Event Marketing — Part 2

Earlier this week, I posted some initial points on successful event marketing. Today, I’ll share what I think are four keys to help any event be successful.
Know Your Audience
Too many companies, businesses and even festival and event groups spend more time marketing to themselves instead of their potential audience. Many events have several tiers or several different demographics for their events. It is important to know all your audiences and to target your event messages to each one. The SBA has a helpful article about establishing clear guidelines on how to drill down and learn about the people you’re trying to reach.
Your marketing message is not just the image you project in media. It is also the message you send to your staff, vendors and participants. From the way you reply to an email to the way you answer the phone. Positive correspondence to everyone involved in your event is key so they will continue to partner with you in the future.
And you must allocate your budget to grow for impressive creative and solid media plans and strategy.

Great committees need great people
There is no better way to market and make your event successful than great people. Building a team of great people will make things run smoothly, and their passion for your event will create viral marketing for your event and help.
Once you get great people and staff….hang on to them!
A positive attitude, passionate people and defined goals will make your successful year after year. This combination can quickly turn an event of a few hundred people into attendance of thousands.
Sponsorship Structure
An event needs sponsors to build community support and develop long-term funding. Offer what you can to reward sponsorship and always nurture community support. Once you gain the community support, think larger. A great resource for sponsorship structure and advice is IEG. They offer great webinars and affordable classes to help any size festival or event.
Brand your event
This can very simple. Every event needs a mark or a brand. Determine your overall theme and look, then carry it out in every piece of internal and external communication to be consistent with your message across all media.
Now it is time to make your event happen!
For more information about event marketing follow these related links:
www.eventmarketer.com
promomagazine.com/event/
For festival and event related links:
www.kdf.org
www.sunfestival.net
www.festivaldelsole.com
thecupexperience.com