Tag: content
ABCey Presents: Top 10 Event Marketing Strategies
Knowing how to market your events is essential to your success as an event planner. There is a lot to consider for event promotion, but don’t be overwhelmed! ABCey presents a list of the top 10 event marketing strategies for you to test out at your next event!
1. Experimenting With AR Content
It is no surprise that augmented reality (AR) is becoming more and more popular at events. However, this opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the type of content you can create to promote your event. Especially now that the iPhone X is going mainstream, AR will be so much easier for event marketers to use.
2. Social Media Influencers
Social media influencers are another powerful event marketing trend and finding the right one can put your event on the map. However, finding the right influencer for your event can be a challenge. Luckily, several social media tools are out there to help you, like SocialRank, Scrunch, SocialLadder, and StreetTeam.
3. Experiential Marketing
Experiential marketing can take many different forms, but at its core it’s all about immersing your guests in a memorable, live experience. Attendees crave personalized, unique experiences, so this marketing strategy is sure to be well-received!
4. Event Distribution
Event distribution allows consumers to purchase tickets the moment they find out about your event instead of having to visit your site. This marketing strategy makes ticket purchasing quick and easy and can help you find potential attendees naturally. An example of this process is the event discovery app Goldstar, which is very successful with 7 million members.
5. Invest in Short and Snappy Video Content
Video content can capture your audience’s attention quickly and is easily shared, which helps spread the world about your event. 70% of marketing professionals find that video converts better than any other medium, so it’s a marketing tool worth investing in!
6. Use Call to Actions That Demand Action
Believe it or not, call to actions such as “register now” or “click to learn more” actually work! Be sure to use them in your marketing messages. You can even get creative with how you phrase them!
7. Creating a “Why Attend” Page With Compelling Content
A “Why Attend” page is intended to explain to consumers why investing their time and money in your event is worth it. When creating this page, it’s important to envision your ideal attendee and appeal to that type of person. If done right, “Why Attend” pages are highly likely to increase event attendance!
8. Real-Time Crowd Shaping Through Smartphones and Wearables
With the capabilities of smartphones and wearable technology, it will be so much easier to adjust elements of the event’s environment based on the attendees’ behavior in real time! For example, if the attendees look cold, you can increase the temperature in the room right then in there, or if the music’s too loud, you can turn it down on the spot! Smartphones and wearables will ensure your events run smoothly!
9. Measuring ROI
ROI (return on investment) is very important for event planners to keep in mind when trying to get hired. By measuring ROI ahead of time, you’ll show your client that you can help them get the most bang for their buck. Not only that, but you’ll also be able to prove how you plan to do that! The numbers are just as important as the final product!
10. Highly Targeted Emails
Contrary to popular belief, email is a very effective channel for marketing. Event marketing through emails allows you to segment your audience based on interest, location, and engagement, which will help you build rapport by creating meaningful content. Email personalizes your message, and everybody likes to feel special!
Which event marketing strategy will you try? We’d love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
4 Types of Content That Increase Brand Awareness
In this era of social media and online marketing, nothing is more important than valuable online content to get your brand’s name out there. Especially as event planners, we want to spread our events out the world. A wide online presence helps you reach a large audience. ABCey introduces you to the 4 types of content that increase brand awareness and help you to establish your brand in the market.
Free Content
Blogs are a great way to provide your customers with information about your service or product. They are free and give customers an idea of what you offer. It’s even better if you provide your audience with more than just information about your own brand, but include informative news about the industry you’re working in. This way, you turn your blog into a regularly visited destination for your audience. Depending on the value you provide, people might even share your blog on social media, which helps increase brand awareness.
Email Newsletters
Most people check their emails on a daily basis, which makes an email newsletter a great way to increase brand awareness. It is time efficient and cost effective! Email newsletters are a great way to promote your events as well! An informative email addressed to all people on your subscription list updates your audience about news regarding your brand, industry, or events. Reaching out to your audience illustrates your engagement and that you care about them. However, too many emails might come off as too spammy and people might unsubscribe soon. Therefore, send your email newsletters just once a week or on a bi-weekly basis.
Images
Images make your content more compelling. Whether they are on your website, in your blog, or in email newsletters – always include some relevant images! Texts without images look boring and are likely to be skipped by people. Using images also helps you create a certain atmosphere that might be relevant for your brand. Bestow your brand with a serious, funny, or playful vibe to attract potential customers. In addition, use a brand logo to establish recognition value in your industry. It is important that your logo is consistent and always looks relatively the same, otherwise your audience could get confused.
Videos
Studies have shown that customers who watch videos about a product or service, feel more confident about purchasing it. Creating videos might be a little bit more work than all of the above, but it’s worth the effort! An artistic or eye-catching video will likely be shared on social media by your customers and therefore reach a larger audience. Make your video go viral on Youtube with a strong message that helps you to increase brand awareness. If you are an event planner, why don’t you post some clips of previous events to give your customers a taste of your great work?
No matter which type of content you use, all of them demonstrate engagement with your audience. Include a “call to action” in order to establish interaction between you and your customers.
What is your advice on how to increase brand awareness? Tell us about it in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!Startup Monday: PlagScan, The Unique Content Verification Tool
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past & would like to share with friends and followers of ABCey Events!
This week, we want to draw your attention to PlagScan, a startup located in Palo Alto. PlagScan offers an unique content verification tool and is the leading service for the detection of plagiarism in Germany, including many parts of Europe. PlagScan is now establishing its service in the US market, cooperating mostly with academic institutions. While most other plagiarism detection services are only available for the academic market, PlagScan can be used for business as well.
You might wonder how a plagiarism detection software could be relevant to your job or your business and why ABCey would recommend to check PlagScan out. Let’s say you are an event planner, marketing director, or work in any job that requires creativity and unique content. You spend a lot of time writing marketing texts, blogs, or press releases. Wouldn’t it be great to check if your work is actually unique and hasn’t been written before?
Plagscan is useful even if you are not the one writing the content for your business. Let’s say you have hired writers or interns. Imagine they use published or copyrighted content in your business blogs, without giving proper credit. This is called plagiarism and would shed negative light on your business. With PlagScan you can easily check for plagiarism and make sure that your content is unique.
How it works: PlagScan uses advanced technology in its software that compares billions of online sources with the document you want to check. You can easily upload a document or copy and paste text. After submitting your text, you get a detailed report with the results.
Why we love it: PlagScan is cost-effective and fast. The company offers a competent service that is definitely worth investing in. Best of all: PlagScan also helps to improve your search engine optimization.
Would you use PlagScan? What do you think about this software? Tell us about your opinion in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
ABCey Presents: Planning & Promoting Your Event with Pinterest
Here at ABCey, we are constantly using Pinterest as a tool for inspiration! As social media has become key for promoting events online, Pinterest is an effective tool in brainstorming and behind-the-scenes planning for events. Being able to make multiple boards and research through relevant content inspires creativity and organization when planning any kind of event!
Find “Pinspiration”
Decorating for events can be the most fun, but challenging part of your event. Decorations and little details tie the event together from start to finish. Whether you’re looking for table setting ideas or invitation inspiration, Pinterest is the perfect tool to start gathering pins. Start pinning!
Organize Your Boards in Categories For Your Event
It’s time to start pulling together every new idea you find in the Pinterest universe onto your own board. This can be done on your own personal page or on the official board for your organization, corporation, nonprofit, etc. Additionally, your boards can be organized by food, decorations, invitations, themes, florals etc.
Interaction with Vendors & Clients
First, as boards are created, the link can be shared with others, whether or not they have an account.We often create event decor boards for our clients, and then share them directly for feedback to make sure we are on the right track. Pinterest also makes it possible to identify other Pinners with similar needs and tastes. Therefore, by liking, pinning and commenting on other posts, you can connect to Pinners with similar interests and build ideas. In addition, if you both follow each other, you can use the private messaging feature to start a more in-depth collaboration.
Read the Crafting/DIY/How-To Articles
Ultimately, Pinterest is known for having some of the best creative content out there. Clicked on pins reconnect you to an article or webpage to show you where the Pin came from. Take advantage of these articles as they provide some great insight on how to make your own projects or decor!
Promote Your Event on Pinterest
Pinterest gears towards connecting everyone to content and ideas that align with their interests and passions. You can even use your own board to actually promote your event which also gives you a chance to start marketing your original content, creating brand awareness and media attention. It is a very visual platform, so choosing compelling photographs & visuals with bright colors will bring your event board more success!
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Love Pinterest and want some event inspiration? Check our Pinterest page for creative event ideas! Let us know how you use Pinterest in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
Sources: EventFarm, Capterra, Hello Endless