Event organizers should own visitor data and communicate 1-1

Why depending on social media and email marketing alone is a risky strategy

Many event organisers use social media and e-mail to communicate with their followers, to invite them to events, and thereby sell tickets and other extras. This strategy can be effective, especially if the budget for social media is not an issue, you have a lot of time and resources at your fingertips and you have a team of influencers or ambassadors on board. Although, for most event organisers that isn’t the case, so focusing all your efforts on social media and e-mail marketing can be a risky strategy. Here’s why

1. Events are already difficult to promote; there are a million events out there and only so many potential visitors with money to spend and the ability to visit. This will almost certainly get more difficult due to the impact of COVID-19, as it will create an even busier events calendar. Plus, events may be forced to present similar line-ups to their competitors due to artists or speakers having limited availability because of travel restrictions. It will be harder to stand out from the crowd. 
2. The average reach of a social media post is just 5.2%. That means that roughly one in 19 people in your community will see your messages. Not a great start to your event promotion campaign. Plus, it would be pretty disappointing not to be able to effectively advertise the amazing performers you’ve spent ages lining up. 
3. It’s a fact that paid advertising can help event businesses get more reach, but you’re dealing with a very crowded marketplace where everyone is competing to get the most tickets sales at the same time and from a similar audience – and this drives up costs per click. 
4. Paid advertising also takes time and requires considerable skill and experience to set up and optimise campaigns. It’s just not possible to launch your campaigns and see how they go. They need regular monitoring and well-informed adjustments to be successful. If you are not familiar with managing paid advertising campaigns or you don’t have someone in-house who can do this, it’s best to work with a professional online event marketing agency that can guide you through the process and help ensure your campaigns are a success.
5. Social media accounts can be suspended, and posts blocked, sometimes without notice. While the reasons for Donald Trump’s suspension from Twitter were painfully clear, brands can also be exposed to this risk - by inadvertently using language that doesn’t follow platform guidelines or including music that is copyrighted, for example. 
6. Social media platforms can change their guidelines and policies – also with little notice. They can also go out of existence altogether. So, it’s even more important to reduce your dependence on specific social media channels. 

How owning and managing your event data can enhance your event promotion

Managing and promoting events is hard work. So, knowing that you’re completely in control of your marketing data is a huge weight off your mind. 

Rather than adopting a potentially risky and expensive social media strategy for your event promotion, why not own the data that you’ve invested so much time in collecting? By opting to use an integrated customer data platform you can:

image source: blog.relevant-digital.com

1. Collect e-mail addresses and telephone numbers in one centralised, searchable, and secure data platform. 
2. Communicate 1 on 1 with your visitors and fans via SMS, WhatsApp, Apple Messages for Business, e-mail, etc.
3. Create 360-degree customer profiles to help you get to know your audience better. You’ll get a variety of valuable insights into your most loyal and engaged fans through profile scoring. You can then prioritize rewarding these valued customers and boost your customer loyalty and retention even further! 
4. Segment your data by customer profile, preferred communication channel, behaviour, engagement, and other custom events and actions. This enables you to send targeted promotions and messages that will reach your audience just when they will be most receptive - making them more likely to convert!
5. Build effective customer personas based on actual behaviours and preferences, rather than anonymized data. This can also give you valuable insights into your other marketing activities and channels. 
6. Attract new audiences via targeted social media campaigns and own that data too. 
7. Increase opportunities for up-sell and cross-sell by communicating specific value-add offers to your fans, such as merchandise for their favourite artists, food and drink vouchers or discounts for future events. 
8. Save time and resources – and improve accuracy - by automating your customer journeys and communications. 
9. Integrate your payment engines, improving the customer journey, streamlining your processes, and reducing the time you spend on admin. 
10. Keep track of how your event campaigns are progressing and adapt your messaging and communications accordingly. 
11. Build long-term relationships with your fans and visitors and increase customer loyalty and retention by keeping in touch before, during, and after the event. 

As we mentioned above, event marketing takes a lot of time and effort – and it can take a big chunk out of your budget. And right now, while times are tough on the events industry, anything you can do to remain in control of your promotional activity is a huge plus.  

We are all waiting with bated breath for the return of live events and being together again. So, make sure you are prepared to welcome your fans back to a well-needed dose of normality and celebration!