ech event marketing secrets: The secret to success

Digital marketing is the norm today. Your brand’s digital advertising is likely to be seen by many US citizens who spend almost seven hours per day in front of a screen. Even in the midst of digitally driven marketing, an unexpected trend has emerged: event marketing.

Online reputation, community management on social media, SEO and digital media are driving forces in marketing today. In-person marketing is not dead. On the contrary, it’s thriving. Event marketing is a great way to reach out to people, and this is especially true for B2B tech brands.

Why should you even consider event marketing

Marketing technology companies are constantly innovating. Consumers can only keep up by listening to experts who will tell them the latest trends and market changes. The more attendees you hope to attract, the more you need to think about your marketing strategy.

Marketing strategies are designed to create enough interest about a brand to guide consumers to resources that will help them learn more. Event marketing can be resource-intensive, and it’s not always a success. Calian IT & Cyber Solutions is an IT company that does event marketing right.

Salim Gheewalla is the Calian VP for marketing and alliances. He loves story-driven marketing of tech events and creating memorable experiences for attendees and viewers. His marketing slogan “Know Me” is the foundation of almost all he does within the events industry. Like me. Pay me. “Pay me.

Salim’s methods are not limited to public events, but also include internal events. Salim created moments of storytelling at an internal sales kickoff event, which many employees shared on their LinkedIn profiles. Salim, however, believes that the key for successful events is a cocktail of the right people, an interesting topic, and a convenient and attractive experience.

Calian has some tips for today’s tech and martech event marketers.

Create your own story

What is the purpose of promoting this event? The first step in achieving your goals is to identify them. How do you relate to your audience? This is another question that marketers should ask themselves.

It’s important to share a creative story to engage your audience after you have set goals. Brand storytelling is more effective than focusing solely on sales. Calian wants to continue advocating for women in technology, an underrepresented group. In partnership with Lululemon they organized a Leading Lady in Tech event last year to create a collaborative environment that would encourage aspiring female tech leaders to continue their careers. Calian has already begun planning a similar event for this fall.

Find out who is in the room.

Customers want to feel like they are in a room of people who share their interests, and not with a CXO or system administrators. It’s helpful to both the guests and hosts to know who is in attendance. We want to make sure that people of the same level are present. For example, if CIOs are in the room then we need a VP, SVP+ or a similar person (like Salim).

You should also ensure that knowledgeable people are in the room who can answer any questions. It makes a big difference. Influencers, who may already be sold on your solution, can also help boost your brand’s reputation by validating it to other people in the room.

The size of the audience is also important. The experience will be diluted if there are too many attendees, and it’s impossible to track who is asking which questions. Attendees who are interested in the event will make your interactions more meaningful.

Create moments that are worth sharing.

Content for event marketing should be both engaging and informative. You want the audience to be interested in your event and learn more. If you haven’t done so already, you can use technology to create moments that people will remember.

Imagine event marketing as a trailer. You want people to be excited about going to the event in person, not just hearing about it. Offer your audience a reason to attend, and then make it happen.

Many ways exist to make sure guests are having a great time even before they arrive. Marketers can interact with their audience directly via the live streaming feature of some social media platforms and give them a sneak preview into what to expect at an event. Calian had a skylight show, where people snapped photos of the Calian logo to share on social media.

Amplify the event.

Social media offers many ways to increase the success of your event. Posting about your event as often as you like is great if you’re trying to get as many people interested in your brand. Calian ITCS hosted a fireside chat with Dilawar syed Federal Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at a Houston cafe. Attendees took photos and videos throughout the event.

Calian amplified the event on social media to ensure people knew what happened. Calian spread the word about the event via social networking.

You don’t need to limit yourself to social media. Capture event content and use it to boost your results on social media, your blog, your email marketing and your future PR outreach. Remember that marketing is closely tied to your sales team.

Supporting sales teams by providing them with as much content about the event as possible will allow them to continue to amplify their message through their contacts and relationships. It will prove the success of your event and give people who missed it a reason to attend next time.

To maintain a positive relationship, it is important to follow up with the attendees after an event. You should thank them for attending and collect feedback to know what you can do better next time.

Event marketing makes perfect sense in a world of experiences that are more important than anything else. Your event’s success will be determined by a well-planned marketing strategy.

Face-to-face interaction is a must for people. Create an unforgettable event and take advantage of this opportunity.

The article Martech event marketing: Secrets to success first appeared on MarTech.