Event MarketingMarketing Infographics

Event Planning and Marketing Blueprint

When I think back on some of the incredible events I’ve attended – Webtrend’s Engage, ExactTarget’s Connections, Social Media Marketing World, and BlogWorld Expo – I’m always blown away by the number of moving parts and how seamlessly these organizations put them together.

I am not an event planner. I can barely juggle more than a client at a time, never mind thousands of visitors. Some folks can’t afford the services of professional event planners, though, and are forced to go alone. The first event is the roughest, and they seem to ease up over time. Once one event is under your belt, you already have an audience to promote the next event to. As long as your event is great, you can continue to grow over time and build the value of the event, its sponsors, and its audience.

Event Marketing from A to Z

This infographic, developed with HubSpot and Constant Contact, walks through all the key elements of event planning and promotion, including setting up your event, promoting your event, leveraging social media, tracking, running the event, and post-event follow-up.

Here’s a comprehensive guide to event marketing. Please note that this guide relates to various aspects of event marketing, including setting up, promotion, social media-specific promotion, tracking progress, running the event, and follow-up post-event.

Setting Up Your Event:

  1. Create an event theme and logo.
  2. Create an event site: Add your event details, agenda, and a calendar widget.
  3. Add agenda, speakers’ info, directions, and hotel recommendations.
  4. Set up your registration to track headcount, collect fees, etc.
  5. Identify and create your invitation list.

Promotion:

  1. Send out a Save the Date email.
  2. Use a QR code for your invitations and event materials, such as presentations and handouts.
  3. Write blog posts about the event with a call to action (CTA) to drive registrations.
  4. Post updates on your social media profiles.
  5. Create a brief video invitation and post it on YouTube.
  6. Refer to the event from other sites and offers.

Social Media-Specific Event Promotion:

  1. Prepare tweets your employees can share.
  2. Add social media sharing links throughout your event pages.
  3. Always include a hashtag when promoting the event on Twitter.
  4. Start a countdown to your event on Twitter.
  5. For Facebook promotion, post images of previous events.
  6. Launch Facebook Like promotions with discount codes.
  7. Send LinkedIn group invitations.

Track Your Progress:

  1. Keep track of your email click-through rate (CTR).
  2. Check how many have registered and determine if you need to close registration.
  3. Measure registrations by channel, such as email, social media, and referrals.

Running the Event:

  1. Download a check-in app to check in registrants at your event.
  2. Do live blogging during the event.
  3. Post photos in real time using social media.
  4. Video record the event.

Follow-Up Post Event:

  1. Send a survey to all attendees.
  2. Record the event.
  3. Offer archived event materials to non-attendees.
  4. Produce a video summarizing the experience.
  5. Remind people of your upcoming events and encourage early registrations.

Remember that event marketing is a dynamic process, and adapting your strategies based on the results you observe during each phase is crucial for success. If you have any specific questions or need more details on any of these steps, please feel free to ask.

I love that the infographic speaks to fully utilizing social media! By having folks actively tweeting with your event’s hashtag, you’re promoting the quality of the event throughout their networks. That’s key for next year… when you turn them from voyeurs into participants!

Event Marketing Infographic

Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is CMO of OpenINSIGHTS and the founder of the Martech Zone. Douglas has helped dozens of successful MarTech startups, has assisted in the due diligence of over $5 bil in Martech acquisitions and investments, and continues to assist companies in implementing and automating their sales and marketing strategies. Douglas is an internationally recognized digital transformation and MarTech expert and speaker. Douglas is also a published author of a Dummie's guide and a business leadership book.

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