Organising a successful event is a complex task; even the most experienced marketers can stumble along the way. Whether planning a corporate conference, a music festival, or a product launch, avoiding common pitfalls can make the difference between an event that’s unforgettable for all the right reasons and one that’s memorable for the wrong ones. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the most frequent event marketing mistakes and share practical tips on how to avoid them, ensuring your next event is a resounding success.
Common Event Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Failing to Define Clear Event Goals
One of the most common mistakes event marketers make is not setting specific, measurable objectives for their events. Without clear goals, it becomes difficult to determine the success of an event and justify the investment. Goals should be aligned with the overall marketing strategy and tied to key performance indicators (KPIs) such as ticket sales, lead generation, or brand awareness.
To set effective event goals, ask yourself what you want to achieve through the event. Is it to generate leads, build brand loyalty, or launch a new product? Once you clearly understand your objectives, break them down into specific, measurable targets. For example, instead of setting a goal to “increase brand awareness,” aim to “achieve a 20% increase in social media mentions during the event.”
Targeting the Wrong Audience
Another common event marketing mistake is failing to research and understand your ideal attendees. Event marketers often promote their events to a broad audience without considering who is most likely to be interested and benefit from attending. This leads to low engagement and poor ROI.
To avoid this mistake:
- Create buyer personas for your ideal attendees.
- Consider demographics, job titles, interests, and pain points.
- Use this information to tailor your event content and promotion strategies to attract the right people.
- Avoid focusing on a single factor like age.
For example, let’s say your event appeals to people over 40. Assuming your event appeals to all 40-year-olds is a mistake. Think about it—Mark Zuckerberg and Khloe Kardashian are both 40 years old, but their interests differ vastly. You need to narrow your focus and be very specific in targeting the right people.
Conducting Audience Research
Effective audience research involves a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Start by analysing your existing customer data and identifying common characteristics among your best clients. Conduct surveys and interviews to gain deeper insights into their preferences and challenges.
Tip: research industry trends and attend similar events to understand what resonates with your target audience.
Neglecting Pre-Event Promotion
Many event marketers wait too long to start promoting their events, leaving little time to build buzz and drive registrations. To maximise event attendance, start promoting at least 6-8 weeks in advance and implement an omnichannel approach.
Reading and Leeds Festival does a great job of building excitement as the event approaches. They keep potential attendees engaged by posting regularly on social media. Even 150 days before the festival, they share photos and videos from past years to keep the buzz going. This approach maximises their reach, boosts brand awareness, and enhances their overall impact.
Leveraging Email Marketing
Email is one of the most effective channels for event promotion. To make the most of email marketing, segment your list based on factors such as job title, industry, or past event attendance. Personalise your messages and highlight the benefits of attending specific to each segment.
According to Campaign Monitor, these are the benchmarks for email marketing campaigns depending on the industry:
Not Measuring Event ROI
Everyone is eager to understand this metric! What is the return on investment? Was the event worthwhile? Was it profitable? To accurately measure event ROI, pinpoint the KPIs matching your event objectives. Common metrics to consider are ticket sales, lead generation, attendee satisfaction, and social media engagement.
Calculating Event ROI
To figure out how profitable your event was, you can calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) using this formula:
ROI = (Total Event Revenue – Total Event Expenses) / Total Event Expenses x 100
Here’s a step-by-step example:
Overlooking Post-Event Follow-Up
The event has concluded—congratulations on making it through! However, your work isn’t finished just yet. Post-event follow-up is essential for nurturing leads, building relationships, and maximising long-term ROI.
To fully leverage your event investment, develop a post-event engagement plan. This plan should feature personalised email campaigns, content offerings, and targeted advertisements. Be sure to segment your attendee list by factors such as job title, industry, or product interest, and customise your follow-up messages to match.
Event Promotion Mistakes to Sidestep
Over-Reliance on One Promotion Channel
Many event organisers make the mistake of focusing their promotional efforts on a single channel, such as email. While email is effective, relying solely on one method limits your reach and potential for success.
To avoid this event marketing mistake, diversify your event promotion across multiple channels. This includes email, social media, paid advertising, content marketing, and partnerships with industry influencers or complementary brands. By spreading your message across various platforms, you increase the likelihood of reaching your target audience and driving registrations.
Tailoring Your Messaging for Each Platform
When promoting your event across different channels, it is crucial to tailor your messaging and creative assets to each platform. For example, your copy and visuals in an email campaign may not be as effective on social media.
Consider the unique characteristics and best practices of each channel:
For example, Adventure Cinema employs distinct social media and email marketing strategies. On social media, they focus primarily on photo content and avoid heavy use of calls to action (CTAs). In contrast, their email marketing features more graphics, frequent CTAs, and a sense of urgency conveyed through the subject lines.
By adapting your messaging to each channel, you’ll improve the effectiveness of your event promotion and reach a wider audience.
Ignoring Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for event promotion, yet many organisers fail to use it to its full potential. They may create an event page on Facebook or LinkedIn but neglect to actively engage with their audience or build excitement leading up to the event.
To utilise social media for your event:
- Develop a comprehensive social media strategy that outlines your goals, target platforms, and content plan.
- Create shareable content, such as event teasers, spotlights, and behind-the-scenes glimpses. Ideally, you want to create content people want to send to their friends.
- Encourage attendees to engage with your event hashtag and share their content.
- Partner with industry influencers to expand your reach and credibility.
- Run social media contests or giveaways to incentivise engagement and registrations.
By actively engaging with your audience on social media, you can build a community around your event, generate buzz, and drive ticket sales.
Conclusion
Event marketing mistakes can lead to lacklustre results and wasted resources. By setting clear goals, targeting the right audience, promoting your event well in advance, measuring ROI accurately, and engaging in post-event follow-up, you can ensure your event is memorable for all the right reasons. Diversifying your promotional channels and tailoring your messaging for each platform, especially on social media, will further enhance your reach and impact. Keep these tips in mind, and you’re well on your way to hosting an event that stands out and achieves your objectives. Happy planning!
Are you guilty of making these event marketing mistakes? Here are the ways we can support your marketing needs!
Recommended read: Transforming Event Marketing with User-Generated Content
