5 Event Marketing Tools You Need to Use Now

5 Event Marketing Tools You Need to Use Now

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You can put plenty of effort and strategies into planning your next event but it won't be a success unless you have strong attendance. Marketing is important for helping the right people discover your event. Within your promotional plan, make sure you try these five event marketing tools. 

An Event Management Tool

Consider using a platform designed for event management to help you with your marketing. These platforms can help you market through email and other online means. They often support registration, tracking of attendees, surveys and other aspects of marketing and managing the event planning process. You have many options to choose from, such as Bizzabo, Attendease, Eventbrite and etouches. Choose the one that fits your company size and event marketing needs.

An Event App

This tool allows you to keep definite and potential attendees up-to-date about your event before it happens. Current audiences expect this capability, plus it will keep people informed and interested. They can learn new details about the event, such as added speakers or accommodations, as they become available, which keeps the event in your audience’s mind, builds excitement and helps attendees with their planning. And you can continue to use the app to share information during the event. Some event management tools provide the ability to create an app or you could use a service like DoubleDutch that is dedicated to event apps.

Communities

Try starting an event community dedicated to your specific event on Facebook or another platform that supports this approach. This type of tool helps to engage your audience and keep them in-the-know about event details. Within the community, you can share new information and give teaser information on what will be included, from meals to activities. You can also share practical information that helps with planning. Plus, this is a great space to engage potential attendees with conversation and to help them connect with one another. When you capture people’s interest and help them feel included through an event community, you’ll encourage them to register and potentially spread the word about the event.

An Event Directory

Make sure your event is listed where people are looking for events. You may have an untapped market of people who would attend your event but simply don’t know about it, and getting it listed on directories can help it get seen by the right crowd. You could put it on Meetup, which is particularly effective for events that want to draw a local crowd. This option also lets you continue to reach out to the same group of people over time. Another option is Lanyrd, which is a social conference directory. A great feature of this directory is that it helps you figure out the target audience that went to similar events around the world so you can better tailor your own marketing. Also, many of the event management platforms provide directories included in the service.  

Analytics Tools

While marketing events might sometimes feel like guesswork, you can also find strategies and formulas backed by data. Using an analytics tool can help you weed through data and use it to get better at event promotion. For example, Brandscopic is an event marketing analytics tool that helps you figure out demographics, target your audience better and collect media about the event. 

Using these tools along with your tried-and-true event promotion methods can help you streamline your marketing process and make it more effective. With these tools, you'll become an event marketing pro -- or elevate your professional game to the next level.

How Lexus Created Top Models for New York Fashion Week

How Lexus Created Top Models for New York Fashion Week  

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Ever wondered what it'd be like to be a model for New York Fashion Week? This past September, during New York Fashion Week, luxury car maker Lexus hosted a first-of-its-kind event that allowed show attendees to enjoy a sneak peek for themselves. Their unique "Set in Motion" photo shoot invited members of the public to experience first-hand what it's like to be photographed as a model during what is typically an exclusive event.

Lexus "Set in Motion" Photo Shoot Experience at NYFW

Specifically, the "Set in Motion" photo shoot began with guests entering the installation (the set of which was actually inspired and designed around the new Lexus LC 500) and having a quick Polaroid photo snapped, just as New York Fashion Week models do as part of their open casting calls. That Polaroid then served as a guest's "ticket" to get into the Green Room Lounge, a luxurious space where hair and makeup professionals then treated each participant to beauty treatments, light refreshments, and a small take-home gift. Once participants were looking their runway best, they were ushered onto the stunning set and walked through a photo shoot experience with a professional photographer. And of course, alongside participants during their shoot was a stunning, $92,000 Lexus LC 500.

At the end of the mini-shoot, each participant was able to look through their photos in the comfort of the Green Room Lounge and select their favorite. They were then provided with their own printed copy of their favorite photo, along with the option to share it on social media. The entire experience, for most guests, took about an hour and was a wonderful and unique way to experience an insider's look at New York Fashion Week. And for many participants, this was a great way to step outside of one's typical "comfort zone" and try something completely new. Even those who have trouble taking a flattering selfie were impressed with how their photos turned out!

From Exclusive to All-Inclusive

The Set in Motion photo shoot proved to be a huge hit at New York Fashion Week and was heavily attended throughout the entire weekend, and not surprisingly. This was the first exhibit of its kind and served the excellent purpose of not only spreading awareness of the new Lexus LC 500, but gave attendees an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look while empowering each participant to look and feel confident. Overall, Lexus was pleased with the way the exhibit turned out, explaining that they wanted to take an event that is typically seen as exclusive to industry players and open it up to make it inclusive enough for the general public. Lexus also provided their usual fleet of almost 100 courtesy vehicles to be on display for the show itself.

Given the success of the Set in Motion photo shoot, it will be interesting to see if other companies will follow suit with similar inclusive events in the future. Either way, we're loving the way this was pulled off and give Lexus kudos for this innovative approach! Looking for an incredible venue in which to host your next event in the Miami area? Soho Studios has you covered! With both indoor and outdoor event spaces and countless configurations, we'd love to help make your next event a success.

How Wholly Guacamole Reached its Target Audience Through Pop Up Tours

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How Wholly Guacamole Reached its Target Audience Through Pop Up Tours

Wholly Guacamole is a big fan of the pop-up tour concept, and this year, it held yet another tour to draw people to its brand and experience. This year's tour moved away from last year's focus on music festivals and instead focused on the brand's core consumers, who are women in the 30-40 age range.

At each site in this year's tour, Wholly Guacamole offered dishes with a range of custom toppings available. The company also provided special "taste of" recipes that were customized to capture the local flavor of each city. This, however, was just the start of the experience for participants. Inside each pop-up location, attendees found updated versions of old games, such as a giant Jenga set, Connect Four, and other favorites chosen to appeal to the company's target audience.

Games of this nature emphasize guacamole's prominent presence at parties among 30-40-year-old women. By having them at the pop-up locations, Wholly Guacamole cements this connection and helps to ensure that people will remember their brand in particular when it comes time to buy some for a gathering.

While the games that were chosen are all of the physical variety, Wholly Guacamole certainly didn't forget about the modern wonder that is social media. It set up vending machines that dispensed giveaways when people entered a code. These giveaways were better than the average, and included water bottles, bandannas, and socks. The code to use was obtained by tweeting special hashtags along with a comment about the event. This gave people a direct incentive to spread the company's message.

Some activities were used only in particular markets. This allowed the company to really "wow" each market instead of giving everyone a totally generic experience. Some customizations included the availability of avocado facials, jewelry making, screen-printed T-shirts, and more. The company says that these offerings were unified by an underlying theme of health, beauty, and working out.

This year's kiosks, or "activations" as the company called them, were also meant to tie into the "guac bar scene" that has been on the rise in recent years. By doing so, the company positions itself as keeping up with the times even as it calls to mind the less-hip imagery of playing analogue games with groups of women in their 30s and 40s. This is important because it allows Wholly Guacamole to aim for this target audience without turning off younger people in the process.

One of the keys to a successful pop-up tour is choosing the right cities and venues for your event. Miami is always a good place to have a stop – its hip, multicultural environment spans several generations and includes a wide variety of interests. Once there, make sure to choose Soho Studios as your venue. We have two outdoor pavilions, and the weather here is suitable for using them all year round.

We also have up to 70,000 square feet of indoor space available for your event. It can be customized to meet your needs, not only for size, but for decorations and sets as well. This ensures that you can create the exact experience needed to promote your brand's image as well as your products. Just give us a call to reserve space indoors, outside, or a combination of the two.

How Lyft Celebrated its Birthday with Style

How Lyft Celebrated its Birthday with Style  

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A birthday celebration should always be special, and this is even truer for corporations than it is for individuals. Celebrations give companies the chance to pump up their branding in fun and memorable ways, and such opportunities should never be missed. This is why Lyft chose to create an unforgettable experience for its drivers in its home town of Los Angeles as a way to mark its fifth anniversary of operations. It also made sure that everyone else who came near the event site would see a very memorable ad for the company.

To make this happen, Lyft started by painting a historic car wash – La Cienega Car Wash & Oil Change – in a bright, light shade of pink. As expected, this brought immediate attention, but it was just the start. Inside, Lyft drivers can get car washes for just $1 and get discounts on services like oil changes. This display and deal will run for a total of 30 days. It opened on July 14.

The location was chosen based on several criteria. One was its iconic status in the immediate area. Changing it, especially in such a radical way, made it easy to get plenty of local press coverage. Another was the condition of the structure itself. It had to be solid enough to not only paint it, but return it to its original form once the event ended. Finally, it had to be able to handle the increase in traffic the event would bring.

It wasn't just the paint that was changed. The car wash's original sign was modified into a retro one that temporarily renames the venue as the Lyft Car Wash. All of the changes combined took seven days to do.

Since opening under the promotional name, about 100 Lyft drivers a day have taken advantage of the $1 car washes. Meanwhile, regular customers continue to use the facility at its standard rates. To speed things up and keep everyone properly sorted, Lyft drivers are directed into a special lane when they enter the lot.

The point of the Lyft makeover is to increase the company's branding and thank its drivers for their service rather than to make money from selling car washes. Therefore, all proceeds from this event are being donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. This both helps the community and increases goodwill from this socially-forward area.

Good planning like this is the key to holding a successful single-venue event. As Lyft's experience shows, choosing the venue is, in itself, a big part of making something like this work.

For an excellent venue in Miami, Florida, try Soho Studios. We have up to 70,000 square feet of indoor space and two outdoor areas that can be configured to meet your company's specific needs. We also have concierge services to help you find the perfect event firms to provide all of the equipment, planning, and execution services you need. This frees you to concentrate on essentials like your branding and marketing efforts and helps to ensure that your event will create wonderful memories for both your guests and your business.