In-person and digital occasions are a good way to introduce your model to clients and construct a loyal fan base. To make them profitable, it’s good to rigorously plan and market every occasion, attracting the proper viewers and offering them with a memorable expertise.
Nevertheless, it’s necessary to keep in mind that your job’s not over simply because the occasion is.
When you’ve completed folding the final chair, sweeping the ground, and shutting the doorways in your venue, it’s time to get to work in your post-event advertising.
What’s post-event promotion?
Regardless of what many individuals assume, post-event advertising and engagement transcend merely saying thanks. It’s an opportunity so as to add worth to the folks in attendance and collect useful suggestions in order that your subsequent occasion will be even higher.
Submit-event promotion begins with following up with those that attended your occasion. It might be so simple as a thank-you message for attending or as concerned as a full questionnaire concerning the occasion. Submit-event promotion permits you to construct on attendees’ enthusiasm and meet your objectives surrounding the occasion.
Why is post-event promotion necessary?
Submit-event promotion suits into the larger image of occasion advertising. Its aim is to maintain folks speaking about your occasion as soon as it’s over and enable you construct connections with attendees.
It additionally offers you the prospect to see what labored nicely in your occasion and what you are able to do higher subsequent time.
It additionally serves as one other contact level with leads.
Submit-event engagement concepts
There are many methods to work together with folks as soon as your occasion is over. Utilizing a number of instruments offers you extra alternatives to attach with folks, which in flip gives extra choices for post-event suggestions.
Create a post-event touchdown web page
You might have created an occasion touchdown web page to drum up curiosity. If that’s the case, you’re one step forward. As a substitute of taking it down as soon as the occasion has ended, repurpose your touchdown web page.
At a minimal, add a banner on the prime of the web page thanking folks for attending.
To make it do extra, tie it to a recurring occasion.
For instance, you would possibly host a quarterly webinar. On the finish of every occasion, change the copy in your touchdown web page, encouraging individuals who missed out to register for the subsequent one.
This touchdown web page selling the Nationwide Retail Federation’s annual convention not solely features a “save the date” message and a name to motion to change into a sponsor in 2023, nevertheless it additionally has a hyperlink the place guests can watch a video recapping the 2022 occasion. Utilizing movies this manner can create a buzz round your subsequent occasion.
Observe up through e mail
Electronic mail advertising is likely one of the best methods to observe up with a big group of individuals. You possible already sorted your contacts primarily based in your pre-event advertising. When you have an inventory of people that registered, section it into individuals who checked in and people who didn’t.
Ship personalised messages to every section. Thank those that took day trip of their schedules to attend. You can add worth by together with a post-event promo code, particular supply, or piece of content material that’s not out there to individuals who didn’t attend. If you need to ballot your viewers to see what they considered your occasion, embody a survey.
CourseHorse sends a follow-up to everybody who attends a category asking them to charge and evaluate, gathering useful data to enhance all class choices. As an incentive, respondents obtain $15 off a future registration.
For individuals who have been however didn’t attend, ship a wrap-up to share what they missed out on and encourage them to join your subsequent occasion. Embody a hyperlink to video highlights from the occasion and present how folks benefited from attending.
Share what occurred on social media
Nothing conjures up FOMO (concern of lacking out) like social media. Share posts on all of your platforms exhibiting folks having enjoyable and fascinating at your occasions to create a way of worth and encourage individuals who missed out.
MAGIC is a corporation connecting business professionals and serving to them transfer their enterprise ahead. As a vogue group, its social media platforms are very efficient in attracting folks to huge commerce exhibits in Las Vegas and New York.
The important thing to post-event advertising on social media is to create enjoyable, participating posts that encourage your followers to work together. Construct off the joy from the occasion and generate curiosity in your small business by sharing pictures and movies from the occasion, conducting polls, posting particular presents for early registration for the subsequent occasion, and extra.
Make these posts really feel extra genuine by taking candid photographs throughout your occasion. Folks might react extra positively to pictures that don’t appear to be they have been staged. Have somebody flow into by means of your occasion snapping pics of individuals whereas they’re having a superb time and looking out enthusiastic. Maybe you had a keynote who saved everybody on the sting of their seat. Showcase the viewers.
Conduct a post-event survey to see what your attendees thought
Gathering post-event suggestions is essential in serving to you meet your objectives and put together for future occasions. Among the finest methods to get it’s to survey attendees to see what they thought. Ask survey questions to achieve suggestions about what went nicely and what folks want to see subsequent time.
Embody questions that can assist you gauge the worth of your occasion to folks in attendance. Did they assume it was a superb use of their time? Did they arrive away with new data or new connections they couldn’t have discovered one other manner?
Ask what they loved most concerning the occasion and whether or not they’d return sooner or later. If you happen to had audio system or exhibitors, ask inquiries to see how a lot of a match they have been along with your viewers.
Observe up with leads — personally
Occasions are good for producing new leads and drumming up enterprise.
At an occasion, potential clients can get hands-on along with your services or products, and so they have the prospect to get in-depth with their questions and issues. Anybody who attends could have a greater concept of how one can present options to their wants, and so they might stroll away excited to offer you their enterprise.
Submit-event follow-up is a good way to nurture leads and enhance your probabilities of changing an buyer right into a purchaser.
Don’t let this momentum slip away. When somebody expresses an curiosity in your small business, make a remark to observe up with them, and do it. Schedule a name, a digital assembly, or an in-person assembly to allow them to ask extra questions or begin the shopping for course of.
Create vlog and weblog posts associated to the occasion
Submit-event actions don’t should immediately contain your clients. Creating digital content material recapping the occasion or providing supplemental data helps you construct model consciousness, opening up your subsequent occasion to a wider viewers.
Producing buzz round in-person occasions is simpler as a result of you’ll be able to shoot dynamic video that gives a glimpse into the occasion itself. However you’ll be able to nonetheless promote digital occasions with post-event advertising. If you happen to recorded your classes — and it’s best to have — pull out clips of attention-grabbing data and shoot movies of individuals reacting. You too can use them as a possibility to increase on matters that you simply coated.
If you’re writing weblog posts concerning the occasion, spotlight what folks bought out of it. Use among the solutions out of your post-event survey to get subject concepts.
Host a networking follow-up occasion
Occasions supply attendees the prospect to community with you and different company. Arrange a small, in-person, or digital occasion the place individuals who got here to the primary present can evaluate notes with one another or simply work together.
You don’t should hire out a conference house and invite 1,000 folks to return speak to one another.
A networking discussion board might be so simple as an internet chat the place you average a dialogue concerning the occasion or different related business matters. By internet hosting your follow-up social on-line, you give everybody the prospect to attach, no matter the place they stay.
Give attendees an unique supply
Visitors at many occasions are sometimes given swag luggage with promotional gadgets donated by sponsors. Generally these luggage have enjoyable gadgets like spa present playing cards and even one thing kitschy and helpful like toothpaste.
Providing one thing unique like a post-event low cost or early entry to new merch is like an occasion swag bag. Folks have to indicate as much as get it and its contents make others need to be there subsequent time.
Entry to your store might be sufficient. Sephora repeatedly hosts make-up and skincare lessons for its magnificence insiders. These lessons are hosted earlier than the shop opens, and as an added perk, attendees can store within the retailer when no one else is there selecting by means of the products.
Sustain the excitement with a social media contest
Social media contests are an incredible supply of user-generated content material and word-of-mouth promoting. If you happen to’ve already bought a branded hashtag to your occasion, supply a prize to everybody who tags you and others in event-related posts. Use the hashtag to trace entries.
You’ll be able to select a winner at random, have occasion attendees vote on the winner, or arrange guidelines that encourage folks to get inventive. Your prize doesn’t have to interrupt the financial institution. Embody some cash in your occasion price range for a post-event prize that serves as a superb incentive to enter.
Provide VIP extras to your subsequent occasion
If you happen to’re organizing recurring occasions, ship a particular VIP supply to everybody who attended the final occasion. These presents don’t should be flashy or costly, they simply have to entice occasion attendees to attend your subsequent occasion — and be unique.
Take into consideration providing incentives like:
- Particular reductions or early-bird registrations for the subsequent occasion
- Unique receptions with key audio system or entertainers who will likely be at your subsequent occasion
- The power to select up a VIP swag bag after they test in to the subsequent occasion
Use post-event advertising to realize your objectives
You place a lot effort into planning your occasions, it’s possible you’ll be prepared to write down them off and transfer on to the subsequent one as quickly as they’re performed. However post-event advertising is a good way to nurture leads — driving the momentum of enthusiasm you labored so exhausting to construct.
Submit-event advertising actions provide the probability to see how nicely you achieved your objectives. Additionally they enable you decide what labored and what you’ll be able to enhance to your subsequent occasion.
For the perfect outcomes, use multiple post-event engagement exercise to achieve a greater diversity of individuals.
Instruments like social media posts, vlogs, and blogs assist enhance your visibility, letting you appeal to new attendees who’re looking on-line for occasions like yours.
Surveys and boards give folks the prospect to let you know how they favored the occasion and what they bought out of it. This data offers you useful perception into your clients.
Providing perks like reductions and particular extras to individuals who attend your occasion makes them extra useful and helps encourage others to attend.
Don’t cease as soon as your occasion is over. Incorporate post-event advertising into your occasion advertising plan and maintain upping your occasion sport.
Need extra data on advertising your subsequent occasion? Try these 7 Prime Occasion Advertising and marketing Methods & Concepts.
