How to build an event marketing strategy that works
Event marketing can be challenging, especially in a crowded market. Today’s event organisers have to respond to several pressures at once: they need to create real value for attendees to encourage word of mouth for the following year, while also earning attention in a media landscape that has never been more crowded.
Event marketing also means giving attendees a smooth ticketing experience. Ticket sales are central to conference revenue, but there are equally important ways to keep people engaged after they sign up.
We wanted to share an event marketing case study that could help you plan your next event. To do that, we spoke with the people behind two leading European tech events: LOGIN in Lithuania and Latitude59 in Estonia.
Here are a few useful points to keep in mind when hosting a conference or building your event marketing strategy.
1. Don’t feel intimidated by the task ahead
When you start working on an event, the first day at the venue may still be far away, but that does not stop the nerves from kicking in. The scale of the task can be stressful, but much depends on how you approach it and who you bring onto your team, as Liisi Org, CEO of Estonia’s flagship startup and tech conference Latitude59, told us.
“It was very difficult to start the process because I didn’t have a team. And without a team, you don’t do much. The moment I found my first people, I understood that we could do it. Some people joined as volunteers, and eventually we had 13 people in Latitude59’s new team. It is important to find your people, those who match your values and vision. Then we got to work.”
Liisi emphasised that it is important to be realistic about what can be done before the full team is in place. You can create processes and plans, but much of it comes together once people join. In her view, it is also important to build a team with a healthy mix of skills, personalities, and experience, because that creates a more collaborative atmosphere and helps everyone see the bigger picture. Their shared goal was to have fun and organise the best Latitude59 yet.
2. Offer a rounded experience to guests
Even if your event is a B2B conference, delegates have probably attended many like it. Increasingly, attendees expect a programme that supports not only their professional development and networking goals, but also their wider wellbeing. That is why talks and workshops on mindfulness, mental health, and personal development are becoming a more common part of event programmes.
“Latitude59 has had mental health in the list of topics for several years. This time our main themes were purpose and inclusion. We believe that the startup world can make a bigger impact than just earning revenue. It is time for all the companies to start thinking about what impact they’re making on the world.”
“With the organising team, most of us having been in the startup sector for quite some time, we found the right topics for startup founders, investors, the public sector, and other target groups. We had a clear vision to create practical and meaningful stage content.” Diversity was also a key focus at Latitude59 that year, and according to Liisi, 50% of all speakers at Latitude59 2022 were women. The following year, they planned to include other diverse groups as well.
For Tomas Stasiukevičius, Content Manager at LOGIN, the Lithuanian tech and business event, the realisation that it could be far more than a conference came when Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak spoke at an earlier edition. His appearance was so inspiring and multi-layered that it pushed the event team to create more moments like that.
“There is purely tech content, like AI, robotics, and more, but recently wellness and mental health have received the most attention. We also cover creativity in a big way. Even when topics don’t relate directly to the tech industry, that’s how people gain new knowledge and skills,” explained Tomas.
3. Have a clear plan, but keep it flexible
For Gabija Mirinavičė, Brand Manager at LOGIN, planning is essential when it comes to running a successful conference.
“One thing is to know why you’re doing all this. It’s important to have a plan, but it cannot be set in stone. You have to adapt it.” Gabija used the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of how quickly event planning can change, both in terms of operations and in the topics delegates care about. “If the context changes, but your plan doesn’t, that’s a disaster.”
Another thing to bear in mind is that the kind of speaker, and also the format of the talk or workshop, needs to be something that changes from instance to instance. Gabija explained, “it’s important to remember that if you have all these speeches for 20 minutes each, on the same topic, it gets boring, so you need different kinds of activities. Moderated fireside chats are popular at the moment, and they’re good, but too many of them, and people get bored again. You need variety. There’s never too much content these days - better to have a lot than too little.”
4. Trust your team!
Liisi, Gabija, and Tomas all spoke warmly about their teams, describing them as the balance needed to execute a strong event marketing strategy while maintaining team spirit.
For Liisi, avoiding micromanagement was a key principle. “I see my team working and I don’t interrupt them, because they all have their own ‘why’, and we all share a bigger goal. I always tried to emphasise the importance of having fun. An event organiser’s job is super stressful, and we need to enjoy working together. That’s why I wanted to hire people who felt like ‘my people’.”
A conference planning checklist helps, but it also has to reflect reality. “I do have a mental checklist, and I still like to write things down in a notebook. As a team, we used Trello to organise our work and had lots of stand-up calls. Having a big picture broken down into smaller goals really helps. What I tried to remind my team was that we have a million things we want to do, but we need to be mindful of our resources and avoid overworking. Most of my team had a second job, so that made it challenging, but the Latitude59 team was and is highly motivated, and I’m grateful they chose to be part of that adventure.”
5. Use an event management and ticketing application that works for you
Both LOGIN and Latitude59 use Fienta as their ticketing, marketing, and delegate management software of choice. “We chose Fienta because of the price of the service and how easily attendees can register, buy tickets, and get information. With a company like that, we definitely see the benefits,” said Gabija.
Liisi affirmed this, saying, “It turned out to be about more than just tickets. Fienta added Latitude59 to its own page as a highlighted event and promoted it in its newsletter. They were genuinely helpful, and when you’re organising a conference, it’s very important to get things like tagging and audience targeting right. With Fienta, we can do that.”