relevent/ marketing ideas
For annual events, that means you should start next year’s event marketing campaign while this year’s event is still happening. People are present at your event; they’re excited, and they’re feeling the euphoria that comes from participating in an enjoyable experience.
Why not ride that wave and remind them that next year’s meeting will be even bigger and better than this one?
People love to share their meeting success stories shortly after the event ends, and as they return home. This organic sharing produces a lot of buzz for your event, and makes non-attendees realize they’ve missed out by not attending.
If you’re present and visible at this key moment, you’ll have a much easier time convincing participants to attend next year’s event than if you start from scratch, trying to build momentum a few months later. So if you’re still wondering “When is the best time to start my event marketing campaign?” I think it’s pretty clear that the earlier you start, the better.
If this strategy isn’t an option for you because perhaps your event ended a few months ago, or this is your first event, don’t worry. It’s never too late to start your event marketing campaign (at sensov/ event marketing we’ve worked with everything from 1-year to 3-week campaign timelines), but you want to leave yourself some breathing room to get creative with your event marketing campaign.
If people will be travelling to your event, booking hotels and plane tickets, you’ll want to make sure they have enough time to plan for the trip.
International travellers have additional considerations, as they may need to obtain visas before attending, professionals and government employees often need time to justify attendance to their employers or work it into annual budgets, students may have to schedule around exams and save up – knowing your demographic and adapting your event marketing campaign timeline around their needs will ensure a stronger, more effective campaign.
Being aware of competitors’ events can also have an impact, especially if your meetings are within a few months of each other. Oftentimes your participants will only be able to attend one or two events a year and may lean towards the one they hear about first, so early visibility of your event can secure their registration before the competition gets a stronghold on them.
Getting the message out early, even if the information is preliminary or in pieces, is a great way to stay on potential participants’ radar until you can provide more details. It also creates an opportunity to build up buzz, engage participants in contests and discussions and even gives them time to become event ambassadors and tell their own networks about the conference long before it happens.
Rachel Stephan is the owner of sensov/ event marketing. She has over 18 years of experience in marketing, advertising and creative direction in the event space.
