly simple rule to follow.

"If you can't track it, don't do it!"

It applies to all advertising, marketing, and the vendors who support those activities. Some would argue the advice is too simple. And they might be correct.

Thus far, every client that has implemented the simple rule above has gone on to reduce their advertising costs and increase ticket revenues.

In 2016, one client eliminated at 27,000 USD advertising buy. That client was asked a straightforward question, "how many tickets sales did your 27,000 dollar investment produce?"

Their answer, "we don't know." (And to be fair, I'm positive some ticket sales were generated as a result of spending $27K.) So my recommendation, "if you don't know, then stop doing that!" The client eliminated the $27K advertising buy and increased their online ticket sales past one million dollars. A nearly 40% increase in ticket sales!

There is no doubt that there will eventually be an exception to the recommendation above. That mean's it's effectiveness will be reduced from 100% down to 90-95%. And that's fine!

Want to get more advice on tracking your event advertising and marketing? Check out the links below:

Posted at 10:22 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

... your event website in the meantime?

After reviewing dozens of event websites for an upcoming project, the following deficiency kept creeping up.

Depending on the event, the amount of time between announcing your event and your event occurring can vary significantly. Anywhere from a couple of years to a few months. If you have a recurring event, what follows is vital to consider.

My question to you is, "what are you doing with your event website in the meantime?"

Especially in the critical time after you announce your event and before tickets go on sale.

At a minimum, most event organizers update their event website with the dates of their next event. Yet there is one essential element that is missing. That element is the collecting of warm ticket leads. Not a single website I reviewed had any form of lead generation.

A closer look at Google Analytics will clearly show you that most people (60-70%) of people only visit your website once. Additional of all the people visiting your website, 40-50% spend less than ten seconds on your websites. If you haven't already, please take a look at your own website engagement metrics. Chances are your jaw will hit the ground.

Because of the above, it's paramount you have an effective method to collect leads on your event website, 24/7/365 even while you sleep.

If you're not collecting leads for your next event, you're missing out on significant amounts of advance ticket revenue! This particular topic was featured in my first issue of the Event Profit Report and has been worth millions of dollars to clients.

You can start with something as simple as asking for an email.

Here are some short articles on getting the most from your event website:

Posted at 12:52 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Get rid of all those details in your event promotions

Back in the day, I heard an advertisement for a local drive-in event. The piece of advertising was a 30-second radio spot. The radio ad emphasizes the importance of keeping your marketing message relevant, short, and easy to remember.

One of the biggest mistakes event organizers and promoters make is trying to deliver their target audience too much information all at once.

Event organizers logically think, "How much information can I get into this one ad?" The result is that so much information goes into a piece of advertising that people get overwhelmed.

Too much information can be as bad as too little advertising. Are event sponsors, dates, times, and headlining performers important? Absolutely! Yet, if people aren't at least interested in finding out more information about your event, they're unlikely to attend.

If your target audience is unlikely to attend your event, all the superfluous information such as sponsors, dates, times, and your main attraction, becomes irrelevant.

I'm a firm believer that if event organizers focused more on hitting people's emotional hot buttons upfront, they would get more people interested in their event.

When creating advertising for your event, regardless of the medium, concentrate on getting people interested in your event first.

Keep your advertising simple, straightforward, and easy to remember. Consider some of the ideas below:

>>> Create an attention-grabbing headline or hook that hits their emotional hot buttons

>>> What are the benefits attendees will enjoy by attending your event?

Use the above ideas in your advertising.

When getting your marketing message across, focus on keeping things as simple and straightforward as possible. I can't recall who came up with the axiom, but you need to "get out of your ego and into their ego." In short, give the people what they want, not what you think they want.

Include a simple call to action, send them to your web site that has more information about the event. If you can get people to take a simple action, like visiting your web site, you'll have a greater chance of selling them on your event and hooking all the details.

Want to get more event promotion and marketing tips? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 12:13 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

"It's right there in front of them!"

Back in the early 2000s, I spent a significant amount of time in web usability consulting. What the heck's that?!?! The process involved live testing of how users interact with a website. Clients included everyone from small business owners and publicly traded corporations to the United States Air Force. The overall experience was a huge eye-opener.

After you get past the emotional reactions and harsh testing comments, the feedback provided by users was invaluable. User feedback helped clients identify severe flaws in the design of their website. Including, serious marketing issues.

One of the most common points of confusion during testing was the inability of users to find information on a given website. To which designers and business owners would angrily respond with, "what are they talking about? It's right there in front of them!"

Right there in front of them ... That's a critical point. Because it illustrates how what you see and what your website users see can be completely different.

Having reviewed hundreds, possibly over a thousand event websites, I can tell you with absolute conviction that most event organizers are not connecting with users. If users don't connect or understand your website, how are you suppose to compel them to attend your event?

Here's a little suggestion. You need not be a web usability expert to take advantage.

If you really want to improve your event website, do a little live website testing. Get people (not family, coworkers, or friends) to give you honest feedback on your event website. Put a person from your event's target market in from of a computer or mobile device, and get them to go through your website.

Ask the person to talk through the process out loud. That's key, they have to verbalize what they're seeing and thinking.

Is this suggestion going to take a little work? Yes. But the improvements you can make to your event website will result in more people attending your event. I promise you, you'll be amazed by the actionable feedback you receive!

Want to get more info on improving your event website? Check out the articles below:

 

Posted at 19:39 in Event Promotion and Marketing, Web Usability and Testing |

Two-step remedy for online angries ...

Hopefully, all the emails about your event are positive. But there are always a few people that are a little harsh and even sometimes downright offensive in their feedback.

As you know, a small number of people complain "just because." In certain instances, you’ll received event feedback from some very angry people. You are best served by trying to address every piece of feedback even from unreasonable people.

Here are two quick tips for delivering excellent customer service online despite a potential deluge of negativity:

#1 Step back

It's important to try not to take negative feedback about your event personally. When you organize an event, you're emotionally invested in that event. So, it is always personal to you. But see if you can objectively take their criticism.

The initial response to a harsh email might be to respond with an equal tone. It is just not worth it. Make sure you don't react defensively. Give yourself time to cool down. Then, do the opposite of what most people would do ... use "The Magic Phrase."

#2 "The Magic Phrase"

Use the following phrase to diffuse any harsh feedback about your event. I use this all the time with clients for email complaints.

It works amazingly well:

"Dear (first name): Thank you for your email." Then continue your email in an understanding and appreciative tone. Make sure to acknowledge the reason they are writing to you in your reply. Someone who just wrote you a very harsh email is probably not expecting a thank you response.

I use the "thank you" email all the time to diffuse big customer service issues. Its track-record for turning frowns upside down is impressive, to say the least!

It's amazing how that simple "thank you" approach calms people down. Event patrons – who have submitted a harsh critique – have written back apologizing for their initial email after getting the thank you email.

Make sure you make it about them through positive acknowledgment. Give it a whirl and let me know how it works.

Want to get more info on event customer service? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 07:18 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Driving Traffic to Your Event Website

The question: "How do I drive more traffic to my event website?"

Instead of giving you a specific tactic or advertising/marketing channel let me pass along a fundamental. This suggestion is universal across every marketing medium (online or traditional). Even better. It works with all humans on planet Earth, because it's based on human psychology.

In fact, it is something so simple, it's easy to dismiss and forget ...

What is it?

It is a compelling reason why!

A reason someone should visit your website, right now. That means if a person from your target market is driving somewhere, they feel the need to safely pull over and visit your site, immediately!

At a fundamental level, humans are driven by two powerful emotions, fear or greed. That said, can you ethically evoke fear or greed in all your advertising and marketing efforts? (Emphasis on ethically). For events, the emotional drivers of fear or greed could be embodied in a well thought out offer.

One quintessential point on any offer. Just because you think something is noteworthy, doesn't mean your audience feels the same way.

Build the incentive to visit your website around their ego, not yours!

If you're at a loss regarding a significant "reason why," here's a simple suggestion. Include the following phrase in every marketing/PR/and advertising piece you produce: "For more information, visit YOURWEBSITE.com"

That's it!?!? Yes!

And you'd be amazed how often that gets missed in advertising and marketing campaigns. Listing your website is not enough. Remember, tell them what they need to do right now, in no uncertain terms. Implementing the above suggestions is guaranteed to drive more traffic to your website!

Want to get more event promotion advice? Check out the articles below:

 

Posted at 20:50 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

Spider-Man & the use of Jedi mind tricks

Today, I'm going to rant a little on the importance of delivering an extraordinary experience at your event.

There seems to be a gap between advertising promises and attendee expectations when it comes to event marketing. The result is event attendees who open their wallets, spend their hard-earned money, and leave an event disappointed.

Yes, I'm a big proponent of using hype and persuasion (ethically) in your event's marketing. But you can't over promise and under deliver.

Before you send out your next advertising or marketing campaign, do an objective review of your event marketing.

Is your event marketing over-promising on the experience your event can deliver?

If you're holding an event during a global pandemic, what are you doing to reassure your event attendees of their safety and expectations?

Spend some time thinking through the previous questions. Look at your advertising and event from an attendee's perspective.

If someone were to read your advertising and attend your event – are you going to be able to deliver on all your advertising promises?

If not, or even maybe not, take those points out of your advertising. I've seen first hand the problems associated with promising too much in event advertising. It isn't pretty and is quickly followed by a slew of refund requests.

Another avenue event promoters go down is using psychological persuasion in their event marketing.
Think advance Jedi persuasion skills. Be sure to check out Dr. Robert Cialdini's book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion."

In the book, Dr. Cialdini outlines his six "Weapons of Influence." One of Cialdini's weapons of influence is scarcity.

Using scarcity is a surefire way to get people to buy event tickets in advance. As tickets are sold, you update the number of remaining tickets on your website. As the available ticket supply counts down, ticket demand goes up.

Unfortunately, some event organizers see fit to abuse scarcity.

In 2009, a local beer festival sold out all their VIP in a flash. To generate even more revenue, the event organizer opened a new block of VIP tickets. Word got out about "previously SOLD OUT tickets" being on sale again. That aggravated lot of people who already purchased tickets.

It is a bad idea to tell people tickets are sold out and then put them back on sale again. Next time, event attendees are going to be skeptical about buying tickets.

People are going to think, "they say tickets are going to sell out, but they'll put more on sale – just like last time!"

Like Peter Parker's Uncle Ben said "With great power there must also come — great responsibility!" (Amazing Fantasy (1962) #15, a.k.a Spider-Man's introduction)

The value your event delivers to attendees must far exceed the hype used in your event marketing. This mindset is critical if you have a recurring event.

People are going to come back to an event if they feel scammed or unsafe. When you boil it down, it's pretty simple. Don't claim something in your advertising or marketing that your event can't deliver.

Want to get more event experience advice? Check out the links below:

 

Posted at 20:47 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Be sure to double-check that big ad buy

During an advertising project involving a client, we discussed setting up UTM tracking links for all the client's online advertising efforts. The client had mentioned that they had a series of online advertising buys that were scheduled to start, a week prior.

A quick look in Google Analytics showed that the scheduled advertising buys were not sending traffic to their website. The reasons for no referral-based traffic could be many. The simplest explanation is that the advertising isn't running.

In the end, I encouraged the client to call their advertising rep and let them know, "we do not see any traffic from you in Google Analytics. Can you please verify that our online ads are running?"

The wording above gives the advertising people a gentle nudge and lets them know you're keeping an eye on things. You can call it a diplomatic and data-driven approach.

More often than not, clients have paid for online advertising that simply wasn't running. It wasn't out of malice or deception, just that someone dropped the ball. That said, you must keep a watchful eye on your online advertising.

At the end of the day, it's your money. As my friend Phil Pacific is fond of saying, "inspect what you expect!" A simple check of Google Analytics is all it takes.

Want to get more info on tracking the effectiveness of your event promotions? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 11:37 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

Before spending on the Facebox, do this ...

Here's a little excerpt from page 88 of my Facebook book ...

One of the first things we do with any new client is a marketing and advertising audit. Almost every audit proves that events aren't tracking their advertising spend to ticket sales even at the most basic level.

Here comes some compassionately brutal advice. If you're not willing to properly setup and track your Facebook advertising spend to a ticket transaction, stop using Facebook. You can't break through all the Facebook noise if you don't pay to advertise.

But paying to play (paid advertising) isn't enough. By failing to track, you're subjecting you and your event team to a plethora of unqualified opinions about what is working without the hard data to back it up.

So, it's agreed that you're going to track all your efforts on Facebook, yes? Great! Because you'll gain a massive competitive advantage and profits galore when you spend money advertising on Facebook while meticulously tracking your results.

Before we get into tracking specifics, it is important to understand some basic marketing math. What is that? It involves a few key digital media metrics and their crazy acronyms. To be successful with your social media marketing strategies, you need to have a basic working knowledge of these metrics.

With traditional media, it was very difficult to quantify the usefulness of advertisements. The beauty of digital media is that tracking effectiveness has never been easier. Facebook has a straightforward way to setup and automate your ad tracking.

Here's a simple place to start, Customer Acquisition Cost (at least the basic version of CAC).

Let's say you spend 20,000 USD cash on advertising and marketing to promote your event. You know that 1,000 people attended your event. Sorry, you can't use the grossly exaggerated attendance numbers people love to tout to calculate acquisition cost.

Remember, bad data equals bad marketing intelligence. To get your customer acquisition cost, divide $20,000 in ad spend by 1,000 paid customers. The result is $20, so your "Customer Acquisition Cost" is $20.

Your customer acquisition cost determines what you can afford to spend on advertising and marketing. If you don't spend more than $20 per person to acquire a customer, you should always stay in the black.

Another advantage of digital media is that you can turn it on and off in a matter of minutes. Hence, if an ad is not working on Facebook, you simply turn it off. The same isn't possible with television, radio, or billboard ads.

This is a very basic measuring stick when you look at it from the top down with a bird's eye view. As we come down to a ground level view, customer acquisition cost becomes very important for digital media. It becomes microscopic at the social media level. Facebook allows you to track the customer acquisition cost to a single post or advertisement.

That is where Facebook provides you with a huge advantage and it's tracking at the microscopic level.

Track & profit!

You Must Play the Game Differently
If you want to take advantage of social media, you have to play the game differently. What follows are the most common social media marketing mistakes to avoid and simple corrections you can use. The suggestions apply to any social media platform. Click below and dive on in to the 5-Part Social Media Series:

  1. Putting Your Social Media Mindset Ahead of Theirs

  2. Focusing Too Much on Likes & Followers

  3. Trying to Engage on Too Many Social Media Platforms

  4. Avoiding Paid Social Media Advertising

  5. Not Measuring the Results of Your Hard Work

Here are some additional social media resources you can use to market your event:

 

Posted at 14:01 in Event Promotion and Marketing, Social Media Event Marketing |

How to PO an ad sales exec or hook a win

Years ago, I had an interesting potential advertising experience.

At the time, someone tried selling me advertising in a local print publication. As part of the sales pitch, the salesperson gave me several compelling reasons to buy advertising from them.

After they finished their presentation, I asked a straightforward question, which quickly resulted in the salesperson getting upset and a lost deal.

Before sharing the question asked, let's start with a little context ...

No form of traditional advertising can provide you with guaranteed ROI. One of the most challenging tasks is being able to track the ROI of traditional advertising.

You can "key" your ads and track them! Unfortunately, the percentage of "keyed" ads for traditional marketing like radio or print is relatively low. The ultimate responsibility of effective advertising falls on the person purchasing the advertising, a.k.a. you. Help

If an ad doesn't contain critical elements, including a well thought out headline, offer, and call to action, the chances of success are low. It doesn't matter how many impressions a media channel can provide.

You can ask the following question for almost any type of advertising: television, radio, print, billboards, online, etc. Direct the question to the person trying to sell you advertising. It's the question that upset the salesperson from the story above.

Ask them, "can you please give me a few references of companies who advertise (or have advertised) with you selling similar products or services to my own?"

That's it?!?! Yup.

And for such a simple question, it's tremendously powerful. Most people trying to sell you advertising will be caught off guard. The best will happily and promptly oblige your request.

If a company can't provide you with a few promising advertising references, why buy advertising from them?

Want to get more info on tracking the effectiveness of your event promotions? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 23:11 in Event Promotion and Marketing | | Comments (0)

An Event Cancellation Sample Email / Message

During a 2020 Event Cancellation "Survival" Guide webinar, John Haak from EventSprout provided webinar attendees some great advice on dealing with event postponement, cancellation, and ticket refund scenarios.

John has ticketing experience with 2,500+ North American events. These events include the Indianapolis 500, Oshkosh AirVenture, and the Barrett Jackson Classic Car Auctions.

During the training, John provided and expanded on the following template for event organizers.

To have full context and benefit from the template below, you needed to be on the webinar. (If you missed the webinar, become a subscriber and request the link.)

That said, what follows should give event organizers a good idea of the recommended language and tone used if you have to postpone or cancel your event.

Disclaimer: What follows is educational and in NO WAY legal, accounting, or medical advice. If you use any of the following, please consult the proper professionals for your country.

----

Dear FIRSTNAME,

As a valued fan of our (event) we wanted to take a minute to inform you of some options that have been set up for the current situation with the (NAME OF EVENT).

As you have heard, the local health administration has banned any events comprised of more than 250 attendees. Our event certainly exceeds that number.

We are working hard to reboot and reschedule our event for the soonest possible date that we can offer the quality of show that you are used to attending.

We know this schedule change was not in your plans and honestly, it was not in ours either.

Asking thousands of friends to change their plans to join your party is painful for all involved. We have been able to succeed in the past in presenting a fantastic (event, concert, race, etc.) for the past XX years, and we are not going to let this break that record.

To do this, we will need your help.

We would like for you to consider donating your ticket price to the foundation for us to have the ability to plan the replacement event. Once we get everything set, we will send you a special thank you invitation and offer to represent more than your actual ticketed amount in participating in the rebooted show.

We certainly hope that you see the value in this offer, but If you do need a ticket refund, "fair is fair." Please reply to this email with "Refund" in the subject line. We will process a refund to the purchase associated with your email above. That refund will be processed within 24 hours of your request.

Thank you again for your support and stay healthy out there. We look forward to seeing you at our next event!

----

Let me know what you think of the above.

Posted at 11:34 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

A Follow Up on Those Social Icons

"A" writes the following in response to "About all those social media icons"

-------

hi - what if you consider that social media helps with awareness, but actual ticket sales do not reflect a click from a social media link

old school example - you have to advertise for months in magazines before there can be increase in sales attributed to magazine ads
continual subliminal and overt messaging on the subject

in this case the show that you want people to attend.
perhaps people click on the social media for more info
and then later to the website to buy tickets

good thoughts, good health!
A

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Thanks for reply "A!"

Good question on awareness in regards to social, including your "old school" example. The difficulty of "awareness" campaigns is that how do you measure effectiveness without tracking a specific action? Without some variable or valuation, it almost becomes arbitrary and subjective.

Thus, have a measurable call to action / tracking method in every single marketing and advertising piece in the marketplace.

There are tracking options for every medium, e.g. promo codes, unique URL, unique link on a URL, telephone number, etc. Most of the previous methods tracking methods are offered as part of automated services.

In the case of your magazine ad example, use a unique domain name for that specific magazine.

At the end of your magazine ad run, you can create a report and see how much traffic was generated by a unique domain name, promo code, link, telephone number, etc.

You Must Play the Game Differently
If you want to take advantage of social media, you have to play the game differently. What follows are the most common social media marketing mistakes to avoid and simple corrections you can use. The suggestions apply to any social media platform. Click below and dive on in to the 5-Part Social Media Series:

  1. Putting Your Social Media Mindset Ahead of Theirs

  2. Focusing Too Much on Likes & Followers

  3. Trying to Engage on Too Many Social Media Platforms

  4. Avoiding Paid Social Media Advertising

  5. Not Measuring the Results of Your Hard Work

Here are some additional social media resources you can use to market your event:

Posted at 21:46 in Event Promotion and Marketing, Search Engine Marketing / SEO |

It's a death sentence

My friend Dan "Diggler" Proczko is also known as "The Duke of Data!"

Dan gave a presentation to a sold-out room of 75 marketers. During his presentation on campaign building and data strategy, he asked a straightforward question to the audience, "how many of you are using an analytics platform to track your marketing campaigns, like Google Analytics?"

"Come on Eugene, seriously! They're all marketers, of course they have something like Google Analytics installed, right?!?!" Dan was flabbergasted by the response.

In a room of 75 marketers, only 6 people had an analytics platform installed.

Without Google Analytics or a similar service, "you're flying blind!" Just like a pilot flying in clouds, in between mountains, with no instruments. That's a death sentence. And as a pilot, I can tell you firsthand, the last sentence is no exaggeration.

Yet without Analytics or a similar service, you have no idea what's happening on your event website. Including, at the most basic level, if your advertising or marketing is generating any results.

Want to get more info on tracking your event promotions? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 17:07 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

"I want to live vicariously through you!"

Has a friend ever tried to live vicariously through you? (To be fair, it might be a North American thing.)

Being one of the unmarried guys - I find my friends, usually the men, saying, "I want to live vicariously through you!"

It's a bit ironic. My friends are well aware that I what to settle down. But when they settle down (or for whatever reason), people tend to get incredibly bored. Don't get me wrong - There is nothing wrong with marriage and kids. But people still want some excitement in their life.

In the late 2000s, I attended Eben Pagan's GuruMastermind Conversion Summit in Los Angeles. During one of the sessions, Eben talked about how most people live incredibly dull lives.

He illustrated the point with a simple example: People wake up bored, they go to work bored, come home – watch some T.V. and then go to bed bored. The next day the same monotonous process starts all over again.

One could argue that Eben's example is a pretty harsh assessment. Yet the more I think about it, the more he might be right.

When I ask my friends, "why do you want to live vicariously through me?"

They usually respond with "because I've settled down and don't get to have as much fun anymore." You need to realize that most people are bored. If people are looking for a little excitement in their lives, give it to them!

It's never been so easy or inexpensive to capture the attention of your target market. The challenge is cutting through all the advertising noise.

A straightforward way to overcome the usual advertising glut is by injecting a little personality into your event promotions and marketing. Eben recommends being "edgy authentic."

Being "Edgy Authentic" is a great way to capture the attention of someone who might be bored. By being edgy, you cut through all the other pompous corporate-style marketing. Be authentic and genuine when you communicate with your target market. Because your target market will appreciate your candor!

Apathy, ambivalence, and indifference make the challenge of getting people to your event very difficult. The same goes for trying to sell a product or service.

You need to get your target market so excited that it's difficult NOT to buy from you. As Jeffery Gitomer put it "people love to buy, but they hate to be sold."

By applying an appropriate amount of edginess to your event marketing and promotion, you'll stand out from the crowd.

At first, you'll feel a bit uncomfortable. But with time you'll see the benefits of not being like everyone else in marketing. Don't be afraid to stand out! Be personable and interesting.

Here's how the late/great David Ogilvy summed it up:

"Tell the truth, but make the truth fascinating. You know you can't bore people into buying you product, you can only interest them into buying it."

And yes, everything above applies to every event. Think about it this way. When's the last time you spent your hard-earned money to attend an event in an attempt to be bored?

Here are some additional tips from one of the greatest event promoters (P.T. Barnum) of all time:

Posted at 21:30 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

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