Are you planning an event? Between dealing with caterers, vendors, venues, and promoting the event itself, a lot goes on when planning an event. To keep yourself and your company on track, focus on a few little things that can be done simply and easily to maximize the success of your event.
Event marketing for AV Integrators is complicated. Let’s break it down into five simple tips that will help you improve your event.
Don’t Be Afraid of Personal Invitations
How many people do you know who would find your event relevant / entertaining / engaging / educational? Your personal network is your strongest weapon. Don’t be afraid to use it. Many people feel hesitant to send out a personal invitation because it puts their reputation at risk. What if the event turns out horribly and the people you invited wasted their money? They’re probably much less likely to trust your advice again.
But inviting connections to your event shows confidence in the quality of an event. It also means that these attendees feel honored that they were invited personally. That being said, there is a right and wrong way to extend personal invitations. You don’t want to spam your network with invitations to just anyone and everyone. You want to be helpful. The people you invite should actually find the event useful.
When it comes to event marketing for AV integrators, don’t be afraid to extend personal invitations to the right people in your network.
Use Paid Social Media to Your Advantage
In 2019, there are 2.77 billion social media users world-wide. Let’s say that again: 2.77 billion. If you think that out of all those people your audience isn’t on social—then you’re kidding yourself. Social media can be a powerful tool when it comes to event marketing for AV integrators.
Before you dive right in and start promoting your event on every social media platform out there, take a moment to analyze which platform gives you the highest ROI. LinkedIn is a powerful B2B professional network, but it does tend to be more expensive. Because of Twitter’s fast-paced news cycle, you can typically find a facet where your industry is active and it’s a pretty cheap paid social media platform.
The reason I recommend paid, not just organic, is because it greatly widens your reach. If you already have active social media channels with a large following, you might not need paid advertising. But if you don’t have thousands of followers, paid media is a great way to extend your reach, broaden your audience, and target the right people.
Focus on Marketing an Experience
Take a moment to think of the largest events, both B2B and B2C. Coachella. Google I/O. The Super Bowl. When marketing these events, marketers aren’t promoting just a music festival, or developer conference, or sports game. They’re marketing the experience of attending the Super Bowl, hanging out with celebrities, or listening to some of the biggest developers talk.
Think of the experience someone will gain from your event. Sure, they may get some helpful information and further their career. But how will they gain that information? What emotions will they feel? What activities will they partake in at the event?
Showing the experience of attending your event is worth a thousand words of content telling people what to expect when attending your event. Think of Fyre Festival. They promised an amazing festival, not through content but by showcasing an experience—that’s what made it so powerful. (Definitely not saying you should replicate what actually happened there, but hey, their marketing was great).
Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words
Successfully marketing the experience of your event is best completed through photos and videos, not just content. Before the event, market the venue through photos and videos. Offer behind-the-scenes glimpses of food, drinks, and the experience you’re going to offer. Think about the marketing for major festivals and conferences. What are their promo and lead-up videos like? Can you recreate that feel for your event?
Event marketing for AV integrators is clearly different from marketing Coachella. However, the principles remain the same. Shoot a few “talking head” videos for LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Showcase the venue, give a sneak preview of the presentation, promote the food tasting or other event prep.
Remember what we said earlier: use social media to your advantage. Shoot some Facebook live videos while getting ready for the event and video the event itself to share on social platforms. You want to entice people into the experience.
Have the Right Team Behind You
Even with these five simple tips for event marketing for AV integrators, it’s clear that event planning is complicated. Without the right team supporting you through the process, you could find yourself drowning in everything that you have to get done.
In order to pull off a great event, work with a team that has the experience to back you up. New North understands AV integrators and event marketing. We know what it takes to pull off a great event and leave your clients and attendees happy while getting a high ROI.
You deserve to have a great event. Let us help you succeed.
To learn more about New North’s event marketing for AV integrators, find details here.
