5 Event Marketing Tools You Need to Use Now

5 Event Marketing Tools You Need to Use Now

---

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 to Use Snap Glasses Like a Boss

How to Use Snap Glasses Like a Boss  

---

Experiential marketing events are all about the visuals, and Snap Spectacles are being used by today’s idea-creators to craft memorable times. Snap Spectacles are smart glasses, developed by Snap—also known as Snapchat—for iOS and Android devices. They give Snapchat users a new way to capture, store and share content via the Snapchat platform—all with a hands-free spin.

They have a trending design, looking like a colorful pair of party shades. Each Snap Spectacle features a 115-degree wide-angle lens, giving the wearer the ability to capture circular video. Basically, they’re created for on-the-go video capture. Any user with a smartphone can sync footage, connect to users on Wi-Fi and share mobile content. Meanwhile, snaps recorded with iPhones can be transferred through a Snap Spectacle’s Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection. The day’s footage is compiled into a Snapchat Story. Then, it can be exported as either individual snaps or entire collections.

They’re $130 for a pair, but they’re incredibly useful as event tools. If you’re able to throw down on a Snap Spectacles investment, the strategies below might be useful to you.

Strategy One: Implement Games

You’re already on a highly visual path. Spectacles aren’t only useful for digital picture snapping; they’re awesome live-action tools for high-energy situations. So, implement games at your event! Trolli’s used Snap Spectacles at its Beardsketball activation, engaging consumers on a new, immersive level. By focusing the spotlight on the players, you’ll create an environment conducive to engagement, long-term action and a great social media campaign.

Strategy Two: Get First-Person

Because Spectacles offer a rare first-person point of view, they’re solid tools for any experiential campaign which utilizes on-site visuals, movement and attendee engagement. When viewed by the Snapchat app, captured Spectacles footage gives viewers the ability to rotate their phone while holding the same image. Even if the phone is turned around, Spectacles can capture a full range of motion via its circular lens. Tell attendees to show their hands, and show how hands-off your event can be.

Strategy Three: Prep for Augmented Reality

Spectacles don’t have augmented reality features yet, but they’re going to have them in the figure. At least, we assume they will. Last month, a Snap patent application for future AR glasses was discovered by Mashable. If you’re dropping money on a Spectacles investment, consider making it the first step of many. A long-term Spectacles campaign might be the push you need, as a marketer, to craft a road to success. As for an AR experience, combine the first two strategies while giving attendees the chance to engage your product on a new, digital, level.

Snapp’s app is expected to grow—and quickly. Aside from its AR patent for a product called World Lenses, it’ll be a useful tool for marketers wanting to engage attendees with Snapchat filters, 3D object placement and a slew of other nifty games. If you haven’t yet, check out the Spectacles web page. If you think your strategy has room for such a device—don’t hesitate. It’s totally worthwhile.

How to use Photo Printing Backpacks for your Next Experiential Event

---

How to use Photo Printing Backpacks for your Next Experiential Event

Marketing tech firm, M-ND, connected with the B Positive Foundation, expanding nonprofit support into the baseball stadium. Their photo-printing backpacks were a huge hit, heightening much-needed awareness of kids with cancer. The technology which regularly promotes social media pictures is wide-ranging and varied, but a hashtag, a little organization and trending technology goes a long way.

The #BePosNYC Movement

On August 8, Texas Rangers attendees were invited to engage the B Positive Foundation campaign via social media, promoting the #BePosNYC hashtag via backpack screens. The screens, designed to display real-time picture updates, were directly connected to the campaign’s photo print awareness plan. Attendees posting game photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram could use the #BePosNYC hashtag, both raising awareness for the event while connecting with other baseball fans.

The Andrew McDonough B Positive Foundation has conducted similar events in the past. Their slogan, “Kids Helping Kids Fight Cancer,” has historically been a useful tag for humanistic ventures. Recently being used at City Field, the slogan headlined their movement for young cancer patients as well as their supporters. Attendees who weren’t part of the event, meanwhile, were invited to print event photos at home.

M-ND and B Positive

M-ND has plans to work alongside B Positive in the future. A donation-by-text campaign is, reportedly, in the works. Focusing on raising funds for charity, M-ND will likely take advantage of new opportunities with B Positive. Creating a unique experience for event attendees is difficult. Often, promoting interactive designs capable of garnering attention is met with technological barriers and audience-reaching difficulties. The partnership worked, however. It worked splendidly.

The B Positive Foundation has assisted thousands of United States families treated in over 200 hospitals. Intending to alleviate the financial burdens of ongoing healthcare, the foundation continues to grow. Many B Positive initiatives have offered research grand cycle options, too. On every level, the Foundation promotes the study of cutting-edge childhood cancer research. In the past, the Foundation has supported St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Seattle Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical Center.

Where Experiential Marketing and Proactive Care Meet

Both groups are assisted by some national childhood cancer collaborations, too. While childhood cancer charities may not be directly connected with events conducive to funds, they’re well-connected to communities. This presents an interesting angle for groups breaking into the experiential marketing world. Nonprofits have had historically tough breaks, fund-wise, in the experiential marketing world. Numbers change, however, when mass audiences are met.

Advocacy via social media, here, is a great takeaway. The B Positive Foundation and M-ND proved individual-level digital promotion works. Photos taken at the game served as memorabilia for those who were part of the foundation, raising awareness for both the foundation and its few causes. Mets colors were used, making the event highly personal. Curated social media photos are influential when aligned with an event’s overall theme. If you’ve ever wondered what a successful nonprofit social media marketing campaign looks like, look no further than the B Positive Foundation’s addition to the baseball diamond.

How to Use Haptic Technology to Engage your Event Goers

How to Use Haptic Technology to Engage your Event Goers

First of all, if you're not into gaming, you might not be too familiar with haptic technology. This technology uses touch as a means of interacting with computer or video game applications. With this technology, a person can feel and change items within a virtual world. It's like something from the future, and we have access to it today. How does this technology relate to you? You can use it to create an amazing experience for your event goers. 

Trending Ideas for Using Haptic Technology

Here are some ideas of how you could use haptic technology for an event:

Create Excitement Before an Event: Even before event goers reach your event, you can use haptic technology to create excitement about the event. Take some inspiration from how brands are using this technology for ads. For instance, Arby's created an ad that allowed the audience to feel a golfer's footsteps through an Android phone, and Showtime gave watchers the experience of sensing a bomb explosion during the Homeland Season 4 teaser. You could do something similar by creating an ad with haptic technology that simulates some experience of your event, such as the beat of music or the feel of catching a baseball. 

Help an Audience Feel the Music: If you're having an event with music, your audience could feel the rhythm of the music as they listen to it with the help of haptic technology. A wearable device gives the user's body the sensation of the music's timing and beat. 

Bring Interaction to Tradeshows and Event Stations: If your company is going to a tradeshow or creating an interactive station at an event, you could use this technology to interest your audience. It allows you to give your audience a sensory experience through touch screens. You could use it as a way to draw attention to your brand or to share an experience that provides a feel for your brand, such as the feel of your tires moving over gravel. 

Create a Calming Experience: If your event is focused on health or relaxation, such as a yoga event, or if you simply want to get everyone to take a deep breath before starting a talk, you could use haptic technology. The Apple Watch has an app called "Breathe" that helps the user take a break and focus on breathing as a form of meditation or mindfulness. The watch taps the wrist to guide the breathing. 

Provide a Virtual Experience: At your event, you can give your audience an amazing virtual 3D experience that involves the sense of touch in addition to auditory and visual stimulation. Haptic technology makes this possible so people can explore a virtual environment, play a game, make something or learn with a three-dimensional sense of touch as part of the equation. 

This list gives you some ideas of how you could use haptic technology to create an experience for your audience. Yet the sky's becoming the limit with this technology, so don't put your company in a box -- think of innovative ways you could adapt haptic technology to your brand. 

Why You Need to Use Drones for Your Next Event

Who wants aerial coverage? We do, and you should too. Drones have made several appearances in 2017, and they’re popping up more frequently. You should invest, because they’re becoming a go-to resource for event marketers, brand promotion teams and event backers. If you want to have a successful, engaging event, take to the skies. Here’s why:

Outdoor Safety Precision

What? You don’t need a weather radar? Well, not exactly. You should still check the day’s forecast. You should also still invest in a security guard. Drones can pack high-end cameras, however, and they can hit regularly inaccessible angles. Whether you’re fearing crowd control issues or security breaches, a droned camera, really, is your best bet.

Facebook’s Favorite Livestream Tool

Facebook is already a popular event media platform. If you want to ramp up your event’s visibility, you should outfit your platform with a drone. Already, event marketers are using DJI drones to stream Facebook Live video. Let’s face it: Social media visibility is the best visibility. Live video via drone provides an immersive experience. It also offers an unrivaled POV.

Mobile-Controlled Mobile Hotspots

Strangely enough, you can use a drone as a WiFi hotspot for mobile devices. Drones can be makeshift cell towers, if you launch them correctly. If your WiFi networks are getting crowded, consider using a drone to boost patron reception. Your attendees will thank you.

Everyone Wants Quick Action

If you’re tired of wheeling around massive equipment, settle for something more agile. Today’s event drones weigh under 55 pounds, on average, and they’re capable of covering tight angles with the push of a button. Sometimes, the event area is too tough to cover, ground-wise. If this is the case, circumvent the headaches by using aerial coverage. Just makes sure you have FAA permission, first.

The Bird’s-Eye View

If you thought mobile-controlled drones were cool, you haven’t seen anything yet—literally. Pilots, now, can use specialized goggles to get a drone’s-eye perspective. You can also have a copilot who watches the physical equipment. Assuming you’re not understaffed, the combination makes for excellent footage coverage. A lot of todays’ event planners are hiring professional pilots to manage their drone activities. Yes, professional drone pilots exist.

At the end of the day, a drone is worth its weight in maneuverability. Before you invest, make sure you’ve got the gumption to repair, upgrade and replace when needed. Move your events at the speed of flight, and outfit your brand with a high-in-the-sky view.