Event Marketing: How to Successfully Promote Events, Festivals, Conventions, and Expositions

clearly answer these questions. Figure 8-3 provides some exam-

ples of how to do this faster, better, and with greater profit.

Successful event marketers in the 21st century understand

how to quickly, effectively, and profitably respond to or create de-

mand for their event. It is essential that you continually keep your

ear and eye close to your target and emerging target markets to

learn how to quickly influence them to attend your event. If you

are late, or provide poor quality, or do not achieve a satisfactory

profit margin, your event competitors are waiting in the wings to

capture the market you have left behind.

How to Develop Scenarios for

Future Event Marketing Programs

Event risk managers often use scenario planning to forecast po-

tential hazards or hazardous situations. Event marketers must also

use scenarios to determine how to anticipate and, therefore, be

prepared for challenges and opportunities that may disrupt or en-

hance their event marketing plan. Figure 8-4 provides five sample

176 Chapter 8 Trends in Event Marketing

Faster, Better, More Profitable

Challenge Potential Solution

Faster Use the World Wide Web to conduct continuous virtual focus

groups to build demand and target your message.

Better Utilize nontraditional marketing partners to improve your market-

ing message delivery and reach new segments.

More Profitable Utilize sponsors to reduce marketing cost; implement vital

marketing through the Web to generate word-of-mouth interest

through targeted chat rooms and newsgroups.

Figure 8-3

Marketing is a major, if not themajor, expense item for many

events. It is incumbent upon the marketer to determine the most

cost- and time-effective methods of reaching the target

audiences.