How & Why Brands Utilize Event Marketing From Trade Shows to Conferences
Most marketing tactics are indirect interactions between a brand and a consumer. A brand places an ad, sends an email or mailer, or puts up a billboard, and a person views it later, deciding whether or not to take action. Event marketing, on the other hand, is one of the few types of marketing where a brand interacts face to face in real time with consumers, making it an ideal opportunity to engage with new and existing customers.
Considered to be a type of experiential or engagement marketing, event marketing is a B2B or B2C promotional strategy that aims to create memorable, interactive experiences for customers at in-person, virtual, or hybrid events, like trade shows, conferences, webinars, and in-store spaces. As with all marketing, the ultimate goal is to drive brand awareness, customer loyalty, and sales.
While the term “event marketing” can also refer to promotion of upcoming events, this blog is about event marketing done at a live event. The “event” can be as large as a trade show for multiple competing and adjacent brands or as small as a sample table at grocery or department store. Seeking to build emotional connections, event marketing engages customers in a more personal, tangible, and direct way.
During an event, people aren’t just learning about your product or service; they’re engaging with it, trying it, and associating positive experiences with your brand. If you have a product or service and are considering attending or hosting an event where you can showcase your brand, there are many different things you can do to engage with your audience and leave a lasting impression.
7 Ways to Interact With Your Audience at an Event
-
Booths & Tables
From home & garden to consumer electronics, trade shows and conventions are ideal places to connect with specific audiences looking for specific things, especially new or different products. Most of these types of shows require rental of a booth or table to use as your home base for attracting and speaking to attendees. Whether local, national, or international, a trade show or convention booth is perfect for growing your audience and awareness of your product offerings.
-
Signage & Displays
Eye-catching, high-quality banners, signs, or displays (print or digital) are important for conveying your brand message effectively in a crowded space, whether at a show or a store’s sample section. They’re also great for visually showcasing your product or service and highlighting its features and benefits to prospective customers.
-
Freebies & Samples
Everyone loves free stuff, which is why free products, samples, and branded swag (e.g., t-shirts, hats, glassware, tote bags, and office supplies) are such powerful event marketing tools. Not only can they attract visitors to your booth, they help keep your brand in mind when it comes time to want or need what you have to offer. They also act as free advertising when others see them being used or worn.
-
Product Demos
Live events are the ideal place to allow attendees to see, touch, and try out your products before buying. Hands-on demonstrations give prospective buyers the chance to experience your product in ways most other marketing tactics — such as those done online or in-store — cannot.
-
Contests & Drawings
Games, raffles, or prize drawings are highly effective at creating excitement for your brand and encouraging more interaction. Again, people love the free stuff that a raffle or prize drawing can win them. Event marketing games include challenge-based games, like scavenger hunts; luck-based games, like lottery-style tickets; and social media contests, like hashtag, caption, or picture contests. Contests and drawings are great at grabbing attention and help you differentiate your brand from competitors.
-
Mobile Geofencing
One of the newest and most effective ways to engage with audiences at live events is through geofencing technology which creates a virtual enclosure in which you can direct targeted messaging onto attendees’ smartphones, via social media, banner ads, texts, and more! Not only is it hyper-targeting at its finest and the perfect way to gather info digitally, but geofencing also helps you reach consumers where they spend so much of their time — online.
-
Presentation & Discussions
Designed to attract attendees, foster engagement, and/or educate them about a product, service, or subject, presentations and discussions can be a core element of an in-person or virtual event. The more information and value you can offer your audience, the more they will trust your brand and keep coming back to it.
5 Benefits of Effective Event Marketing
-
Building Stronger Relationships
Interacting directly with your target audience and leaving a lasting impression helps build trust and loyalty, thus strengthening the brand-customer relationship, hopefully for years to come.
-
Experiential Engagement
From hands-on demos and giveaways to signage and presentations, event marketing gives customers an opportunity to experience your brand in a much more real and immersive way than they could ever have online, which makes them more likely to connect with your message.
-
Brand Awareness
Whether it’s the first time a person hears of your brand or they’ve heard of it but didn’t know much about it, events are perfect for making consumers aware that your brand exists and, more importantly, offers more than the competition.
Event marketing can significantly raise your brand’s visibility and help you reach a wider audience. Whether it’s a shirt with your logo on it or a demo that really impresses, give your audience something cool to show or talk about with friends and increase your brand awareness exponentially even after the event!
-
Lead Generation
Events provide a direct way to collect leads and other valuable data, which is especially important for B2B brands. Gathering phone numbers, emails, and other key info from interested attendees is a great way to generate leads and build a database of potential customers for you to target with future traditional and/or digital marketing.
-
Sales Opportunities
If you have a product or service able to be sold on-site, events can be an opportunity for direct sales and revenue generation. The beauty of events and event marketing is that once prospective clients try it or see it, they can immediately buy it. There’s no time to forget your brand or be swayed by competitors. It’s the definition of “striking when the iron’s hot.”
These are some of the biggest how’s and why’s when it comes to event marketing. At M:7 Agency, we can help you develop the best event marketing strategies to best target your target audience — from geofencing to booth signage. For your promotional product needs, visit our full-service M:7 Shop for high-quality branded apparel and merchandise, plus design, procurement, fulfillment, and ecommerce support to bring your swag vision to life.