In today’s era, reaching customers through Event Marketing activities (known as Promotional Events) has become more popular than ever. This is a great way to build a brand name, strengthen customer relationships, and achieve business goals.
In this article, Influence Agency will provide your business with a brief definition of Event Marketing, the popular types of promotional events, some key benefits of Event Marketing, and criteria to evaluate the success of an event for businesses.
What is event marketing?
Event Marketing (or promotional event) is a communication activity organized to introduce or advertise products or services to customers. It can be online, offline, or a combination of both (hybrid), the purpose of this activity is aim to draw attention, increase brand awareness, drive sales, and build customer relationships.
Event marketing activities can be held in many different forms, from conferences, networking events, and seminars to store openings and trade shows. These diverse platforms amplify the reach to potential customers and, therefore, achieve business goals.
9 Popular types of promotional events nowadays
Offline event
Offline event brings many benefits to businesses, this kind of event fosters personal connections and provides networking opportunities. Moreover, it enhances brand trust, and credibility, creating a lasting impact beyond the event.
Influence Agency will help you list out the most typical offline event marketing that a business can host, including
Grand opening event
This type of event marks the opening or inauguration day of a business or a project. Typically, it usually includes a ribbon-cutting ceremony, introduction session, networking opportunities, entertainment performance and dining.
It serves as a good opportunity to introduce business to the market, showcase new products and services, and express gratitude to customers through gift-giving.
Influence Agency specializes in providing and organizing marketing events across Cambodia. With our broad experience in the marketing field, Influence Agency has successfully organized over 20+ projects in the first year of establishment; read our Event Marketing Services to learn more
Conference event
This large-scale event gathers lots of experienced speakers to educate attendees on relevant industry topics. A conference can last one day to several days including a full schedule of events where professionals can attend to learn more about how to improve their skills, knowledge, or abilities in their roles.
The more people who attend the event, the more your business can make impressive profits and earn more prestige in the industry.
Product launch event
Product introduction event is aimed at introducing new products or advanced product features to potential customers. The content often concentrates on product demonstrations, the introduction of new features and benefits, and instructions on how to use the product.
With professionalism and dedication, Influence Company is committed to providing customers with the best event services, contributing to effectively promoting customers’ products and services, building a professional brand image, and amplifying brand reach.
Networking event
Networking involves meeting professionals and building connections with people who can help them develop their careers and skills. Hosting a networking event can involve renting a venue, inviting guest speakers, sponsorships, and preparing prizes.
Some networking events may provide light catering services for breakfasts, lunches, or dinners for guests. People will gather, discuss the relevant topic, share advice, and be able to extend their connections.
Workshop
Workshop event is mostly focused on educating participants, fostering intimate discussions and invaluable knowledge sharing. Usually, this kind of event lasts from a few hours to full day, through both in-person or online courses or tutorials.
Through opening a workshop, your business can instruct attendees how to handle certain works or provide tips to improve their knowledge. The benefit of hosting this event is to express your business’ expertise and establish it as a trusted resource within the industry.
Trade Show
A trade show, among various different types of special event marketing, is a large gathering of professionals who can all set up booths that spread information about their companies.
Hosting a trade show allows businesses the chance to engage potential customers and showcase their products and services to their target audiences. Some businesses sponsor or participate in certain trade shows to strengthen their brands’ presence in the market.
Online marketing event
Online Marketing Event (also known as Virtual Event) offers various benefits including global reach, cost-effectiveness, and provide a convenient way for attendees who join. Additionally, they offer valuable data analytics insights and flexibility in scheduling and format.
Here are some online marketing events that you should know
Seminar
Seminar is the same as Workshops, where the host shares insights and educates participants about a specific topic. However, a seminar is usually a virtual event with a smaller scale than a workshop.
Live-streaming event
Live-streaming event is the latest and the most special type of event marketing, particularly in the context of the rapid rise of live content in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.
This format enables individuals to watch the presentation or the full show and interact with your brand via social media. It’s an exciting way to provide viewers with a “behind-the-scenes” look at your events, generating a closer connection to the brand and its convenience for the people who can not join.
Hybrid events
A hybrid event combines online and offline options, which is fantastic and the most popular type of event marketing today because it gives people the freedom to join from anywhere. Nowadays, everyone tends to shift towards hybrid events.
Learn more about Hybrid Events to find out which type of hybrid event is right for your business here
Benefits of Event Marketing for businesses
Below are 4 key benefits that businesses can leverage from event marketing:
- Enhance brand’s recognition: By organizing events, businesses can enhance brand recognition in the industry and gain potential customers.
- Gain trust and loyalty: Organizing an event provides a chance for customers to approach and experience products or services directly, helping businesses to increase customers’ trust and loyalty in the business.
- Strengthen partnerships/ customer relationships: During an event, businesses can answer customers’ concerns, advise, and provide useful information to customers.
- Drive sales: By introducing new products/ services, businesses can offer product discounts, give appreciation gifts, or even samples for customers to experience. Customers will have motivation to buy and businesses can increase sales in a short time.
Read more about the benefits of event marketing here.
3 Main criteria for evaluating the success of an event
- Customer satisfaction level: Regardless of the goal of the event your brand organizes, customer satisfaction is always on top of the criteria. You can count the data about the satisfaction level of attendees by using this calculation:
Satisfaction score = % of satisfied people – % of dissatisfied people.
- Attendees’ interactions and feedback: One of the easy ways you can determine whether the event brings value to attendees is through the interaction of attendees. So, you need to monitor their engagement levels to build better customer relationships.
- Conversion rate: To fully measure the success of an event, your efforts, and strategies, you need to track qualified leads, and identify possible touchpoints in order to increase conversion ROI.
Conclusion
In today’s landscape, there are various event marketing strategies outlined in this blog emphasizing the dynamic nature of each event to engage with audiences. Whether through in-person gatherings like conferences and trade shows or online events such as webinars and live-streaming, businesses have many choices to connect with their target audiences.
Each type of event marketing offers unique advantages, by strategically leveraging these approaches, businesses can effectively showcase their expertise, strengthen their brand presence, and ultimately drive success in an ever-evolving marketplace.
To get a consultation on how to organize a successful event from planning to execution, contact Influence Agency for your next event!
