Digital marketing has become essential to the marketing mix. In America alone, over 80% of people are online every day. If you aren’t advertising online, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities.
We know that if you're here, you already know that, which means you also know that digital marketing alone doesn’t differentiate anymore. Experiences have the potential of creating lasting impressions that scrolling through an ad on social media could never accomplish.
In an age where most customers desire meaningful interactions and personalized experiences to build relationships with a brand, event marketing is vital to your company’s success.
Effective engagement is key to increasing your marketing ROI, and it all starts with a desire to serve your audience. Here are a few basic tips to encourage engagement beyond interacting with a post.
STUDY YOUR BUYERS’ PERSONAS
Do you ever scroll past an ad wondering how it ever ended up on your social media feed? You know it doesn't fit your lifestyle, so why would you ever consider looking into the products or attending an event for it?
Effective engagement requires you to be knowledgeable about your audience. Begin with the basics, like their go-to social media platforms, their income levels, age, gender, motivation, goals, etc.
Don’t just create a stock persona that you expect to cover every type of person. Create a few different personas with elaborate backgrounds that include their challenges, desires, and motives. This information will help gear your content towards an audience that it will resonate with.
Once these details are understood, you’ll be able to generate content that matches their expectations, cause them to engage and, as a result, grow your sales and brand.
BE INTERACTIVE
Poor customer support is at the top of the list when it comes to online interactions with businesses. If you’re anything like us, you hate feeling like you’re talking to a faceless company that doesn’t care about what you have to say as a customer.
Even worse, you don't get a response when you have a question about a company’s products or services. Not being responsive to your customers means risking the loss of potential buyers as most customers won’t engage twice with a company that doesn't seem to value them.
Consider using automation tools to respond to messages sent by the customers in real-time, assuring them that you have received their message and will reply soon. Also, when someone takes an action as a customer—like subscribing to emails, downloading content, placing an order, or signing up for an event—follow up with an automated thank-you note.
ASK FOR FEEDBACK
If you’re trying to increase customer engagement, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask for buyers' feedback. After all, they’re the ones that you’re providing products and services to.
When they first buy your product or service, be sure to send them a thank you email expressing your appreciation for their interest. Over the next couple of weeks, ask them for feedback.
Be sure to give them ample time to use your product or services before asking for a review. Nobody likes to be nagged about feedback right after they purchased something when they haven’t had time to use it or had a bad experience with it.
INTEGRATE EVENT MARKETING INTO DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS
After growing your audience through digital marketing, the next step should be organizing virtual, hybrid, or onsite events to give your customers an experience they’ll never forget. By merging digital and event marketing, you’ll promote your products and services through personal interactions. You can also give your event participants offers so that they can invite more referral clients to try your products.
Event marketing has proved to be an effective way of building stronger relationships with prospective customers. Whether online, in-person, or both, providing an immersive experience can create lasting connections between your customers and company. When done right, they’ll walk away with lasting memories that are critical to driving brand loyalty.
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Customer engagement through digital and event marketing is key to the success of any business. Integrating your marketing efforts into a seamless experience from online campaigns to events is essential to growing your audience and brand.
At Marketing Orchard, we can help you create extraordinary experiences that translate from online marketing to your events. Not sure if your company is right for an event? Check out some of our tradeshow exhibit options and contact us to discuss your strategy or for any help you need.