Mimeo Lounge

10 Tips for Successful Event Marketing

Posted on February 11, 2008 at 11:53am, written by Jeff Grill, VP Marketing

Every industry has a conversation that takes place everyday.  That conversation or narrative is promoted via the media, blogs and in our conversations with colleagues.  One of the goals for marketing is to make sure that the product or solution you are selling always appears to be a viable solution for any issues that are being discussed.

Taking my own advice to heart, I put together an industry event for marketers and advertisers called Advertising Club of New York Meetup sponsored by Mimeo.com of course.  The purpose of the Meetup is to give 5 companies that are “in the news” the opportunity to impress the advertising and marketing community with a 5 minute presentation followed by Q&A.  It is part “Gong show”, part learning experience for the attendees...and part sales pitch for the presenters.

The Meetup does a good job of positioning Mimeo as a company that is directly at the center of the Web 2.0 fueled marketing revolution.  I’ve learned a few lessons along the way that are worth passing on:

1. When Planning an Event the devil is in the details – The weakest link in an event plan is at the entrance.  In New York City the night guard will never have the “updated” list of attendees and will use your event to exert his authority.  Expect a 15 minute delay to your start time.

2. Press Coverage is a Guarantee – Any event is bound to have several bloggers in attendance.  At my last event someone even secretly videotaped and posted it to his blog that night (Blog).  Coverage may even be in real time like this Blog by Howard Greenstein . or other coverage we got from reporter Caroline McCarthy on CNET.com. If your event is off the record, make it clear prior to starting.

3. People like to Participate – In 5 months we have over 700 people registered to hear about our bi-monthly event.  Who says everything needs to be virtual.  Score one for reality and real human beings.

4. Venue and Speakers Matter – It’s hard to get someone to leave their office and attend an event.  The rule of thumb is to use yourself as the test subject.  If the event is something that you would attend, odds are that others will as well.  Our biggest event was at Google and featured 6 speakers from Google.  Can you say 300 people in attendance.

5. You Can’t Please all of the People… - You need a thick skin since there is a critic in every crowd..  My advice.  Satisfy yourself.  Half of the people that attend our meetings are critical of something.  Be humble enough to learn, but don’t be overly sensitive.  After all, it’s your sweat and blood that is putting the event together.

6. Customize Sponsorship Materials – This is going to sound like a plug for Mimeo.com, but it works.  We took our sales collateral and created a custom wrap with the biographies of the speakers.  It guarantees that your materials will be taken and read.  What else can you do while waiting for an event to begin?  The cost of customization is low when compared to the cost of staging the event.

7. Communicate Often – You can never under communicate event details.  You know the old phrase, tell them, tell them again and then tell them what you told them.  All true.  Remind everyone 1 month prior to the event, 1 week prior, the day of and then be sure to post a recap after the event.

8. RSVPs are not accurate – We charge $5 at the door and ask that people RSVP in advance.  We usually see 40% of people that say they are going to come actually attend.

9. Organizing Takes Time – Every event we stage takes significantly more time than we anticipate.  Every speaker has specific needs not to mention the demands of the venue.  If it wasn’t for the support of the Advertising Club and our marketing assistant, I don’t know what I’d do.

10. Legitimize your Event through Partnerships – By creating an event through the The Advertising Club of New York we had access to support, venues and a membership base.  Instead of taking a year to establish something new, you can cut that in half by working with the right partners.

My last piece of advice is to only do something where you are going to personally have fun.  Events take a significant amount of work.  Executing them in a way that you will personally grow and enjoy makes your odds of success even greater.

Tags: advertising, advertising club of new york, caroline mccarthy, cnet, google, howard greenstein, marketing, meetup.com, mimeo.com