There is no substitute for in-person events to build a deep relationship with the people you are trying to serve with your marketing.
Whether they are current or new customers, influencers or people who can support your efforts, no amount of digital marketing automation, inbound or outbound activities, can take the place of human interaction.
The best events I have ever attended always had a profoundly moving emotional connection. They can be thrilling and unexpected like Cirque du Soleil, they can be structured and well-planned like a Broadway play like Les Miserables, or they can be cerebral and engaging like a Ted Talk. The best events share a few things in common.
- They are organized to serve a community.
- The organizers align the needs and desires of the community with the participants.
- The event gives everyone a chance to be educated and entertained.
- A lot of thought and care goes into how to bring more value to the experience than expected. Care was taken to make the experience special.
- The emphasis is on the experience, not the transaction. It doesn’t feel as if anyone is selling to you. If feels like they are giving you value and serving you.
- Over time, the event keeps evolving and improving as a distinctive feedback loop is in place for continuous improvement. Each event takes it up a notch.
- There is room to breathe so the event isn’t like a road race. Time the pace and rhythm of humans, not robots running through an activity.
- An element of surprise happens so that something unexpected injects energy into the moments together.
Event Marketing for Human Beings
During my career, I got to imagine and create several events. Some were targeted to teens and were consumer-focused. (Rebelliache for Slim Jim Consumers) Other events (The Marketing Exchange) focused on reaching marketing professionals who worked in the global wine industry. The common thread in all of these events was being mindful that we weren’t trying to influence our target audience. Instead, we worked hard to deliver value to people with a beating hearts. The goal was simply to bring an amazing experience to people we served with our brand.
If you are creating an event to changes peoples attitudes, start by touching their heart and soul.
Need help with the strategic planning of an important event? Trying to improve events that may be growing stale? Let’s talk. 919 720 0995 or email me at jeffslater@themarketingsage.com – You can set up time on my calendar so I can learn more about your challenge.
Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash
