WHAT'S EVENT MARKETING?
Event marketing is a form of marketing that focuses on themed exhibits, displays, or presentations to promote a product, service, cause, or an organization leveraging an in-person engagement. Events can occur online or offline, and can be participated in, hosted, or sponsored. Whatever the format, event marketing offers versatility to brands and is an incredibly effective strategy that builds long-term value.
Companies are believing in the power of live events and this trend will only continue to grow in the coming years. Forrester Research reports that 24% of the B2B marketing budget and by 2020 almost 4M professional events will be taking place on an annual basis.
WHAT TYPE OF EVENTS THAT ADD VALUE?
With the advances in technology combined with brands growing business needs result in a broad range of event types. With this understanding, Encoreable provides support to assists brands in building an event that aligns most with their specific marketing goals.
Let's take a look at a few examples:
1) Conferences (500+ capacity) Medium to large scale events make up a significant portion of the events industry. Conferences can be either B2B or B2C and usually have a schedule filled with engaging speakers, workshops, soft or formal entertainment and networking sessions. The most successful conferences deliver an energetic and social atmosphere.
2) Trade Shows (500+ capacity) Trade shows are also largely scaled, typically hosting thousands of attendees from all over the world or designated to a primary market. These events are usually held within a specific industry and give companies the opportunity to exhibit their products and services. Trade shows are the ideal setting for collecting qualified sales leads with a higher probability of converting to customers.
3) Seminars (500+/- capacity) Seminars usually take place in a more intimate setting and are heavily focused on educating or targeting specific audiences. The smaller group of attendees allows for more in-depth discussions and valuable knowledge sharing.
4) Roundtables (Varies) Roundtables are delivered in pursuit of educating audiences. Sizes usually vary but typically are smaller in scope to offer a more open-platform for engagement. Often this intimate setting allows audiences the opportunity to contribute to the conversation. Roundtables are made up of C-level executives like CEOs or COOs.
5) Summits (Varies) Summits are often exclusive and reserved for the C- level executives, industry leaders, and government officials. This is the forum where "big ideas" are discussed and "major deals" are made. Summits are smaller in scale, high profile in nature and consists mostly of speakers.
6) Virtual Events (Varies)
Virtual events are perfect for companies that don't want to host a full-scale live event or are tech-forward thinking and seek to deliver a unique experience for their audiences. for companies that cannot afford to travel to an international conference. Virtual events allow people to participate from all over the world, reducing expenses like travel and lodging accommodations. As the technology advances, virtual and augmented reality platforms deliver incredible experiences to audiences and can be combined with live events to create some amazing activations.
7) Hybrid Events (Varies)
Hybrids have elements of both site and online engagements. The versatile functionality gives event planners and organizers the freedom to stretch the limits of an event. Many hybrid events adopt the latest in technology to deliver news, upcoming changes or even create team building success with B2B and B2C audiences. Often partnerships with tech brands offer audiences access to break-through technology that stretches both scope and reach.