When you’re in the depths of event management, it can be hard to take a step back and ask yourself whether what you’re doing is actually working.
Unfortunately in events marketing, doing the wrong thing isn’t just missing an opportunity; it could actively harm your event.
So in this blog, as part of Insure Our Event’s #marketyoureventmonth, we’ll look at 5 event marketing mistakes you’re probably making right now, and how to stop them.
You’re preaching, not communicating
One of the biggest errors a marketer can make, and this isn’t just limited to events, is thinking that telling your target audience about your product is enough. That believing your product sells itself and that as soon as people hear about it, they’ll want to buy.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work like that. And that’s especially true with events.
The problem with preaching is competition. If your event was the only one out there, there’s a chance that people would buy as soon as they hear about you because you already have a point of difference. But with so many events out there, many of them doing the same thing, you have to create that difference through your marketing.
So instead of telling your target audience that your event exists, explain the benefits they’ll get from attending, and how easy it is to get tickets.
You’re casting the net wide, rather than targeting
If you’re running a catch-all style marketing campaign, where you’re throwing information and advertising this way and that, hoping that the right person sees it, then you’re wasting time and money.
Imagine you sell bike parts and you wanted to increase your marketing activity. The smart thing to do would be to speak to members of local bike clubs, or advertise your products wholesale to bike shops.
You certainly wouldn’t stand in the middle of the high street in town and hope that a bike enthusiast walks past.
But that second style of marketing is exactly what you’re doing if you’re not targeting.
So straight after reading this blog, take a pen and paper and work out exactly who your target audience is and where they are.
You’re sticking too rigidly to your comfort zone
Most marketers have a preference of marketing channels. For this author, it’s SEO and inbound marketing. For others, it might be direct mail or newspaper adverts etc. Whatever your preference, don’t make it your primary marketing channel without studying the analytics.
It’s important to understand which channels are the most cost effective and which bring in the most customers. If you’re sticking to what you know, you could be missing out on customers and spending more than you have to.
Decide on a sensible ROI and look into the data to see which channel helps you achieve this. You might even have to combine multiple channels.
You haven’t considered your funnel
The rule of seven in marketing suggests that on average, a customer has to see a company, product or advert seven times before they’re happy to purchase.
But it’s not quite as simple as that. If the customer sees the same advert, in the same place, on the same channel seven times, that advert will become background noise.
For the rule of seven to work, each advert has to continue the movement of the customer through the funnel.
If the customer starts at the unaware stage, and needs to go through awareness, consideration, decision and purchase, then you need to show them adverts ranging from who, what, why and how.
But to do this, you need to know what type of messaging is most effective for those different stages of the funnel, and where you need to place those messages.
Again, this is a case of studying your analytics but most importantly, your customer.
You’re ending your marketing at the point of purchase
This is probably the single biggest mistake you can make as a marketer.
In a day and age where reviews and social interaction are so important in the purchase decision, not using your customers to encourage their likeminded peers to buy as well is missing out on a massive opportunity.
The purchase should be the beginning of a new stage of marketing where you thank the customer for buying tickets and make them feel valued. This is your chance to create advocates and free ‘salesmen’ before your event has even taken place.
We hope these tips have helped, or at least acted as reminders for things you already knew.
We have a number of marketers here at Insure Our Event, so if you do need help with your event marketing (and of course, with your event insurance, get in touch today!
