Event Marketing Tips: 3 Must Have Tactics

At Sage Marketing Group we not only help market and promote our clients’ events, but we previously developed and owned our own national events. Over the course of this work we identified three must-have event marketing tactics for every event that can be utilized in your inbound marketing efforts.

Gmail is More Than Just Email

The first item is relatively new. It’s the ability to target an individual’s email inbox with Gmail Ads. If you are not familiar with Gmail Ads, the idea is pretty straightforward. Gmail allows a promotional area at the top of users inboxes where an interactive ad may be placed. The effectiveness isn’t targeting the user by traditional demographics, but to target the user’s conversations or emails. While it might seem unsettling it is actually positioned in a manner that is not disruptive and privacy remains intact.

You can set up keyword searches just like you would for a regular Google Ads campaign. So, let’s say you produce a wine festival in San Diego. First, you can geo-target the area(s), so you might focus on a 5-10 mile radius around your event. Next, you can target by keywords in the user’s inbox. Think words associated with wine and wine drinking. Or, you can even target websites and URLs that end up in their inbox like other wine events, festivals, or wine club subscriptions. And, like Google Ads, it is all set up on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis.

Automate

Next, you must have an automation strategy in place for each point of connection with your users. Once you have the relationship with the user, there should be an automated process to respond in real-time to their actions. You can set up automation based on if the user opens, reads, or clicks-through an email. Automation can also be used if they forward the email or if they save the email. And, obviously, if they buy tickets to your event, another drip campaign can be initiated. Each step can be different. For someone that purchased tickets, you may want to upsell them into a more pricey ticket. Or, you may want to nurture them for future events.

If they forwarded the email, you could have an incentive set up for couples or groups based on the assumption they were sharing with someone to attend. If they save the email, you can do an event marketing drip campaign that encourages purchase before X date to try and move that saved email to a purchase. Then, once that level of automation is set up, you can continue to set up varying levels of automated responses, all driving your inbound marketing efforts forward.

Location, Location, Location

Finally, no event marketing campaign should be set up without geo-targeting attendees. As touched upon in the San Diego wine festival example above, you certainly want people from all over the country flying into your festival. However, what will really help fuel ticket sales and event revenues is focusing on those who can attend your event with relative ease and little planning.

Geo-targeting allows events to use social media, search and display advertising, YouTube ads, emails, and the like to make sure the message is getting delivered to an audience that can effortlessly attend your event. Sure, the local Convention and Visitors Bureau might want you putting heads in beds, but we understand from an event standpoint you need to put revenues in your business coffers.

These three event marketing tactics will help you get the word out about your event to the right people at the right time. If you need more ideas about event marketing or need help with the execution, give us a shout. We’d love to chat with you.