Event content marketing has revolutionized attendee acquisition for trade shows and conferences. Here’s how to make it work for you.
Every event marketer has been there.
It’s six weeks to showtime. Logistics now demand attention. Stress levels have risen. And still, you must continue marketing to new registrants to meet your attendance goal. Even when you approach event marketing as an ongoing process, spreading out your digital advertising budget and continuing outreach efforts to stay top-of-mind, the heat of your event deadline can put pressure on the last weeks of even the best laid-out campaign.
This is where content marketing has revolutionized the trade show industry.
Even before the term was widely recognized, content marketing has played a starring role in event marketing, with many conferences also producing trade journals and industry-specific content; event content marketing takes these efforts a step further by applying strategy that turns once stand-alone events into genuinely useful year-round educational resources, inspiring engagement and loyalty from consumers who can tap into your expertise on demand.
Here are 4 simple ways to start taking advantage of event content marketing today:
1. The power of planning.
It can take 8 weeks prior to an event to prepare a strategic event content marketing campaign, and another 4-6 weeks after that for follow though, post-event content and engagement, ROI and content performance calculations, and social media advertising analytics. Give yourself enough time to fully commit to each step. (Seem overwhelming? We can help with this.)
2. Live educational resources (harnessed).
The educational resources you offer at your event — whether it’s seminars, round table discussions, expert-led panels or even printed material — can be repackaged and distributed as content throughout the coming year, allowing you to share your expertise and exhibit your value long after the event has passed.
3. Industry reports.
As a trade show organizer, you have a direct line to experts your industry, putting you in a unique position to create industry reports. The key to making industry data work for you is to make it actionable. This means staying on top of valuable trends and news for your attendees, whether it comes from your exhibitors or not.
4. Expert-contributed content.
That said, your exhibitors and attendees are invaluable resources with an incentive to share their expertise. Give them that chance by allowing them to contribute to your blog, online magazine or multi-media strategy. In the process, you’ll put yourself in a position to attract even more talent in your industry.
Read our B2B Content Strategy Primer for a complete step-by-step guide with best practices for event content marketing.