What is Event Marketing And Why Your Company Should Host an Event

Promoting brands or new products is part of the possibilities that Digital Marketing offers. 

Companies can go beyond social media posts and search engine optimization. For this, it is essential to consider Event Marketing as an option.

In this strategy, events are the main focus. They will be the platform for attracting customers or connecting companies and business partners.

More than simply promoting their products and services, brands can support other companies and people. Acting as a sponsor is also a way to position yourself to the public.

In general, Event Marketing is an important tool to achieve objectives, such as engagement and conversions. In this post, you will learn more about this strategy! We will cover the following topics:

• What is Event Marketing?
• What are the benefits of this strategy?
• What are the main types of Event Marketing?
• How to plan and host an event?

Keep reading to understand better!

What is Event Marketing?

Event Marketing is a strategy that aims to organize events to promote a brand, its products/services.

The proposal in these events is to attract the right people and then engage them. It is not only about the consumer but also about potential business partners.

The best practices of Event Marketing are focused on strengthening relationships. When you meet your audience, it’s easier to communicate your company’s strategy to them.

Different formats for the most varied objectives

Aims are the starting point for Event Marketing. If your company wants to launch a product, the event in question must have this purpose.

In this case, you can invite customers, retailers, and other business partners. The audience must have access, which can be done by live streaming.

There are cases where the target audience are companies, which is common in B2B businesses. For these occasions, trade shows and meetings organizations are the best choices.

The company that organizes the event must define the format according to what it seeks. This guarantees to generate the necessary conversions while also engaging the public.

Promoting your brand is also possible

Event Marketing is not just a strategy to promote what a company sells. 

It is also possible to position your brand in the market and associate it with people and organizations through events.

For example, companies that sell alcoholic beverages usually sponsor music events. It is an interesting way to link the brand to a certain lifestyle.

These strategies create in the consumer a perception of that brand personality. Event Marketing helps generate greater engagement and builds the idea that the company is linked to certain activities, such as art and sports.

What are the benefits of this strategy?

Event Marketing is a strategy that generates the most relevant benefits to a company. From sales to engagement, everything can be achieved as long as the right event is produced.

Next, take a look at what these main benefits are and how an event provides them.

Engagement

Engagement is one of the possible positive results of an Event Marketing strategy.

If the event is well-produced, the structure is comfortable, and the schedule is qualified, the chances of a positive evaluation are great.

Participants are always looking for an exciting experience, whether they are just getting to know a new product or seeking to close a deal.

With the engagement obtained, the next conquests become easier. That is the path to generate more conversions, according to what the company intends.

Marketers have observed good results in terms of engagement over the years. That is why 47% of them believe that events are an efficient strategy in this sense.

Leads

Events are great opportunities to generate leads, both in B2B and B2C strategies.

The reason for this is simple: when a company opens registrations for an event, the guests, or participants, need to provide some personal data,  the main one being email address.

The post-event is the right time to approach these leads with a solid email marketing strategy.

If the event’s experience was good, and there was engagement, these leads will be properly qualified. From this, it becomes easier to generate business opportunities.

Sales

Sales are one of the most important conversions obtained with the help of Event Marketing.

There are several ways to achieve this in different types of events. In B2B, closing deals are perfectly possible, especially in trade shows and network meetings.

When a company launches a new product, even if it does not sell it at that moment, future sales are a consequence of the event.

A good example is Apple, which always holds conferences to launch iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and other devices. 

Right after the event, when the products become available for sale, results start to appear.

In the US,79% of marketers sell with the help of events. Whether immediately or later on, there are great opportunities to sell to both businesses and regular consumers.

Brand Awareness

Many events are also targeted to generate brand awareness. This is an important result that helps to attract an increasing audience and then get conversions.

Brand Awareness is also linked to event sponsorship, and not only when the company produces its own.

Linking brands to famous events, especially those produced by companies with great reputations, is a great way to attract the target audience.

The event will not always generate leads or direct sales, which does not mean that it was not effective. Future results and brand growth reward efforts and investments.

What are the main types of Event Marketing?

With the objectives defined about what you want to achieve in the event, it’s time to decide which format will help achieve the results.

Event Marketing also involves making the right decision about what the event will be like, always with a strategic plan to attract, generate business, and engage.

Next, check out the most common event types and learn about each of their potential in a marketing strategy!

Tradeshows

Tradeshows are events aimed at brands that want to expose their products and services to other companies and consumers in the same segment.

The concept is to generate business opportunities, which usually happen in B2B markets. At a tradeshow, it is also possible to achieve brand awareness.

A company can also be at a tradeshow as a sponsor only and not actively seek to close business. This is a great strategy to promote your brand in the market segment.

Conferences

Conferences are events aimed at presenting subjects and products to the public, whether B2B or B2C.

There are two common formats: first, the conferences — intended to make announcements to their customer base.

This announcement can be either about the launch of a new product or a new investment that the company has made into innovation, for example.

The other common model are summits. They are more similar to seminars, but they have a larger schedule and aim to educate and engage the public.

Networking events

Networking events are offered by large companies, in most cases.

The proposal is to provide a great meeting between companies and professionals of a specific market. This way, people can connect to generate future deals.

In an Event Marketing strategy, a company can either organize this event or be a sponsor.

Product launch

Launching a product is one of the most valuable opportunities among the possibilities that Event Marketing provides.

In an event like this, it is possible to attract your consumer and business customers while introducing your next product or service.

Expectations surround a launch event, so it’s easier to generate engagement. It is also an excellent opportunity to prepare the public to convert with the purchase.

A special presentation is essential to showcase the product. It is also possible to open a space for a Q&A session and, finally, a party.

Virtual events

Companies can host most of the event types in an online environment.

Virtual events are not a specific category but a format. Instead of holding in-person events, companies use a live stream to connect to their audience.

There are several advantages to holding virtual events, such as:

• attracting and communicating to a larger interested audience;
• generating interactions on social media or the platform on which the event is broadcast;
• generating engagement with the audience.

A company can organize an in-person event but also stream it online. This hybrid approach is increasingly common and generates good results.

Among the most common virtual events are:

• webinar;
• live streaming;
• virtual meeting;
• live session;
• workshop;
• live experience
• live Q&A;
• live blogging.

Workshops

Workshops are an event model focused on educating your audience.

They are open to anyone who wants to register. For the Event Marketing strategy to be more accurate, this workshop’s subject needs to be related to the company’s business.

We can compare workshops with Content Marketing: both aim to educate the public to generate conversions later.

The main difference is that workshops are more focused on professional development.

The organizing company of the event, in this relationship, obtains the engagement and greater recognition in the market. In the future, this can generate more conversions.

How to plan and host an event?

The concept of Event Marketing must also include knowledge about how to plan and host an event. See the essential steps of this work below.

Set the objectives

The first step is to define your business aims. It is essential, even before thinking about an event format, to know what is intended.

Whether it’s generating leads or increasing brand awareness, this objective must be known as soon as possible. After all, an event based on marketing strategy only happens because of a goal.

Define a budget

Planning and executing an event requires investments, and your company must know how much is available.

First, define how much this budget will cover. It will be responsible for funding issues such as:

• venue rental;
• lecturers paycheck;
• costs of hiring services;
• suppliers paycheck.

With a set budget and costs known, your company can adapt to choosing the best cost-benefit options.

Build a staff

A qualified staff, with specialists from different areas, will plan and manage the event with expertise.

It is important to count on professionals from such segments:

• marketing;
• sales;
• event producers;
• IT.

A qualified team can meet deadlines, get good prices with suppliers, and host a successful event.

Set the event schedule

The event schedule is a great appeal — most of the time. In workshops and seminars, the lecturers and guests, when relevant, attract a more interested public.

More than defining who will be attending, it is important to inform at what time each one of these people will perform and when the party will start, besides any other important occurrence at the event.

Find a venue

An ideal venue needs to be able to receive the estimated number of people present.

This venue must also be easily accessible, with a quality and secure infrastructure for both the company and the participants.

Promote the event

Go to social media, search engines, and offline marketing. It’s time to promote the event!

This is a major step that helps to attract more interested people to your event. The promotion has a direct influence on the success of the planning, helping to reach the objective.

Invest in Digital Marketing, SEO, Content Marketing, and Inbound strategies. Also, ensure that your target audience is attracted in all possible ways.

A company can seek for several objectives. Regardless of which they are, Event Marketing is a strategy known to provide the desired results, whether in engagement or conversions.

If you decide to use the webinar format, check out our checklist with everything you need to organize a successful event!