Winter 2009 - Marketing Dimensions from Felber & Felber Marketing

	Winter 2009

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Special Event Marketing - Does it Make Sense with Limited Budgets?

By Bruce Felber
Attend a trade show, open house, golf outing, seminar and/or business social event within the past year? I bet you answered yes. Now think about why you attended these events. Some of the most common answers are to: "increase my knowledge about my industry," "learn about new product or service offerings," or, "just to have fun and meet new people."

Why we still attend
With the economy struggling on several fronts, why are organizations and companies still attending, and more importantly, participating in special events? Besides commiserating together about the economy and the social aspects of gatherings, some of the leading factors are that companies want to:

Network their way to more sales opportunities

Create relationships with economic buyers

Showcase products and services to a highly-qualified group

Foster "good will" with current clients and employees

Support and be seen supporting charitable causes

Increase company visibility and 'top of mind' awareness

The list can go on and on but the bottom line in today's business climate - it may be the most economical way to get more bang for your buck.

Sales call expenses
Consider the cost to make a sales call. You have the mileage/auto expense, travel, meals, lodging and time with the prospect, not to mention literature expense and the time required to follow-up after your call. Now, take all these expenses and multiply several times for each and every contact; adds up fast, huh? Obviously, the big factor is the time. How many sales calls can you make in a given week? The saying "time is money" may be old, but never more true than right now. Special events allow you to reduce the cost per contact in a larger group setting and influence your prospect or customer for longer periods of time.

Make it Successful
So what can you do to make these events successful? Knowing your target is the key to success; choose the venue that is sure to draw the prospect out. The attraction may be a cool, new restaurant or even the tour of the facility. Or, the venue may be theme related such as an exclusive golf club, complete with free swing analysis with the local PGA Pro. The time of week, month and season may also have an influence on the outcome.

Make sure your pre-event promotion is focused, fun and designed to attract attention. Focus your messages and graphics and ensure the delivery is timed to allow sufficient reaction time. Don't forget to involve the appropriate trade or business media to maximize event publicity.

Take the extra step to synchronize invitations and collateral with event signage, themed decorations and entertainment. The flow of the event from how to greet people, what to hand out, how to handle requests and questions is also critical; make sure to train and assign the right people to these tasks. Don't forget to display and communicate your products and services.

Finishing Touches
How you follow-up and say thank you is critical. Don't leave people hanging; this is not a suspense thriller. Practice what you preach and follow-up immediately after the event. Five to seven days is the maximum window of follow-up time; anything after seven days is irrelevant. If you value the attendees' opinions, consider an email survey (a short one) within the first 24 hours.

Special events can be very profitable, but know your desired expectations and be realistic on how quickly people will take action on the information you presented. Above all have fun with the event. Do not make it a chore. Use the time in the spotlight to really hit a home run.

For more tips on how to develop your next special event or trade show, call Bruce Felber or email him at brucefelber@felberandfelber.com.

See how we planned and executed Castle Aviation's open house.

Contact Felber & Felber Marketing at 330.963.3664 or info@felberandfelber.com.

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