Event marketing presents businesses with a compelling opportunity to inform, educate and engage with their target audience either in-person or online.
We’ve put together a complete guide to event marketing, covering why it’s so important, the key benefits and how to create an effective strategy.
What Is Event Marketing?
Event marketing is experiential marketing that uses events as a medium to promote a product, service or brand. It revolves around creating opportunities for direct interaction between the business hosting the event and its target audience to drive engagement that may lead to conversions.
Both online and offline events can be used in event marketing, but the two approaches have some key differences. Most importantly, online (or virtual) events provide a cheaper and more accessible medium for event marketing, which is why the virtual event sector is growing rapidly, with a compound annual growth rate of almost 20%.
Why Is Event Marketing Important?
Events provide an excellent platform to deliver valuable content to an audience while offering opportunities for product, service or brand promotion. This combination makes them perfect for marketing purposes.
They can also act as a valuable source of audience data, with event engagement analytics generating insights into the audience’s preferences and pain points that can later be used to guide further marketing activities.
But, due in part to the rise of virtual events with their low barriers to entry, there’s a lot of competition for event marketers to overcome. That makes strategically planning your event marketing campaigns more important than ever.
What Are the Benefits of Event Marketing?
Event marketing stands out in the broader marketing mix because of the unique benefits it offers businesses.
One-To-One Engagement
Events provide a great platform for businesses to engage with their audience one-to-one. Virtual webinar hosting platforms, in particular, allow for direct audience interaction through Q&As, polls and dynamic calls-to-action (CTAs).
Increased Brand Awareness
Events revolve around content that offers value. With the right promotion, they can attract an audience of people who were previously unaware of the brand hosting the event, turning them into followers or even brand advocates.
Industry/Product Education
Events are often educational, whether they cover a topic of interest in a specific industry or product functionality. Hosting educational events — and offering certifications as an incentive— helps businesses position themselves as thought leaders, boosting their reputation.
Lead Generation
Events offer opportunities to generate leads and drive pipeline, even if they’re based around educational content. Virtual events are particularly effective at this, with the ability to integrate self-serve CTAs for product demos and more.
Customer Retention
Events that cover topics of interest to a business’s existing customers, like new product feature walkthroughs or marketing strategy guides, can keep them engaged and offer ongoing value that helps boost customer retention.
What Types of Event Marketing Exist?
Virtual or offline, educational or community-focused – there are diverse event types to consider in your event marketing strategy. These are some of the most popular.
Webinars
Webinars are online events where a single speaker or a small group delivers a presentation to an audience. They can be live or pre-recorded and tend to include engagement-focused sections that allow for audience interaction.
Virtual Events
The term virtual event refers to any type of event held virtually instead of in person. This includes webinars, virtual conferences, product walkthroughs, networking sessions and workshops.
Live Streaming Events
Live streaming events are virtual events broadcast live to an audience using a virtual event hosting platform like ON24, as opposed to prerecorded videos available on-demand.
Hybrid Events
Hybrid events unite physical and virtual experiences, offering audiences the chance to attend in-person or remotely and get the same value. Webinars, conferences, workshops and more can all be hosted as hybrid events.
Trade Shows
A trade show, also known as a trade fair, is an exhibition hosted to gather attendees from a specific industry (or trade) who showcase products or share ideas. Trade shows can take place both in person and virtually.
Conferences
Conferences are events oriented around knowledge-sharing and networking, gathering an audience from a particular sector or industry. Typically exclusively held in-person, virtual conference platforms allow this event to be held remotely.
Seminars
A seminar is an educational event where a single speaker or a panel discuss a specific topic live in front of an in-person audience, often with opportunities for audience engagement. It’s the in-person version of a webinar.
Pop-Up Shops
Pop-up shops are temporary physical retail spaces that “pop up” for a short time, usually to promote a newly launched product or generate brand awareness.
Workshops
Workshops are educational events that provide practical guidance or advice. They can be held in person or virtually and focus on using a specific product or achieving a particular outcome.
Content Marketing (Blog Posts, Videos, Case Studies)
Content marketing strategies are essential to amplify event visibility and engagement. Blog posts, videos, and case studies can provide pre-event teasers, showcase speaker expertise, or highlight key takeaways post-event. These assets not only promote the event but also help build long-term audience engagement.
Influencer or Ambassador-Driven Promotions
Engaging influencers or brand ambassadors to promote your event can significantly expand your reach. Their endorsement builds credibility and creates excitement among their followers, drawing more attendees who trust their recommendations.
Paid Marketing Strategies (PPC Ads, Event Sponsorships)
Paid strategies such as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and event sponsorships ensure your event reaches a larger, targeted audience. From search engine ads to banner placements on partner sites, these tactics generate awareness and drive registrations effectively.
Social Media Strategies (Hashtags, Contests, and UGC Content)
Social media is a powerhouse for event marketing. Leverage custom hashtags to track engagement, host contests to incentivize participation, and encourage user-generated content (UGC) to amplify reach. Interactive campaigns foster community excitement and increase event buzz.
Email Marketing and Automation Workflows
Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to promote events. Use automated workflows to send targeted reminders, share exclusive updates, and deliver personalized invitations. Post-event, follow up with attendees by sharing resources or surveys to maintain engagement.
How Do You Drive Demand to Your Events?
The success of an event relies in large part on the turnout, which means promotion is an essential part of an event marketing strategy. These are three of the best ways to drive demand to your event.
Remarketing
Targeting your customers and leads with remarketing campaigns through paid advertising channels or email is a great way to start event promotion, leveraging their preexisting brand awareness to generate interest in your event.
Content
Rolling out content related to your upcoming event across diverse channels, from YouTube to organic search, can generate interest from new audiences. Ensure to include event signup CTAs in each piece of content to maximize the results.
Social Media
Your existing audience across social media platforms like LinkedIn is already engaged with your brand, so sharing the news about your upcoming event can drive signups. You can also benefit from the viral effects of social media engagement to reach new audiences.
How to Plan, Implement, and Optimize Your Event Marketing Program
Event marketing success relies on thoughtful planning, seamless execution, and effective follow-up. By organizing your efforts into three distinct phases—Pre-Event Planning, During the Event, and Post-Event Follow-Up—you can maximize engagement, achieve measurable results, and refine your strategy for future campaigns.
1. Pre-Event Planning: Lay the Foundation
Successful event marketing begins long before the event itself. A robust pre-event plan ensures that every element of your strategy aligns with your goals and sets the stage for meaningful audience engagement.
Set SMART Goals and Define Your Budget
Start the planning process by setting a budget and establishing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your event. This will help keep you on track as you develop your strategy, ensuring it contributes to overall business objectives.
Expand your goals into a detailed timeline with key milestones. For example, if your objective is to generate 500 registrations, schedule deadlines for promotional campaigns—early bird offers, email reminders, and final registration pushes—to meet targets on time.
Craft a Cohesive Theme and Schedule
Create a cohesive theme and schedule for your event with your goals in mind and the needs and preferences of your target audience as guidelines. Consider what content will have the biggest impact and how to integrate engagement opportunities to connect with attendees.
Develop a clear roadmap that outlines deadlines for content creation, speaker rehearsals, and technology tests. Incorporate dynamic elements such as live Q&A sessions, audience polls, and breakout rooms to make your theme resonate and engage attendees.
Identify Your Audience and Promotional Channels
The next step is to attract attention and drive signups for your event. The key consideration here is to consider who you’re marketing to and where you can reach them with promotional content. Use existing customer personas or audience data to get these insights.
Leverage tools like email marketing, social media ads, and content hubs to create a multi-channel promotional strategy. Platforms like the ON24 Content Hub can centralize all your event-related content, making it easier for potential attendees to explore and register.
Choose the Right Technology
The technology you choose to create and manage your event can have a big impact on its success, particularly if you’re hosting a virtual event. Consider a dedicated virtual event hosting platform like ON24 to ensure your event runs smoothly and gives you the capacity to engage seamlessly with your audience.
Invest in tools with built-in features like automated reminders, real-time analytics, and robust engagement capabilities. Conduct comprehensive rehearsals to test all aspects of your technology, from video streaming quality to live interaction features.
2. During the Event: Maximize Engagement
The event itself is your opportunity to deliver value, connect with your audience, and achieve your goals. Focus on creating a seamless experience that keeps participants engaged from start to finish.
Drive Real-Time Engagement
Use interactive tools like live polls, surveys, and on-screen CTAs to encourage active participation throughout the event. For example, incorporating a live Q&A session can create a sense of connection and relevance, while audience heatmaps can provide real-time feedback on which content is resonating most.
Platforms like ON24 Webinars allow you to customize interactive features, ensuring your event feels personalized and engaging. Additionally, leverage targeted breakout rooms to connect attendees with the content or discussions most relevant to their needs.
Maintain Energy and Focus
It’s also important to keep the energy high at your event so your attendees don’t lose interest in what you’re saying. Use diverse content types, including images and videos, to keep transitions between sections smooth and organize breaks in the content if necessary.Enhance audience experience with live demonstrations, case studies, or hands-on activities that bring your message to life. Break up sessions with strategic pauses for networking or informal chats to maintain attention while allowing attendees to recharge.
3. Post-Event Follow-Up: Drive Results
Once the event ends, the real work begins. The post-event phase is critical for driving long-term ROI, nurturing leads, and refining your strategy for future events.
Measure ROI and Analyze Insights
After your event has concluded, measure its impact by calculating the return on investment (ROI) using the goals you set at the start of the process as your primary metric. If your goal was to generate leads, for instance, your ROI would be calculated by dividing the total cost of the webinar by the number of leads generated.Dive deeper into post-event analytics to understand audience behaviors and engagement patterns. Tools like ON24 Performance Analytics provide granular insights into attendance, content downloads, and interaction rates, helping you evaluate what worked and what didn’t.
Follow Up with Attendees
Remember to collect feedback from your event attendees to gain insights into how you can improve things next time. You can do this with polls or surveys sent to all attendees or by reaching out to people individually.Extend the impact of your event by sending personalized thank-you emails with links to on-demand recordings, key takeaways, and additional resources. Use a content repurposing strategy to transform event materials into blog posts, video snippets, and gated assets to continue engaging with your audience and generating leads.
Apply Feedback to Future Events
Feedback from attendees and data insights can shape your future event strategies. Address common suggestions or concerns, refine content themes, and explore new formats to improve audience satisfaction and overall ROI.
Event Marketing Trends and Predictions
As the event marketing landscape evolves, staying ahead of emerging trends is key to maintaining a competitive edge. Here’s what you can expect to shape the future of event marketing and how these trends can guide your strategies:
Hybrid Events Are Here to Stay
Hybrid events, combining physical and virtual elements, have emerged as the preferred format for many organizations. They allow businesses to expand their reach while catering to diverse audience preferences. Moving forward, hybrid events will become even more sophisticated, leveraging advanced technologies like augmented reality (AR) to enhance the experience for both in-person and virtual attendees.
Data-Driven Personalization
Personalization continues to be a driving force in marketing. By integrating AI-powered analytics tools, event marketers can collect and analyze audience data to tailor content, communication, and event experiences to individual preferences. This trend is especially impactful for corporate event marketing, where creating meaningful connections is crucial.
Sustainability in Event Marketing
With growing consumer awareness of environmental issues, sustainable practices are now expected in event marketing. Virtual and hybrid events inherently reduce carbon footprints, but in-person events will increasingly adopt eco-friendly practices such as paperless registration, local sourcing, and waste reduction initiatives. Highlighting these efforts can also serve as a compelling marketing angle.
AI and Automation Take Center Stage
AI is reshaping event marketing by streamlining processes and enhancing audience engagement. From chatbots that provide instant support to automated follow-ups that keep attendees engaged post-event, AI tools are becoming indispensable. Predictive analytics will also help marketers make informed decisions about topics, formats, and promotional strategies.
Focus on Immersive Experiences
The rise of immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR) and AR is transforming how brands connect with their audiences. These tools allow attendees to explore virtual spaces, interact with 3D models, or experience product demonstrations in entirely new ways. Incorporating immersive elements into your events will be a game-changer for driving engagement and retention.
Increased Reliance on Community Building
Events are no longer just one-off engagements but part of a broader strategy to build and nurture communities. Marketers are using events to create long-term value by fostering discussions, offering networking opportunities, and establishing platforms where attendees can continue engaging post-event.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are quick answers to some of the most common questions about event marketing.
What Is The Definition of Event Marketing?
Event marketing involves using events as a marketing platform, gathering an audience in person or virtually to deliver content, provide education and promote a product, service or brand.
Why Should Companies Use Event Marketing?
Event marketing presents some unique benefits that make it ideal for marketing purposes, including the ability to interact directly with the audience to keep them engaged.
Can You Do Event Marketing For Virtual Events?
An event marketing strategy can be based entirely on virtual events, which are particularly effective because they’re generally cheaper to host and offer enhanced engagement opportunities.
