EXECUTING

AN EVENT
MARKETING
PLAN

HOW-TO GUIDE
 Executing an Event Marketing Plan
HOW-TO GUIDE

Event Marketing is used to support a variety of marketing programs and initiatives. Deciding what
types of events to attend and/or host, identifying the content you will present, initiating promotion
to attendees, and evaluating every detail of your event(s) are just a few components of the overall
event marketing process. Meticulous planning and effective promotion of your event will ultim-
ately lead to ease of execution and, in turn, a positive response.

This How-To Guide is designed to provide practical advice on planning, promoting, and executing
your event marketing plan. This guide outlines the event planning process, provides tips to
promote your events, and explains how to execute a successful event.

Download the Demand Metric Event Marketing Playbook to leverage event

marketing best practices.

What Does the Event Marketing Planning Process Involve?

After you have committed to an event or an event strategy, you will enter a planning phase. To
make the best possible impression, events require extensive planning. Here are some items that
need to be considered.

Selecting Events
When considering tradeshows and industry conferences to choose from, there are some key
factors that should influence your choices:

The types of events your customers and prospects attend

Which events show reputation and quality
The presence of competitors
Cost

If you plan on attending a trade show, use Demand Metric's Tradeshow Evaluation Matrix
to determine the best fit.

2 EXECUTING AN EVENT MARKETING PLAN HOW-TO GUIDE

Choosing a Venue (if Hosting)
When choosing a venue for your event it is important to consider:

Capacity Availability
Amenities Maintenance
Parking Food and Beverage
Pricing/Fees Technical Requirements
Storage

Staffing your Event

Determine the optimal staffing requirements to ensure success. Elements to consider include:

Staffing Level — At tradeshows, staff for peak traffic flows to ensure prospects aren't waiting
or passing by because your team is busy.
Set-up — Create a team just for set-up and take-down to allow staff involved in the actual event
to focus on the purpose of the event and potential clients.
Length — At day-long events, plan to have enough staff at peak times and schedule breaks
accordingly.
Type — Bring customer-facing staff (sales, marketing and support) to the event. Personable
and/or outgoing team members are generally best.

Technology Requirements
Determine your technology requirements and ensure the event venue is able to accommodate
them. Aspects to consider in your planning include: Internet availability, mobile phone coverage,
equipment (PCs, displays, and/or other demo devices), electrical/power requirements, and the
availability of a lead capturing system at your venue.

Promotion Items and Collateral

Determine what promotional items and marketing materials are needed to provide for event atten-
dees. Promotional items and collateral may include branded giveaways, contests and/or draws,
and marketing materials. Keep in mind that tradeshow attendees throw away much of what they
get before heading home. Provide basic product and company information, and plan to follow-up
after the event to provide more details.

Amenities
Consider other amenities your event may need and plan for them. Amenities can include, but are
not limited to, catering, decorations, booth design, and signage.

3 EXECUTING AN EVENT MARKETING PLAN HOW-TO GUIDE

Key Steps of Event Promotion
When it comes to event planning, the promotion strategy deserves special attention. You can tend to
all other details ofevent planning, but if you don't promote your event properly, it can easily fail. This
section will cover three steps of event promotion.

Pre-Event Marketing and Promotion for Tradeshows

Promote your presence prior to a trade show by incorporating the following activities into your
promotional strategy:

Promote your attendance via your website, blog, eNewsletter, and social media channels.

Obtain registration lists from show organizers and develop pre-event communications to atten-
dees such as direct mail, email, or both.

Help attendees qualify themselves in your communications by positioning your company or

featured solution.

Indicate your booth number or location and provide an incentive for people to visit ("register to
win", "stop by to pick up swag," "see a demo" etc.).

Pre-Event Marketing for Events you Produce

Before you kick-off your upcoming event, follow the steps below to help increase attendance:

Collaborate internally with sales team and executives to identify ideal attendees.
Determine advertising strategy: invitations, print ads, social media, email, other.
If using invitations, build the guest list and design invitations.
If you require an RSVP, have a follow-up plan to ensure attendance.
Make sure that accepting an invitation is as simple as possible.
Provide all event details in your promotional material: time, place, duration, transportation, etc.

At Event Promotion

If your objective is to obtain impressions (encounters with attendees/leads), your goal is to:

Maximize the number of impressions you get.

Have the impressions you get represent your brand well.
Capture significant "impressions" as leads

Impressions are valuable opportunities to create and build relationships with potential leads. Make
sure your presence at an event takes full advantage of these opportunities.

4 EXECUTING AN EVENT MARKETING PLAN HOW-TO GUIDE

Essentials To Successful Event Execution
A successful event is a product of meticulous planning and flawless execution. The more care and
effort invested in planning, the easier the event is to execute, and the more likely it is to succeed. Here
are a few pointers to keep in mind.

Focus on details

Anyone who has managed an event will tell you that if something is likely to go wrong, it will. For
this reason, best practices for managing event execution include:

Work your Plan — check and double-check your plan, then work from it.

Anticipate Problems — expect the unexpected. Come up with a plan of action for potential
problems or issues so you're ready to deal with them quickly and efficiently, and avoid any
disruption during the event.

Be Specific — make no assumptions. Any aspect of your plan that lacks sufficient detail risks
being misinterpreted and executed incorrectly.

Show Up Early — give yourself plenty of problem resolution time.

Communicate Proactively - communicate with everyone involved to ensure roles and

responsibilities are well understood.

Manage the participants

Events usually require the participation of internal and external stakeholders. A few tips for
managing participants include:

Clarify Roles — make sure that everyone who has a role understands their specific responsibilities.

Set Expectations — In addition to clarifying roles, communicate exactly what is expected from
every participant, and get acknowledgement of acceptance and understanding.

Send Reminders — Don't assume that participants will remember their role. Communicate their
responsibilities and confirm their commitment before the event.

5 EXECUTING AN EVENT MARKETING PLAN HOW-TO GUIDE

Plan for contingencies

Consider "worst case senarios" and have a contingency plan for each one. Examples to consider:

Malfunctioning demo technology

Speaker/presenter no-show
Inclement weather
Booth display or materials fail to arrive at show site
Flight delays or cancellations

Bottom Line
Events can have a large impact on your brand's overall perception. By outlining every detail
of your event(s), advertising your presence, and executing your event(s) flawlessly; attendees
will take away, at a minimum, a positive experience associated with your brand and company.
Potential clients and partners will remember those positive experiences when considering doing
business with your company in the future.

6 EXECUTING AN EVENT MARKETING PLAN HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 1 - Begin the Planning Process

Begin the Leverage Our Playbooks

1 Planning
Process for Every Event

Work with your team to plan

2 Promotion for tradeshows, conferences,

webinars, or any other
events you are planning to
attend or host.

A few tools that may assist

Execute and you in the planning process:
3 Attend our Webinar Program
Playbook and Event
Marketing Playbook.

Evaluate and
4 Measure the WEBINAR PROGRAM
Playbook & Toolkit

Results

Follow this simple step-by-step playbook to develop

a webinar program that supports your company’s goals & objectives.

Webinar Program Playbook

VIEW RESOURCE

7 EXECUTING AN EVENT MARKETING PLAN HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 2 - Promotion

Begin the Advertise Right with

1 Planning Process the Marketing Calendar
Template

2 Promotion Advertise your events to

ensure you get enough
attendees to justify
the investment in your
tradeshow, conference, and/
Execute and or webinar.
3 Attend

Evaluate and
4 Measure the
Results
Marketing Calendar Template

VIEW RESOURCE

8 EXECUTING AN EVENT MARKETING PLAN HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 3 - Execute and Attend

Begin the Leverage the Event

1 Planning Process Marketing Checklist

Now that your planning

2 Promotion and promotion stages are
complete, you can attend
your events and ensure
everything runs smoothly.

3 Execute and
Attend

Evaluate and
4 Measure the
Event Planning Checklist

Results
VIEW RESOURCE

9 EXECUTING AN EVENT MARKETING PLAN HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 4 - Evaluate and Measure The Results

Begin the Event Results Are

1 Planning Process Clearest with These Event
Dashboards

2 Promotion Our Key Marketing Metrics

Dashboard will help you track
and assess the results from all
of your event marketing efforts.

Execute and
3 Attend

Evaluate and Key Marketing Metrics Dashboard

4 Measure the
Results VIEW RESOURCE

Event Marketing Metrics Dashboard

VIEW RESOURCE

10 EXECUTING AN EVENT MARKETING PLAN HOW-TO GUIDE

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