Event Marketing Strategies To Boost Sales

Designing, producing, and promoting events while ensuring profitability for both yourself and your exhibitors can be a daunting task. There's a myriad of details to manage, from venue selection to audience engagement, and every decision can impact your bottom line. Recognizing these challenges, we've reached out to seasoned event planners to bring you proven event marketing strategies. These insights are designed to not only simplify your process but significantly boost your Return on Investment (ROI). Whether you're orchestrating a sprawling trade show or an intimate conference, these event marketing solutions will equip you to maximize success and achieve your business objectives

Embrace Omnichannel Marketing

In today's digital age, harnessing the full spectrum of social platforms in your event marketing plan can significantly amplify your event promotion by boosting visibility and engagement. Omnichannel marketing isn't just about spreading your message; it's about making meaningful connections where your audience already spends their time. Here’s how you can implement an effective omnichannel strategy:

• Social Media Engagement: Utilize platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter not only for posting updates but also for engaging with attendees, sharing rich content, and implementing finely targeted advertising campaigns.
• Email Campaigns: Craft personalized emails that do more than promote your event. Provide valuable content, detailed registration information, and thoughtful follow-ups to build lasting relationships with your attendees.
• Content Marketing: Establish your authority and draw interest with compelling blog posts, insightful articles, and captivating videos. These resources help position your event as a must-attend in your industry.
• Targeted Paid Ads: Extend your reach beyond your existing network by leveraging the power of paid advertising through channels like Google Ads and Facebook Ads. This strategy ensures that your event appears in front of potential attendees actively searching for relevant opportunities.

By integrating these varied channels, omnichannel marketing not only increases the likelihood of reaching your target audience but also enhances their engagement with your event, setting the stage for a memorable experience. 

Personalize the Experience

Imagine the impact of a personalized handwritten note; this level of individual attention can be mirrored in your event marketing to significantly enhance the attendee experience. By leveraging the power of personalization, you can tailor every aspect of your event to align perfectly with the preferences and interests of each attendee.

With event marketing software - MapD, this isn’t just possible—it’s streamlined. Here’s how you can personalize the experience:

• Pre-Event Engagement: Utilize MapD to analyze attendee data and offer personalized content suggestions that resonate with their specific interests or industry focus.
• In-Event Interaction: Keep attendees informed and engaged with real-time notifications about sessions that match their interests or unexpected opportunities that arise during the event.
• Post-Event Connection: Foster lasting connections by facilitating post-event networking follow-ups, helping attendees stay in touch with those they met.

At a recent fitness expo, for example, the use MapD’s event marketing software allowed the organizers to track individual preferences for workshops and sessions, enabling them to send targeted recommendations and notifications, from specialized workout sessions to nutritional advice and one-on-one consultations.

MapD integrates seamlessly with your event planning, from registration and attendee tracking to delivering a fully personalized experience, whether your event is virtual or face-to-face.

To simplify event planning and ensure you don’t miss out on any detail - you can access the ultimate event planning checklist here.

Elevate Engagement with Event Gamification

Recall the excitement of a conference where a photo contest or a scavenger hunt kept the energy high? That’s the power of event gamification at work. By incorporating engaging event marketing tools offering elements like challenges, reward systems, and leaderboards, you can significantly increase participation and create a more dynamic and memorable event experience.

MapD enhances this approach by integrating with ARway.ai, allowing you to effortlessly create augmented reality (AR) games and experiences. With no need for coding, hardware, or beacons, this partnership makes it easy and cost-effective to design interactive elements that not only entertain but also align with your event’s objectives. Such lively, interactive experiences attract more attendees, which in turn draw a higher number of exhibitors interested in the increased engagement and visibility.

This strategic fusion of technology ensures that while your event is fun, it remains a powerful tool for achieving business goals, including drawing in more exhibitors by showcasing their brands in a highly engaging environment. Hence, incorporating gamification is a pivotal aspect of modern event marketing strategies.

Expand Your Reach with Live Streaming

Live streaming is a dynamic component of modern event marketing plans, transforming local events into global experiences. Event marketing software can broadcast your event to audiences who, due to geographical distances or last-minute schedule conflicts, can’t attend in person. This feature not only broadens your event's accessibility but also opens up new revenue streams through sponsorships, virtual ticket sales, and on-demand access after the event.

Moreover, the recordings from live streaming serve as a gold mine for content creation. You can repurpose these videos into engaging blog posts, vibrant social media clips, and more, maintaining engagement with your audience long after the event concludes.

With MapD, integrating live streaming into your event setup is seamless, enabling you to host hybrid events that cater to both physical and virtual attendees. This flexibility allows you to maximize attendance and revenue by offering online tickets to a worldwide audience.

Boost Sales through Strategic Collaboration

Embracing collaboration as one of your key event marketing strategies can significantly amplify your event's reach and impact. By partnering with influencers and businesses, you can tap into new audiences and harness the power of combined marketing efforts. The following are the types of event marketing strategies you can employ by collaborating - 

• Social Media Influencers: Engage with influencers who command a robust social media presence to promote your event. Their endorsement through sponsored posts, social media challenges, or live appearances can drive substantial attendee interest and participation.
• Co-Host Events: Join forces with another business or organization to co-brand events. This strategy not only helps in sharing costs but also in leveraging each other's audience bases, potentially doubling your exposure.
• Cross-Promote: Enhance your promotional activities by entering into cross-promotional agreements with other businesses. This can involve sharing each other’s event details through channels like email newsletters, social media platforms, and direct links on websites.

Such collaborations create synergies that can lead to increased sales, expanded reach, and shared success.

Capitalize on Special Deals 

Harnessing the universal allure of special deals can profoundly impact your event's success. By tapping into the psychological triggers of good bargains and the fear of missing out, you can motivate potential attendees to act swiftly and decisively.

• Early Bird Discounts: Encourage early commitments by offering discounts to those who register ahead of time. This not only creates a sense of urgency but also builds early momentum for your event.
• Referral Bonuses: Utilize the power of word-of-mouth by offering incentives for attendees and exhibitors who bring others into the fold. This approach naturally expands your reach and enhances the communal feel of your event.
• Exclusive Add-Ons for Exhibitors: Enhance the exhibitor experience with special features through MapD, such as branded event pages, conversion forms, and tools for booking meetings. Offering exhibitors the ability to showcase their brand videos and valuable information on the event platform not only aids in driving their immediate sales but also provides lasting benefits post-event. These value-added features position your event as a prime opportunity for exhibitors to maximize their investment and achieve significant returns

Implementing these event marketing strategies not only boosts immediate ticket and booth sales but also strengthens long-term engagement by rewarding proactive and social behaviors among your audience.

Streamline Booth Sales with Advanced Event Planning Solutions

Using an advanced event planning solution like MapD can transform how you sell and manage exhibitor booths. Our platform is designed to simplify and enhance every aspect of booth sales through a range of dynamic features:

• Online and Interactive Booth Sales: Allow exhibitors to seamlessly check out booths online and visualize their space, making the selection process interactive and engaging.
• Automated Processes and Discounts: Reduce manual workload with features like automatic discount codes, real-time inventory tracking, and order management. This automation ensures your sales team can focus on more strategic tasks while keeping exhibitor information up-to-date.
• Comprehensive Sales and Order Management: From generating invoices and managing sales reports to handling exhibitor upsells and sellable services, MapD provides all the tools necessary for efficient order execution.
• Customizable Exhibitor Options: Tailor the experience with varied exhibitor registration types and service categories, allowing for a personalized approach that caters to the unique needs of each exhibitor.

By integrating MapD into your event planning, you not only enhance the exhibitor experience but also streamline internal collaboration, ensuring that your team is always aligned and informed about which booths are sold and available. This leads to a more organized, efficient, and successful event. The simplicity and efficiency provided by MapD significantly boost sales and ROI, making it an indispensable tool for modern event management.

Click here to check out all the features of MapD to plan, produce and market your next event with ease.