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Session 2: On-Line Marketing Considerations for Effective Event Management. Marketing Reach of the Site.
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Session 2: On-Line Marketing Considerations for Effective Event Management
Marketing Reach of the Site • Once event information has been assembled and presented in such a way that it can be readily found and understood, then it becomes important to make sure that people will actually see it, i.e., to market the Web site. • Positioning of the Event site through effective search engine strategy • Establishment of Event promotion partnerships • Other Web marketing recommendations: The right promotional URL, banner advertisements, link exchanges • Online client servicing
Marketing Reach of the Site • Register your Event site with the leading search engines and directories. None of the search engines has all Web pages indexed. KEY:GG=Google, FAST=FAST, AV=AltaVista, INK=Inktomi, WT=WebTop.com,NL=Northern Light, EX=Excite. As of April 2001.
Search Engines • Search engines (=automatic listings) • vs. Directories (= depend on humans to create the listings) • Search engines use various ranking systems. • location and frequency of keywords on a Web page as basic rule • each search engines adds its own additional criteria, such as “extra points” for link popularity (e.g. Excite) • Hybrid search engines give relevancy boosts to Web sites they have reviewed. • Meta tags to increase the relevancy ranking work on some search engines (e.g. HotBot, Infoseek). • Registration with search engines and securing a high ranking in their results return has become a science in itself. -> consult http://searchenginewatch.com
Most Important Search Engines/Directories • Google • Yahoo (directory) • MSN Search • HotBot • Ask Jeeves • Excite • Lycos (hybrid) see “Major Search Engines” handouts • Altavista (search engine) • AOL Search Meta Search engines: • Dogpile • One2Seek
Search Engine Strategy • Important to know the features of crawler-based search engines that affect how sites are indexed and ranked. • Pick your strategic keywords: How do you think people will search for your Events page? • Position your keywords in crucial locations • Submit your key pages to the most important search engines and directories. • Do it yourself or consider using a submission service • Refer to individual search engines how they index a URL or consult http://www.searchenginewatch.com (see handouts) • Verify and maintain your ranking – do it yourself or use a position checking service
Strategies to Improve the Site’s Rankings Focus on page title • Pages with keywords appearing in the title are assumed to be more relevant than others to the topic. • Input more text, especially on the front page • Frequency - search engines analyze how often keywords appear. • Search engines also check to see if keywords appear near the top of a Web page.
Establishment of Partnerships • Establish and cultivate partnerships with related Web sites • Identify all possible ways a user might reach the site, contact those multiplier sites and ask them to establish reciprocal links • Ideas for relevant sites: • Trade or tourism promotion agencies • Sectoral sites • Regional sites • Business Associations • Embassies abroad • Event promotion sites (incl. event calendars)
Other Web Marketing Recommendations • The URL of the Event site should be relevant and easy to remember. Options include: • Promotional name: Arab Business Meeting -- http://www.arab4business.com • Full/partial name: Latin America Investor Summit-- http://www.latin-summit.com • Country’s name: Mexitronica Expo 2002--http://www.mexitronica.com • Abbreviations: Central European Initiative Economic Forum -- http:// www.ceinet.org
Other Web Marketing Recommendations • Event Web site promotion using advertising on relevant trade and investment-related sites • The concept of banner advertisements • Selective use of paid banner advertising on relevant Web sites • Link Exchanges (Global Information Network)
Update Traditional Public Relations Activities for the Web • Examples • Traditional conference brochure - Event Web site • Advertise in general financial - Include URL in industry specific media advertisement • Engage in direct mail campaigns - Use e-mail • Send hard copies of brochures - Online publications • Engage in firm-specific research - Research through the Internet • often complementary
Client Servicing - Practical Examples • Post forms, accept completed forms and check status on the Web site • Provide publications or publications order forms • Host discussions/message boards on particular topics of interest • Offer targeted information services (e.g., e-mail news alerts) • Solicit feedback on the Web site • Build community through directories and compile mailing lists to communicate with clients • Member’s area’s (pre-event client servicing)
