Business Events

Corporate Events

Marketing Event
Most marketing events are regulated by city councils and require a plan before it is approved. You can provide give-aways with the name and the date of your presentation for larger marketing events.

Promotional Events

Marketing Event

The marketing event is all about the product or service promotion. Essentially, the event marketing guidelines are not that different from guidelines of other types of events. The commercial angle of the marketing events put more pressure on the organisers to bring the advertising message across. Nevertheless, all other aspects of the marketing event planning are standard (see the home page for universal event planner).

Marketing Event Pre-Planning

Most events follow standard plans which are generally regulated by city councils. Thus, the public safety, public health, venue, traffic management and insurance are issues which all events must follow. The aim of the marketing event is to sell something. This may be a new car, a new gadget, a brand new Church or a political rally. Therefore, the event marketing plan may include the promotional strategies but must adhere to councils regulations.

This means that council can approve the public safety measures but may still reject advertising strategies. For example, a well planned marketing event for a religious gathering may get approval for the infrastructure. However, the offensive connotations towards other religions may force local authorities to cancel the event altogether. Thus, marketing event managers must ensure that the product or a service is promoted according to the local and federal law.

Marketing Event Plan Template

Most city councils require a plan before any marketing event (or any other type of the event) is approved. You do not have to be a commercial guru to put forward such a event marketing plan. However, you do need to understand the basics of the event planning. If in doubt you can always chat with the City Council specialists. We would like to put forward a simple template, which can serve as the guide for the marketing event approval.

Firstly, you need to provide basics, such as:

• Event details - place, time and the number of attending people
• Insurance - type of the insurance and policy which is needed for the event
• Venue - type of infrastructure, location, hazards and emergency requirements
• Traffic and pedestrian management
• Incident management plan - fire regulations, first aid and police protection
• Public health - non-smoking zones, toilets, access to drinking water, shelter, noise and waste management
• Public safety - what type of security is going to be used, gas tanks, electrical safety, barriers, etc.

Secondly, you should talk about the marketing, such as:

• Marketing event objectives - type of the product and/or service to sell
Target audience - the predominate age groups, gender, cultures and/or backgrounds
• Branding - do you try to hide or expose the brand? Do you need structures to advertise your slogans?
• Marketing tactics - type of advertising, promotions, PR and other tools
• Marketing event budget - how much money do you need to start the event? Do you need/have a lender? Do you expect to pay for event from profits? How much do you expect to earn?
• Marketing research - how many people do you think will come? Are there any benefits for the surrounding community? Is there any impact on the environment.

Finally, you owe to provide yourself, your sponsor and bosses the following:

• Risk management for the event marketing - what is the accuracy of the marketing research? How can I meet the marketing promises?
• Marketing event monitoring - a contingency plan to boost sells; follow-ups with customers and participants

Event Marketing Tips

For smaller marketing events you do not have to go overboard with advertising. You can use cost effective ways to inform about your event, such as:

• Letter box handouts
• Local newspapers advertising
• Local shops advertising
• Side roads signage

For larger marketing events you can provide give-aways with the name and the date of your presentation. Large posters, placards, business dinners, etc. are all good tools to advertise your event. However, the best advert of all is the word of mouth. If you have the ability to send the "gospel" around then you can save heaps of money for even larger audience.