The 6 Steps to Marketing Your Event Correctly

How to avoid that headache that sets in when the event ends.

The morning after the third annual Hemsley Medicare Conference, just about everyone had already left for their home cities. Jenny, the event director, was waiting for her flight to begin boarding, so she decided to get a head start on planning the event team's "post-mortem" meeting next week. There really wasn't much to fix though! She had already heard from about a hundred different people that this was the greatest conference they had ever attended. From the speaker lineup, to the networking sessions, to the interactive VR booth, everything had completely clicked. They already signed two new clients!

Her list started becoming more about what the team could start working on to make the next event just as successful, if not better. They had seen a steady growth in attendance over the last few years, but with this being the third outing and this much positive feedback, there had to be a way to capitalize on their influence, beyond what word of mouth was already doing for them.

Their newsletter had high engagement, event promos could easily be attached for their readers. This has been the best year for their social media channels. If they only posted once a week about the event this fall, they would more than likely see an increase in ticket sales. She had gotten about ten ideas listed before a pit dropped in her stomach. They didn't capture any of the events. No photos, no videos, nothing. Ken, one of the VPs, mentioned that he got some pictures on his phone. Kathy, one of the HR directors, said no fewer than eight different people had texted her about how fun the event was. That was all they had. Nothing for marketing. They could always capture content at the event in the fall, but that would put them already six months behind.

Luckily for Jenny, there is no such thing as the "Hemsley Medicare Conference". There actually is no "Jenny, the event director". That sinking feeling though, that does very much exist and it is way too common. It is normally the reason someone is reaching out to us at Foxtale for help.

At any event, the most important thing is that everything runs smoothly from the perspective of the attendee. That's why it's common for marketing to get thrown into the "let's deal with that later" bucket. To be fair, when you're working to make sure the attendee experience in the room is perfect, having three to four cameras situated throughout your event isn't going to seem essential to your attendee experience. It's only essential if you want a bigger room for the next event.

Foxtale has been in the event business for nine years now. We thrive on documenting events in a way that gives organizations flexibility in how they want to promote themselves or their next events. If events are a large part of how your business operates, setting aside resources for marketing is essential to your processes. True, it's daunting. With all the inherent unknowns that come with event planning, throwing a marketing blueprint on top of that can feel, at the very least, overwhelming.

We've tried to make that a bit easier for you with a 6 step process. Whether marketing is going to be an in-house project or you're going to collaborate with an outside agency, these steps will ensure your marketing ends up being authentic to your culture and brand.

1. Start thinking about how you'd like to market the event, as early as possible

It's basic, but it's also easier said than done. Whether you're jotting down ideas or just envisioning the types of things you'd like to see, doing this as early as possible in the planning stage is essential. The longer you wait, the tougher it becomes to make space and time for a marketing strategy.

2. Make a list of all the marketing material you wish you had from your last event

• Go long. Everything you wanted but didn't get. Then research other events to get inspired by how they've promoted themselves. It could be infographics, photo shoots, video interviews, anything that catches your eye.

• Take note of why you chose those items. What was it about the style, messaging, vibe, or platform that connected with you and your team? Was it the energy of a behind-the-scenes video? The credibility of a testimonial photo carousel? The simplicity of a well-designed save-the-date? Write all those reasons down. That emotional information is vital when you start planning what you want to capture on the day. It's the difference between a shot list that says "get photos of speakers" and one that says "capture candid moments of speakers laughing with attendees at the cocktail hour."

3. Make a list of what you DID capture at the last and what you don't want

Pull everything you've captured before into one folder. Compare it to your wish list from Step 2. What worked? What didn't? This becomes your blueprint for what to replicate and what to avoid.

4. Communicate your vision to everyone involved in capturing content

Create a document that lists out each type of creative that will be captured, what will be captured, and why it will be captured. This is your blueprint. Share this with your internal team and any outside agency you'll be working with:

• For photos: Build a shot list. 

  • For example: your shot list might include "capture audience reaction shots during the keynote."

• For video: What types of videos will you want made to promote your next event? What messages do you want to hear? What should attendees say about your organization or your next event?

  • For example: "Get 3-5 attendees to answer: What's one thing you're taking back to your team from today?"

• If you're not bringing a creative agency onboard to capture your content, make sure it's clear who internally will be doing what. If Dave has a DSLR camera, make sure he has a list of what he should capture. If Melanie is willing to interview attendees with her phone, make sure she has ownership of approaching people and knows what to ask.

  
  

5. Talk to your venue ahead of time

There's never a downside to aligning with your venue on what you want to achieve creatively. You might find out about a limitation the space has that requires you to change course, ensuring you avoid a headache on the day. Or the venue might have access to equipment or services that can help you gather even better content.

6. Assign tasks for every deliverable with firm due dates

You're about to capture a ton of fantastic content, but what happens afterwards? Make sure you have due dates set and campaign launch dates communicated for all of the marketing materials you've defined. There's no bigger killer to a marketing strategy than the gap between the event ending and the marketing material being produced.

Follow these 6 steps, whether you're handling it in-house or working with an agency, and you'll walk away from your event knowing the marketing is already working.

Need help building your event marketing strategy? Schedule a call with our team below.