Meetings Blog Oct 18, 2018
When it comes to marketing the content for an event, how is yours doing? What objectives have you set for it? Have you identified your audience? Will you know when it’s delivering on the targets? Content marketing is an area that, when done right, can be very rewarding, building credibility with your audience and engaging them ahead of the event. If you’re looking to create the necessary intrigue and excitement for your potential attendees, check out our tips to set you on the right course…
Getting content out there for your event is simple enough, however, if you define the goals of your campaigns you are likely to achieve what you wanted and you’ll also find it easy to measure the impact of your marketing. Create clear targets for the campaign and then drive the content to meet it. An obvious example of this is attendance growth from one event to another, but anything from survey completion rates to post-event evaluations could be included. Several elements will be in play but looking at what could be improved upon from the last time is a great starting point. Once measurable objectives are agreed, there are a variety of other factors to consider.
Take inspiration: Savlon’s Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks campaign targeted positive impact on school kids’ health earning them a Cannes Lions creative effectiveness award.
When you put out your content you probably have a good idea of the followers that are going to consume it. Your loyal base, and those with a very direct connection to the event you’re pushing, will likely lap it up, and will help you get the word out further through likes and shares. But if you want to extend that reach then your content has to be better than the standard and, more importantly, has to pinpoint the needs of your wider target audience. Do this well and your message will quickly spread, and remember that the better you know your audience – often from doing multiple events – the better equipped you are to pinpoint their needs.
Take inspiration: Nike focused on a very specific audience in their Nothing Beats a Londoner campaign, but knew it would spiral far and wide.
Everyone has a story to tell. Make sure, remembering the objective and audience, that yours is original and impactful. Identify what makes your event distinctive and narrow that down to just a few key points to focus your attention. Once your storytelling is outlined, it’s important to remain consistent throughout the life of the campaign, regularly returning to check you’re on track with the core message. Your target audience will want to recognize the message, feel the familiarity, and follow it as it develops. Consider this as you plan out your tactical approach, including in your thinking the best time periods to be making contact.
During the event you’ll want to capture as much of the appropriate content as possible to provide the ‘best-bits’ highlights following its conclusion. Closing the doors will not be the end of your event’s impact on your audience.
Take inspiration: Tesco’s Food Love Stories put the customer at the center of the campaign with their love of cooking for others the focus across a joined up and engaging series.
Think of the best content you’ve experienced from others. More than likely, the ideas you remember have something in common: they’re visual. Whether it’s eye-catching images or absorbing video clips, consider what is relevant to your audience and deliver it in a fun way. It has been shown that visual content engages the audience best, so ensure that this is used as part of your storytelling. Of course, you want this wonderful content to get across as many eyes as possible. Making it easy to share – think social media information and ensuring connectivity at the venue – will allow more people to appreciate all your hard work.
Take inspiration: “I can’t remember the last time we got touched by a long-copy ad.” This was the reaction that Kiwi Shoe Care got as they brought the idea of Mohamed Ali’s famous boxing shoes to life for their shoe polish campaign.
Did you know your speakers could also help your content marketing? They are a huge attraction to your event so look to get interviews with them to promote, or see if they’d be willing to contribute on a guest blog. As well as the excellent substance that this provides, your speakers have their own followers who you will get the opportunity to tap into by bringing them into the campaign. Linking back to the audience knock-on effect, by generating fabulous content, you can engage with this new circle of followers.
Take inspiration: Matalan, the perceived outdated fashion brand, created Matalan: The Show, which saw famous faces from the industry being interviewed. Engagement and sales targets were hit with the interviewer, Denise Van Outen, being able to add her own circle of interest.
The key to content marketing for events is standing out from the crowd. Planning all the elements to yours, with creativity, consistency and a clear idea of what you want to achieve from it, will help you to pack out your event and have them begging for more.
