by Ryan McGeary on
Your event may seem like a momentary thing. It comes. It goes. It’s done. But if that were true, why invest in an event at all? According to Forbes, the event industry is growing faster than the economy, because every event is an opportunity to build your brand. If you don’t shape the legacy of your event, then you’re wasting a significant portion of your investment.
Even if you’ve never heard “building buzz” before, you’ve seen it in action. You’ve seen how trailers tease viewers and actors appear on talk shows before a movie comes out. If they create enough buzz, the theaters will be packed the day the movie opens.
You have to build buzz over your event to make it a success. By tipping off your target audience prior to your event, you can build their excitement and engagement. Tease them with hints and clues about what to expect. Surprise and delight them. Build their expectations. Then, deliver something even better during your event.
While your event is taking place, you need to take steps to make it memorable, appropriate, and appreciated. Whatever the purpose of your event, you need to engage your visitors in the moment to achieve your objectives.
Inc. offers up some great suggestions, some of which will work for an event of any size:
Keep your marketing objectives in mind throughout your event. It’s not enough to make it memorable–a drunken lout knocking over your displays would be memorable. You want to leave a brand-building memory in the minds of your event participants.
Once your event is over, it doesn’t have to die. Keep your event alive on social media sites. Get participants to talk about it. If your event is successful, they won’t need much encouragement. Forbes says, “The objective is to create an experience that is so engaging and relevant that brand loyalists talk about it on social media, post photos, and assume some of the brandwork of creating a consistent presence.”
You want participants engaged. You want them to look forward to your next event. You want the people who missed your event to know they missed out. You want your event to have a lasting legacy that keeps your business and your brand in the minds of your customers. You can do all of that if you use your marketing creativity to shape your event’s legacy.
