The Main Event!
Hosting an event can be a great way to differentiate you from the competition, generate sales leads, position you as a thought leader and build your brand awareness.
The success of your event depends on a combination of:
- Planning: to make the event interesting
- Promotion: to raise awareness of the event
- Partnerships: to extend your reach and engage new prospects
Both MAXX and Resonates have worked with clients recently to promote their industry events, and here we share some top tips to ensure yours is every bit as successful:
Big names get big headlines
Once you have the focus of your event, the key to its success is a great speaker line-up. Involving well-known industry experts in your event will get the media interested in arranging interviews. They will want to learn more about what you're doing, and will ensure you secure extra coverage in your target publications.
Saddle up with partners
Publications are often keen to align themselves with events they perceive to be of value – i.e. events with good speakers that appeal to their readership. Establishing media partnerships can help you reach thousands of new contacts through their circulation databases.
From pitch to print
Most editors plan their editorial months in advance, so it's no good pitching an article a week before your event; you need to give yourself time to plan and execute your campaign. We recommend planning your event four to six months in advance for the best results.
Promote yourself
Make sure you have really strong display graphics with succinct and powerful messaging to support the event – ensure your audience really gets the message with supporting literature, press packs and some nifty branded giveaways. Think beyond the usual pens and mousemats – there are some really great product ideas out there. Drive people to the event with a direct mail campaign and a landing page on your website and social media pages for people to sign up. You can then use this to communicate with them after the event.
Beyond the event
The best kind of press release is more than just an announcement. Editors receive hundreds every day and will only print newsworthy stories they feel will be of value to their readers. To get your event noticed, you need to intersperse media alerts about the details of your event, with in-depth press releases about interesting topics and industry issues that will appeal to their readers. Be sure you follow up your leads and communicate with your new prospects - if you look after them there is a good chance that they will become customers.
Get involved
The event isn't just about you, so make it a collaborative effort and get all your speakers to contribute to the campaign with articles, quotes for press releases and promotion to their contacts. Not only does this add credibility to your event by aligning your brand with the experts, but it also makes it far more interesting to your target audience.
If you’re planning an event and need some help, why not contact us? Resonates can work with you to develop a campaign and MAXX can produce your display stands and promotional materials to make your event a real success.
< back
