How to Use an Event to Grow Your Brand
Create Easy Engaging Video for Instagram Workshop by Babe Crafted // Photo by A Creative Co
Thinking about hosting an event to boost your brand and reach new clients? I love that idea! Let’s put our heads together and talk about how to create an event strategy that will turn your event from a one-hit-wonder into an evergreen marketing opportunity!
Events help you build a solid brand & reputation, so first let’s change our perspective on your upcoming event. The way to do this, is to start by changing how you think about it. Let’s stop thinking of it as one night and instead think of it as a long-term opportunity. There are 3 phases: Pre-event, During the Event, and Post-event.
Next, we’ll talk about how to build your attendee list and engage them during each phase of your event.
Finally, we’ll showcase some tangible ways to maximize your event and turn it into the evergreen marketing opportunity I teased earlier.
Ready to dive in? Let’s do this, babe!
Create Easy Engaging Video for Instagram Workshop by Babe Crafted // Photo by A Creative Co
Step 1 // Pre-event Activity
It’s important to be marketing-minded when planning an event. You want to make sure you’re representing your brand and staying in communication with your attendees during the lead up to your event. These people might be potential or confirmed attendees right now, but in the future they could become clients.
Here’s how to make a great impression before they even walk in the door on the day/night of the event:
- Create a Facebook event and invite some potential attendees. Facebook posts may not be high-performing, but many people still find out about relevant events through Facebook.
- Respond to all messages and comments related to the event to show your responsiveness and that you value the time of your attendees.
- Post consistently and highlight various aspects of the event as well as updates/new developments to showcase why the event is not-to-miss.
- Spread your content & promotions across different channels because a potential attendees might be following you on Facebook, but not on Instagram and vice versa.
- Hire a photographer! I can’t stress enough how important it is to document & capture your events. Both from a standpoint of post-event promotion as well as a way to utilize them in your branding and future content.
- Send an email out to your confirmed attendees the day before with pertinent details on parking, the address, start time, etc. so they have everything they need without having to hunt for it.
Create Easy Engaging Video for Instagram Workshop by Babe Crafted // Photo by A Creative Co
Step 2 // What to Do During the Event
- Staff your check in table! This makes a huge difference in your attendee experience. Greetings should be warm & welcoming.
- Pre-create your attendee name tags. This takes their experience from ‘no one knows me’ to ‘they’re expecting me.’
- If this is a non-ticketed event, collect emails in exchange for a giveaway entry or a complimentary gift. Emails are an important way to keep in touch with your attendees/potential clients.
- Capture photos and video clips for social media and tag attendees in the content. Encourage them to tag you in their IG Stories, etc so you can repost (and be exposed to their audience!).
Create Easy Engaging Video for Instagram Workshop by Babe Crafted // Photo by A Creative Co
Step 3 // Maximize Your Impact Post-event
Add all of the attendees emails (both from the registrations and the collected ones on the night of) to your email marketing platform and send a ‘Thank You’ email within 24 hours.
Create ‘Thank You’ social media posts to showcase that you respect your attendees’ time and are grateful they showed up for you.
When your photographer delivers the event photos, create a Facebook album and a post-event blog with a handful of the images and a link to where more can be found.
Be sure to share a handful of your favorite images to each of your social media platforms as well as in the Facebook event page to keep top of mind with the people who RSVP’d to your event.
Utilize one to three of the best images on your website and as Facebook header image slides.
Showcase the event images as social media content as part of #FlashbackFriday and #ThrowbackThursday content.
Continue to highlight the event by featuring one of the best images as a blog or newsletter header image and be sure the add context in the caption.
Bonus: Your ‘Thank You’ email and social media should also have a call to action, such as ‘Book a call with me to learn more’ or ‘Sign up here to pre-register for our next event.’ Customize the call to action to fit your goals and what your Ideal Client is looking for.
Create Easy Engaging Video for Instagram Workshop by Babe Crafted // Photo by A Creative Co
Step 4 // Improve & Repeat
Send out a survey to your attendees (no more than 5 questions) so you can identify what worked well & what could be improved. Include an incentive for filling it out, such as a small gift or an entry to win a bigger prize (remember, your attendees’ time is precious!).
I hope this blog will be of great help as you navigate hosting your very first event!
Remember that all of the consistent & strategic efforts you put into each of the 3 phases (pre, during, and post) will help you showcase your expertise, build your brand’s reputation, and help you stay top of mind with your Ideal Client.
Comment below with any questions you have and I’ll respond with some tips & ideas.
I’m rooting for you! xx -Gina
PSSST! I mention sending event reminders & thank you via email to your attendees and if you’re not already committed to an email marketing platform, I highly recommend Flodesk. I switched from Mail Chimp to Flodesk in 2019 and it has helped me promote Babe Crafted and Boss Babe Club events like never before! Use my affiliate link here to snag a free 30-day trial and a subscription rate of $19 per month instead of $38. Cheers, babe!
