How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Fundamentals of Event Marketing

Executive Summary

According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), there are 14,451 tradeshow

events held annually in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Tradeshows are just one of

a variety of event types that organizations are using to promote their brand and generate

leads. Events have strong appeal for many organizations because they facilitate face-to-

face interaction with large groups of customers and prospects.

This How-To Guide is designed to provide practical advice for executing an event

marketing strategy. This guide outlines use cases for event marketing, event marketing

best practices, the keys to a successful event, and a detailed action plan to begin your

event marketing initiative. It is intended for use prior to and in conjunction with our

Executing an Event Marketing Plan How-To Guide.

What is Event Marketing?

From a marketing perspective, an event is simply an activity designed to bring a specific

group of people together at some venue at a specific time and for a specific purpose.

Here are some other definitions of event marketing:

“The activity of designing or developing a themed activity, occasion, display, or exhibit

(such as a sporting event, music festival, fair, or concert) to promote a product, cause, or

organization.” - BusinessDictionary.com

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© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

“Event marketing is the effort to spread recognition of an entity by association with a

social event. Constant competition for the public’s attention rages in print and broadcast

media. Event marketing moves that competition to the experiential arena and hopes to

engage the participant more fully and make memories more lasting. An experience that is

fun, participatory, and readily available may translate into the desired action by the event

attendee, making the effort cost-effective.” – WiseGEEK.com

The fundamental events marketing premise is to offer something of value to attendees,

often education or entertainment, that draws them to the event. This gathering of

attendees, who are typically customers or prospects, is then exploited for marketing

purposes.

What Constitutes an Event?

Events come in a wide variety of forms, including but not limited to the following types:

Trade Shows Conference Exhibits

Webinars Virtual Events

Ribbon Cuttings (e.g. new office) Press Conferences

Focus Groups Training & Education Sessions

Customer Socials or Reception Product Demonstrations

Sponsored Sporting Events Business dinners

Shareholder meetings Product Launches

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Value of Event Marketing

Event marketing is an excellent strategy for many companies because:

Events concentrate groups of customers that represent a company’s target market in

one place and at one time.

They facilitate face-to-face interaction with customers and prospects, which is usually

the most prized form of interaction.

Because of the face-to-face interaction (or real-time interaction in the case of virtual

or online events), they create a stronger impression than other forms of promotion.

This impression is ideally favorable, but poor execution at an event can damage the

relationships or create negative impressions.

The quality of interaction at events can accelerate the sales cycle. As the diagram

below illustrates, different types of events are effective throughout the sales cycle:

How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Event Marketing Spectrum

For some companies, events are the primary marketing strategy. For others, events are just

one of many tactics used to accomplish sales and marketing goals. Your company’s level

of commitment to events will vary depending on the forces driving your marketing

strategy. Using the chart below, determine if events are a strategic part of your marketing

mix or if they are more tactical in nature:

Events as a “Tactic” Events as a “Strategy”

Infrequent events, as needed. Frequent events needed to hit

revenue targets.

Complementary to mission. Critical to success of mission.

Ad hoc team, minimal resources. Dedicated team and resources.

Viewed as a cost center. Viewed as critical investment with

clear ROI.

Decide which side your organization falls on this event marketing spectrum by selecting

the characteristic below that best describes your disposition:

Low - You use events infrequently, but you still need to do them well.

Med - You use events periodically, and want to get more out of them.

High - Events are a strategic part of your marketing plan, and want to show ROI.

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© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Note: Even if events aren’t a strategic part of your marketing mix, you must be sure to do

them well or risk damage to your firm’s reputation.

Key Success Factors for Events

Review the key success factors below and consider the reasoning provided.

Key Success Factor Reasoning

Clear objectives for each event If you are unsure of objectives, how can you

show results?

Meticulous planning Events can be stressful if they are not carefully

planned.

Flawless execution You can’t afford to have an event turn into a

disaster.

Solid promotion Events are only successful if you have enough

attendees.

Measurement of results You need to know which events provide the

most ROI.

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© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Action Plan: How to Get Started

1. Review our Executing an Event Marketing Plan How-To Guide – to understand the

all the steps in the event planning process. The first step in this planning process is

to set objectives for your event marketing initiative. For many companies, the

objective is lead generation. Whatever it is for your organization, have clear

objectives and build your event marketing strategy around them.

2. Identify where you fit on the Event Marketing Spectrum. Whether events are

infrequent and tactical for your organization, or frequent and strategic, understand

this and prepare to invest appropriately.

3. Download our Event Marketing Plan Methodology to create & manage your event

marketing strategy. Make sure that your planning accounts for each of the key

success factors identified in this document.

4. Prepare your company. – As prescribed in the Event Marketing Plan Methodology,

establish a budget for your event marketing plan. Even more important, put a set of

measurements in place to track the results your event marketing efforts produce.

Bottom Line

Event marketing can accomplish many key objectives: lead generation, sales cycle

acceleration and overall brand perception enhancement. Does it make sense for your

business to use events as a marketing strategy? To answer this question intelligently, first

consider your objective for participating in or hosting them. Reasonable objectives include

lead generation, brand awareness, thought leadership, partner recruiting, media exposure

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© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

or something else. Set an objective before you do anything else, because you’ll optimize

your presence at an event around this objective. Your planning and preparedness will

determine the extent to which event marketing will produce the desired outcome.

Assessing your organization’s current commitment to event marketing and creating a

detailed event marketing plan will help you get a return on your investment in events.