Fundamentals of Event Marketing How-To Guide

1. How-To Guide Fundamentals of Event Marketing Executive Summary According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), there are 14,451 tradeshow events held annually in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Tradeshows are just one of a variety of event types that organizations are using to promote their brand and generate leads. Events have strong appeal for many organizations because they facilitate face-to- face interaction with large groups of customers and prospects. This How-To Guide is designed to provide practical advice for executing an event marketing strategy. This guide outlines use cases for event marketing, event marketing best practices, the keys to a successful event, and a detailed action plan to begin your event marketing initiative. It is intended for use prior to and in conjunction with our Executing an Event Marketing Plan How-To Guide. What is Event Marketing? From a marketing perspective, an event is simply an activity designed to bring a specific group of people together at some venue at a specific time and for a specific purpose. Here are some other definitions of event marketing: “The activity of designing or developing a themed activity, occasion, display, or exhibit (such as a sporting event, music festival, fair, or concert) to promote a product, cause, or organization.” - BusinessDictionary.com © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

2. How-To Guide “Event marketing is the effort to spread recognition of an entity by association with a social event. Constant competition for the public’s attention rages in print and broadcast media. Event marketing moves that competition to the experiential arena and hopes to engage the participant more fully and make memories more lasting. An experience that is fun, participatory, and readily available may translate into the desired action by the event attendee, making the effort cost-effective.” – WiseGEEK.com The fundamental events marketing premise is to offer something of value to attendees, often education or entertainment, that draws them to the event. This gathering of attendees, who are typically customers or prospects, is then exploited for marketing purposes. What Constitutes an Event? Events come in a wide variety of forms, including but not limited to the following types: Trade Shows Conference Exhibits Webinars Virtual Events Ribbon Cuttings (e.g. new office) Press Conferences Focus Groups Training & Education Sessions Customer Socials or Reception Product Demonstrations Sponsored Sporting Events Business dinners Shareholder meetings Product Launches © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

3. How-To Guide Value of Event Marketing Event marketing is an excellent strategy for many companies because: Events concentrate groups of customers that represent a company’s target market in one place and at one time. They facilitate face-to-face interaction with customers and prospects, which is usually the most prized form of interaction. Because of the face-to-face interaction (or real-time interaction in the case of virtual or online events), they create a stronger impression than other forms of promotion. This impression is ideally favorable, but poor execution at an event can damage the relationships or create negative impressions. The quality of interaction at events can accelerate the sales cycle. As the diagram below illustrates, different types of events are effective throughout the sales cycle: © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

4. How-To Guide Event Marketing Spectrum For some companies, events are the primary marketing strategy. For others, events are just one of many tactics used to accomplish sales and marketing goals. Your company’s level of commitment to events will vary depending on the forces driving your marketing strategy. Using the chart below, determine if events are a strategic part of your marketing mix or if they are more tactical in nature: Events as a “Tactic” Events as a “Strategy” Frequent events needed to hit revenue targets. Infrequent events, as needed. Complementary to mission. Critical to success of mission. Ad hoc team, minimal resources. Dedicated team and resources. Viewed as critical investment with clear ROI. Viewed as a cost center. Decide which side your organization falls on this event marketing spectrum by selecting the characteristic below that best describes your disposition: Low - You use events infrequently, but you still need to do them well. Med - You use events periodically, and want to get more out of them. High - Events are a strategic part of your marketing plan, and want to show ROI. © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

5. How-To Guide Note: Even if events aren’t a strategic part of your marketing mix, you must be sure to do them well or risk damage to your firm’s reputation. Key Success Factors for Events Review the key success factors below and consider the reasoning provided. Key Success Factor Reasoning If you are unsure of objectives, how can you Clear objectives for each event show results? Events can be stressful if they are not carefully Meticulous planning planned. You can’t afford to have an event turn into a Flawless execution disaster. Events are only successful if you have enough Solid promotion attendees. You need to know which events provide the Measurement of results most ROI. © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

6. How-To Guide Action Plan: How to Get Started 1.Review our Executing an Event Marketing Plan How-To Guide– to understand the all the steps in the event planning process. The first step in this planning process is to set objectives for your event marketing initiative. For many companies, the objective is lead generation. Whatever it is for your organization, have clear objectives and build your event marketing strategy around them. 2.Identify where you fit on the Event Marketing Spectrum. Whether events are infrequent and tactical for your organization, or frequent and strategic, understand this and prepare to invest appropriately. 3.Download our Event Marketing Plan Methodology to create & manage your event marketing strategy. Make sure that your planning accounts for each of the key success factors identified in this document. 4.Prepare your company. – As prescribed in the Event Marketing Plan Methodology, establish a budget for your event marketing plan. Even more important, put a set of measurements in place to track the results your event marketing efforts produce. Bottom Line Event marketing can accomplish many key objectives: lead generation, sales cycle acceleration and overall brand perception enhancement. Does it make sense for your business to use events as a marketing strategy? To answer this question intelligently, first consider your objective for participating in or hosting them. Reasonable objectives include lead generation, brand awareness, thought leadership, partner recruiting, media exposure © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

7. How-To Guide or something else. Set an objective before you do anything else, because you’ll optimize your presence at an event around this objective. Your planning and preparedness will determine the extent to which event marketing will produce the desired outcome. Assessing your organization’s current commitment to event marketing and creating a detailed event marketing plan will help you get a return on your investment in events. © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.