Event Marketing: Building Your Brand

Running any event costs money so you’ll need to make sure that you get a great ROI. I’m pleased to say that The Events Structure have put this interesting blog together to help you through the maze.

Event Marketing: Building Your Brand

Event marketing is constantly changing - and for businesses to stay one step ahead of the competition, they need to be noticed. When it comes to business events, the power of bespoke branding shouldn’t be underestimated. From attracting footfall to your exhibition stand to breaking down the business-consumer barrier, bold branding will propel your business on its way to success - and ensure you leave an event armed with lucrative leads.

As the industry piles on the pressure for businesses to find exciting and innovative ways to immerse audiences in their brands, when it comes to driving engagement, event design is everything.

So if you’re looking for some actionable tips on how to harness the power of event design through branding, keep reading.

A strong social presence

In the quest for a successful business event, engagement is key - and social media offers up an array of active channels through which businesses can outreach and engage with mass audiences.

Leading up to an event, social media provides a platform from which you can connect with other industry professionals and get your brand out into the marketing sphere. As the world’s most popular social media channel, Facebook is the ideal place to promote events - allowing your audience to respond to event invitations and engage with other attendees.

With over 400 million followers, Instagram is growing in popularity, and businesses are catching on to the app’s appeal. Many professionals are choosing to capture video snippets from their events, allowing non-attendees to get in on the action, too.

For businesses, Twitter opens up multiple doors. From live tweeting to maximise event engagement to jumping on local networking hours and relevant industry hashtags, the app provides an opportunity for discussion in a way no other social media channel can.

Dynamic design

Event marketing allows businesses to expose their brand to a mass audience - and a successful event execution can result in an influx of valuable leads. In an effort to maximise your ROI, don’t overlook the power of impactful exhibition units and banner stands - as this is where your attention to dynamic design will drive engagement.

The first experience attendees have with your business will be through your visual branding. From high quality interactive displays to bespoke business cards, eye-catching colours and bold text will help you capture the attention of your audience - and breaking down the divide between brand and consumer is the first step on the path to effective engagement.

Ambitious brands should be striving to stand out from the crowd, and recognising the power of visual aids will set you on your way to achieving event success. Once you’ve attracted footfall to your stand, you and your team can harness both industry and brand knowledge to convert interested prospects into new consumers.

A timely follow-up

Building your brand is an ongoing part of business and doesn’t stop when the banner stands come down and the business cards are tucked away. While a well executed event will ensure your voice is heard among a sea of exhibitors on the day, ensuring your brand remains on attendees’ radars long after an event can be more of a challenge.

The follow-up to an event is often the point at which many businesses stumble - failing to take a proactive approach to chasing leads and therefore losing out on essential clients. But by planning for your post-event follow-up in advance, you can ensure any valuable connections don’t slip through the net.

While a traditional phone call or follow-up email is an effective form of outreach, don’t underestimate the power of social media. Whether it’s an informal tweet or a friendly Facebook message, you can harness the power of social media to reach out to your connections and begin nurturing new and promising relationships.

From the planning to the follow-up, your brand’s message should be clear throughout every aspect of your event - and when executed successfully, your attention to brand building will set you on the path to converting interested prospects into loyal and valuable customers.

My thanks to Mary from The Events Structure. Full details of their exhibition structure and services are at www.theeventsstructure.com or follow them on Twitter as @eventsstructure.