5 Predictions for Event Marketing in 2019 - Find Success by Adopting These Trends
If you’re like
most integrated marketers tasked with event marketing and planning, you
probably have a list of event hits and misses from last year—what went well,
what needs to change, how you’ll do things better or differently this year.
Whether you are looking to make small, incremental changes or serious,
significant ones, we think this
list by the U.K.’s Rapier Group does a good job of distilling many
of the predictions for the new events year into five tips for event success.
1. Get Back to Basics
Whether your
budget is large or small, you need to get the basics right to ensure that your visitors,
speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors (or your team if you are exhibiting) are enjoying a
seamless, consistent experience. Focus on the substance first, flash second: an easy-to-use
registration process, navigable directions to/from the event venue, effective networking
locations, a good WIFI connection, etc. See everything from your customers’ perspective and
build the experience you would want to have.
2. Deliver a Consistent Experience
Across All Media Channels
Some event
organizers are still treating digital marketing as a different animal from all other
marketing. This is 2019! Marketing is marketing is marketing. Your mission is
to ensure that the
story that your customers see is consistent across all materials: printed
collateral, pre- or post-show outreach, networking and phone conversations, social media
interactions display or on-site advertising.
3. Choose Active Over Passive
Make your event
engaging—studies show that this leads to better customer experiences and,
ultimately, better results with your customers. Events are one of the few times
that integrated
marketers have the opportunity to interact directly with customers. You know your audience
best, so this could mean an exclusive presentation with networking to follow or a fully-immersive
event that wows them all day long. Whatever type of event you are
holding, make
it experiential.
4. What to Do When the Middle Ground
Gets Shaky
Contrary to the
conventional wisdom, the middle is not always the safest place to be. It seems
counterintuitive, but in recent years both premiere and price-conscious events
have stolen the show
from those walking the median. Whichever end of the spectrum your organization is
staking out, make sure to carefully craft how you are presenting your business to
customers so that you stand out from your peers and competitors. What you don’t want is
to be average!
5. Think Sustainably
We’ve been
hearing calls for sustainability in events for years—a trend that will most definitely
continue. In fact, the calls are stronger than ever. Millennial and generation
Z attendees and
exhibitors aren’t just asking for sustainability, they are demanding it.
From online or
in-app registration and badging instead of wasteful paper versions to
thoughtful transportation,
planning for resource usage, food and drinks, reducing power and/or implementing
renewable energy replacements, and event waste management, event sustainability
is an enormous opportunity.
At the end of
this year, when you are doing your annual events accounting, make sure you
don’t have any regrets. Make 2019 the best event year yet for your business by
adopting these five trends.