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event marketing timeline

Crafting an Effective Event Marketing Timeline: Tips from the Experts

A carefully crafted event marketing timeline guarantees success! You need a comprehensive strategy and event marketing timeline tailored to promote and reach your desired sales, engagement, and attendance goals. How do you write a winning event marketing plan? 

What is an Event Marketing Timeline?

Event marketing timelines provide an essential roadmap for the success of virtually any conference. 

They lay out a strategy and timeline for event promotion, allowing companies and organizations to reach their desired attendance rate or sales goals.

Some tactics to consider: 

  • Use social media platforms, email campaigns, radio spots, and print advertisements to attract the target audience
  • Understand your target audience thoroughly to promote across all channels effectively
  • Identify your target audience and their preferred hangouts
  • Utilize various communication channels to ensure your message is customized for your desired attendees
  • Consider implementing strategies such as celebrity involvement or partnerships to generate more interest
  • Developing a well-thought-out plan is crucial to realizing your vision regardless of its scale. Where to start?

    Understanding and Reaching Your Target Audience

    When we focus on people interested in what we offer, we can ensure that everyone involved has a great experience. 

    This helps us provide more value to our sponsors and guests.

    a silhouette of a businessman standing in the middle of a target representing the concept of a target audience
    • Define your event’s purpose and objectives
    • Conduct market research to understand the demographics and preferences of your potential attendees
    • Utilize social media analytics to discover online communities and influencers
    • Analyze past attendee data to identify patterns and characteristics of your target audience
    • Create buyer personas to represent your ideal attendees and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly
    • Engage with industry-specific forums and groups to connect with potential attendees
    • Leverage partnerships with complementary organizations or brands to reach their existing audiences
    • Use online surveys or feedback forms to gather information about attendees’ demographics and interests

    We don’t just want to reach our target audience; we want to create a successful system that can be used efficiently to reach more people and get more participation.

    What is Your Communication Strategy?

    a group of people working on a communication strategy and looking at a diagram on a table

    When event planning, it’s important to make sure people know what it’s all about. This means choosing a name and purpose that are short and easy to understand. 

    You must also decide whether the event will be associated with your company or have its branding. Having a theme can help people understand the message you’re trying to share and learn something new.

    To get people excited about your event, share information in a way that works for them.

    For example, on TikTok, you might use videos or images that catch people’s attention and inspire them to take action. 

    If you’re trying to reach professionals on LinkedIn, you can give them lots of information about the event and show them other sources that explain why it’s important. If you want people to come to your event, you must be creative and consider what interests them.

    Launch an Effective Website

    Creating an effective event website or landing page is essential for the success of your event. A strong landing page entices potential attendees, sets the tone, and encourages purchases.

    It should be well-designed and reflect the company’s brand and the event’s theme.

    The design needs to be easy to navigate, with a clear call-to-action that brings visitors one step closer to buying a ticket or signing up for more info. 

    Utilizing white space and engaging visuals can also help guide users’ eyes to the most important content on the page. 

    It should be visually appealing enough to grab people’s attention so that they will stay on the page long enough to learn more about your event. A smooth user experience is crucial when creating an effective event website or landing page.

    How Do You Write an Event Marketing Timeline?

    To encourage visitors to buy tickets or sign up for more information, including a clear call-to-action on your event website or landing page is important. 

    Using white space and engaging visuals can also help draw attention to the most important content. 

    The page should be visually appealing to keep visitors interested in learning more about your event.

    Creating a well-structured event promotion timeline is key. This involves organizing all necessary activities leading up to the event day, including email invites, social media promotions, and online advertising. 

    Starting early is crucial to allow ample time for promotional campaigns, advertising, and ticket sales to reach your intended audience.

    Timing your direct messaging is also important. A smooth user experience is essential for creating an effective event website or landing page.

    Should You Use an Event Marketing Timeline Template?

    event marketing timeline template

    An event marketing timeline template is vital for helping organize and promote any special occasion. 

    With the help of a plan, you can guarantee the success of your event by beginning with an effective preparation phase and developing timely promotions that reach the right people. 

    This tool makes it easier to increase awareness in your target audience and boost attendance while staying within budget.

    Setting Goals and Objectives for a Virtual Event

    When organizing a marketing event, it’s crucial to establish SMART goals for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. 

    This approach provides a clear direction for your efforts and resources, enabling you to evaluate the event’s success accurately.

    A SMART goal example would be “To increase our potential leads list for our new product by 100 names by the end of the conference.” This goal is specific, measurable, and attainable if enough people attend the event. It’s also relevant to your new product launch and timely.

    Establishing a Budget for Promotions

    a notebook on a desk next to a laptop representing the concept of an event marketing budget

    Another consideration when planning an event should be one’s budget. 

    Ensuring enough financial resources are available to put on a successful event that meets your goals and objectives is key when creating a realistic and achievable budget.

    Consider all aspects of an event—from venue costs, catering services, and entertainment to attendee travel expenses—to guarantee that you have adequately accounted for all costs while leaving some room in case funds run short due to unforeseen costs or inflation of cost estimates. 

    Additionally, you may want to explore various sponsor opportunities, which could significantly help reduce overall event costs, such as ticket or booth prices.

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    Developing a Timetable of Events and Promotional Activities

    You want to give your team enough time to plan an effective digital marketing strategy:

  • 16 Weeks: Secure venue contracts, contact and organize vendors, and reach out to sponsors or potential partners. Maximize promotional efforts on social media and with your email list. Coordinate cross-promotions with sponsors, speakers, and influencers.
  • 14 Weeks: Send out an email invitation letting everyone know about the event and that tickets are now available. Advertise the same news on any corresponding social media accounts and blog pages. Offer early bird tickets.
  • 10 Weeks: Maximize marketing efforts by segmenting attendees so that email blasts are personalized and relevant. Tailored emails generate more revenue than generic mailings. As we approach the date of your upcoming event, send out social media blasts and invite speakers to share through their networks.
  • 6 Weeks: Ramp up your marketing messaging. Emphasize the urgency of booking their tickets or registering. Set up a retargeting campaign for people needing to complete the registration process.
  • 2 Weeks: Send out “last call” emails and virtual event reminders. Send out sales-focused messaging on social media with direct calls to action to register. All posts should be creative, exciting, and draw attention.
  • You can increase overall registration and revenue by spending enough time getting potential attendees excited about your upcoming event.

    Choosing the Right Media Channels for Promotion

    blonde woman in sunglasses texting on her phone while walking down the street

    Social media is a crucial tool for promoting your business or event. To achieve success, target the appropriate audience and use hashtags effectively to increase awareness. 

    Hashtags are an excellent way to broaden your post’s reach since they enable users to search for content on specific topics. However, staying moderate with hashtags is crucial, as too many can distract from your intended message.

    Also, consider tagging pertinent vendors and speakers who can attract other potential viewers you wouldn’t usually have access to. 

    Lastly, remember that a significant portion of the population checks their phone 300+ times daily, making it ideal to post frequently throughout the week with updated information about your event or business.

    By combining well-crafted hashtags, targeted vendor/speaker tags, and frequent, mindful updates, you can guarantee maximum exposure for your business or event across all major platforms.

    Developing a Strong Email Marketing Campaign

    Follow these key steps to develop a strong email marketing campaign for your upcoming hybrid event. 

    Establish your email communications campaign goals, whether increasing registrations or highlighting event features. 

    Build a quality email list comprising genuinely interested individuals by offering sign-ups on your website and leveraging social media. Other steps to follow for email promotions: 

    1. Craft compelling subject lines using keywords like “Exclusive Invitation” or “Early Bird Discounts” to capture attention
    2. Create engaging email content that provides key event details such as the date, location, schedule, and unique selling points
    3. Personalize and segment your emails based on recipients’ demographics, preferences, or past attendance
    4. Use eye-catching design elements, incorporating event branding and clear call-to-action buttons, to enhance the visual appeal
    5. Ensure mobile optimization since many recipients access emails on mobile devices. Test and analyze different email elements to optimize open and click-through rates, monitoring analytics to gauge campaign success
    6. Send follow-up emails to registered attendees with event reminders, pre-event content, and last-minute updates using keywords such as “Countdown to Event” or “Important Details

    By following these steps develop a successful email marketing campaign that effectively promotes your hybrid event and encourages attendee engagement. 

    Use an email marketing tool to save time and deal with any issues with email deliverability. 

    How to Measure Success

    When it comes to event marketing, identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) is crucial. 

    These may include setting a target number of attendees, gauging participant satisfaction through surveys, and measuring return on investment (ROI) by calculating average spend-per-head.

    Another useful metric is tracking website traffic before and after the event to gauge its impact. 

    You can also monitor the conversion rates of any offers made during or after the event. 

    With so many metrics, selecting the most relevant to evaluating your results and accurately reporting on your success is important. 

    By establishing data-driven KPIs, you can better determine whether or not an event has achieved its goals. Some KPIs to track include:

  • Registration
  • Revenue
  • Cost-to-Revenue Ratio
  • Overall Attendee Satisfaction and Engagement
  • Lead Acquisition
  • Conversion Rate
  • Social Media Mentions
  • Press Mentions
  • Many sophisticated event platforms incorporate ways to track individual data, registration, and engagement easily. Speak with your professional event team to see how you can integrate metrics into the platform.

    Measuring Revenue and Lead Generation

    brand equity word cloud

    At events, attendees exhibit certain behaviors that signal their intention to buy, which event marketers can leverage to identify potential revenue streams and lead-generation opportunities. 

    By monitoring attendees and integrating their actions into CRM systems, marketers can evaluate their programs’ financial value and measure their initiatives’ success more comprehensively.

    With this information, event organizers can determine the worth of each investment and identify potential leads from those who are actively engaged with exhibitors or sponsors but have yet to make a purchase. 

    This helps marketers focus future campaigns on these high-value customers and assess the effectiveness of current strategies.

    Additionally, it enables organizations to customize offerings based on proven successful strategies at various venues, maximizing returns from their event investment. 

    These insights provide valuable data on attendees’ behavior, which guides effective resource allocation and ensures continued loyalty, satisfaction, and engagement during subsequent events.

    Brand Equity

    Brand equity is an intangible but highly valuable asset for businesses. It is typically measured through consumer perception and reputation and does not deliver direct monetary results. 

    However, it can have a huge impact on the profitability of a business in the long term.

    Hybrid events are one way to bolster brand equity, as attending or hosting an event can create a positive response among consumers that leaves a lasting impression – leading to increased loyalty and more frequent interactions with the company going forward.

    Creating Digital Content for Promotion

    Creating and managing content is a key aspect of organizing a successful event. 

    It involves carefully planning how to share information, connect with your audience, set realistic expectations, and establish communication between event organizers and potential attendees.

    there is a person sitting at a table while making a newsletter with a laptop and a cup of coffee

    To reach as many people as possible, creating multiple accounts and investing in an event app or website that showcases all the important information at any given time is important. 

    Social media features like newsletters can also be used to keep people informed of any updates related to the event.

    Keeping all contacts up-to-date on any changes is crucial so nobody is left out of the loop.

    Lastly, assigning someone to review and update content regularly ensures that all official information about the event remains up-to-date. 

    Taking care of all these aspects gives you a solid foundation for promoting any event.

    Developing Creative Ideas to Appeal to Attendees

    a female influencer with curly hair smiles for the camera

    Creative marketing ideas can be a great way to make an event more appealing to potential attendees. 

    For example, one popular trend is influencer marketing which involves engaging with influencers in your field and having them promote the event on their channels. 

    Additionally, behind-the-scenes content related to the event, such as videos or podcasts featuring the speakers, are great ways to get people interested in what’s happening.

    One especially effective strategy for virtual events is offering digital gift bags which provide ebooks, music, coupon codes, video content, and more to attendees when they sign up. 

    This helps sponsors track attendee engagement while providing valuable rewards that encourage registrants.

    Make sure you include the value of these rewards in any promotional outreach; by doing this, you can emphasize how attending your event will be interesting and highly rewarding!

    Make a Big Impact with We & Goliath

    We’re proud to help helped promote, produce, and earn repeat work helping large and small clients grow their Return on Event. 

    The better the marketing and promotion of your event, the more successful it’s likely to be. It can not only drive attendance. It can create real excitement!

    The team at We & Goliath has far more experience in marketing and promotion than most event companies. So you can count on having a marketing and promotion package to ensure your event’s success.

    Everything you need to promote your event…Consider it done (for you).

    Our design team can create a complete package of custom-branded marketing materials, including Animated promo videos, social media invite and highlight videos, logos, print materials, website registration landing pages, and more.

    Contact We & Goliath today for your free marketing strategy session. We are ready to help you make a big impact with your next event!

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    We & Goliath

    We & Goliath is an award-winning, top 100 worldwide event agency known for increasing conference attendance by 7X and profits by 3X through beautifully designed virtual, hybrid, and in-person events. Since 1999, their team of innovative strategists and creative designers has worked with global enterprises, SMBs, non-profits, and other organizations to engage audiences and exceed expectations.

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    We create iconic events that generate buzz.

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