If You Book Them, They Will Come:: 6 event marketing tips

As the spirit of Jim Morrison says in Wayne’s World 2, “If you book them, they will come.” If it was as simple as that, no event would need marketing. But as we all know, it’s not that easy, and events need some promotional juice to pump them up.

Events are supposed to be fun, right? Well, so should the marketing behind it. Make your event and the marketing efforts behind it impactful. Make it memorable. To get you on your merry way, “Party on, Wayne” and keep in mind these Cs when planning your event.

• Comprehensive:: Your marketing plan should include strategies for pre-event promotion, event specifics and post-event follow up. Just because the event is over doesn’t mean the marketing is as well. Capitalize on the successes of the event to showcase and highlight what customers won’t want to miss the next time.
• Creative with Content:: Leverage testimonials from past participants, product users or keynote speakers. If you’re promoting a product or event, invite media contacts to get a sneak peek in advance or experience first-hand. Having a charitable golf outing to raise funds for youth baseball programs? Why not combine the two to create a video promo. Gather some footage of ballplayers catching golf balls hit from home plate. Think outside the box.
• Concise and Consistent:: Develop a key message that can be easily followed. Use the COPE strategy. Create Once, Publish Everywhere. Keep your message consistent across all marketing channels. Have it ready and tailor your message to best fit the audience.
• Constant and Connected:: Out of sight, out of mind? Not today. Use multi-channel marketing to leverage all your assets and utilize all resources available to maintain your message in the market. Don’t fall into the “wizard behind the curtain making things happen” trap. Stay proactive.
• Committed:: Stay true to the purpose of the event, don’t overlook the objectives. Is this a sales opportunity? Fundraiser? Lead generation? Branding, awareness, education? This is a great opportunity to engage your customers, prospects, donors and supporters.

And finally...

• Confident:: Stick to your strengths. Stay on top of your game. Know that not everything will go as planned, which is OK because something will usually go wrong at some point. So analyze, be adaptive and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Be prepared with a Plan B. Sometimes Plan B turns out better than Plan A.

About the author::

Steve Frohwerk, a marketing account manager at thunder::tech, is a lifelong resident of Northeast Ohio and super fan of all things Cleveland. Outside of work he loves spending time outdoors with his wife and two boys. He’ll also go mano-a-mano with anyone claiming to be an expert in Saved By The Bell trivia.