Guest Column: A successful event provides multiple rewards

When business owners list the tactics in their marketing arsenals, too few include event marketing.
Event marketing is a powerful tool, whether the businesses create their own events or participate in events hosted by others. Events provide a unique combination of advantages. They facilitate meaningful interactions with customers, prospects and referral sources; they can brand hosts as experts or market leaders; and they offer a chance to create community buzz.
Events also provide a mechanism for multiple businesses to pool resources and create something bigger than they would be willing to finance on their own.
An example of a successful cooperative event was the Healthy Families Fun Fair, hosted earlier this year by Nasopure and D&H Drugstore at the Stoney Creek Inn. The Fun Fair provided an interactive marketing tool for everyone involved; it made sales, generated leads, created relationships and built brand recognition. Even better, it was relatively easy on the marketing budgets because sponsors and other business participants pooled their money.
On a smaller scale, The Bank of Missouri is a great practitioner of event marketing. The bank executives are big believers in creating both personal relationships and a relationship with the community, and they regularly host small luncheons and larger receptions that bring people to their lobby in the Buttonwood Building. They find that as people get to know them better, they will be more likely to want to work with them. The latest Bank of Missouri reception welcomed Michael Brown, the new executive director of the Columbia Board of Realtors.
Certainly, every business is going to have different event marketing needs. Rather than try to use this article to convey “everything you need to know about event marketing,” let’s focus on a handful of questions and answers that establish a foundation for success.
What are our goals? Having a big party just for fun can be great, but it won’t pay the bills. You might want to generate quality leads; you might want to make sales; you might want to build relationships with key referral sources; or you might want to make a splash in the media. Think carefully about what you want to accomplish, write it down, and use that to guide your choices.
Who is our audience? Get as detailed as you can about this by starting with demographics and working your way to specific names, if possible. This will be the biggest factor in determining how you will communicate about your event.
What will make people want to attend our event? This could include such things as the promise of a few fun hours, the opportunity to learn something or the chance to hear an entertaining speaker. Build a reputation for creating worthwhile events, and you’ll find it much easier to attract your audience.
How are we going to communicate with our intended audience? For this question, refer back to the definition of your audience. Maybe you know exactly whom you want to invite and can do it with some combination of mailed and electronic invitations. Maybe you’ll need to employ some combination of mass media.
How will we use this event to create and deepen relationships? For every step of the process, you have an opportunity to increase your relationships with people: as you invite them to the event, when they attend and after they’ve returned home. Think about how you can use personalized communications, event activities and other mechanisms to create stronger connections with your audience.
How much money do we want to spend? When you are doing an event, it’s easy to let the budget get away from you. Think about every dime as you spend it, and you’ll feel much better about your efforts.

How are we going to evaluate our success? Look back at the goals you set for yourself, and honestly evaluate every aspect of your event. Make your evaluation numerical wherever possible. Events will often leave you feeling good when they are over; your ability to think objectively will make all the difference.
Ask yourself these questions, make sure you answer honestly and thoroughly, and you’ll be on your way to being a successful event marketer.  v
Sean Spence, a regular contributor to CBT, owns Community Events and can be reached at [email protected] and www.commevents.com.