Events as Seen Through a Marketing Lens

July 5, 2023

It’s always helpful to view events from a different lens, so we reached out to a marketing expert, Ray Sheehan of Old City Media, to share his ideas.

By being thoughtful about your target audience, budget, and offerings, he says, you can ensure that both your event and event marketing are memorable. Here are his top tips:

Start with your target audience

Start by truly knowing and understanding the demographics and needs of your audience. This research will drive everything, from logistics to size planning to decor. What will resonate with this target audience and make a lasting impression?

Engagement plays into target audience consideration as well. How will you engage this audience to create buy-in to your event?

Create a realistic budget

Marketers and meeting planners alike need to know how much to spend and where funds will be allocated. Budgets need to have realistic parameters and be thoughtfully applied.

Define your differential

Ask yourself: What makes us different? What is our point of difference? This will really help you stand out from the crowd.

Document the event for FOMO

Amazing events need to be properly documented so they may “live another day.” Utilize social media outlets and cover the event with photos and videos. This will help you create a bit of “fear of missing out” for your target audience, so they will not want to miss what you’ve cooked up.

Extend the impression you make

Offer something a little bit outside the box if you want to live on in people’s memories. How will your organization distinguish itself?

Savvy planners and marketers need to consider the lasting impression they will be making on the target audience. What are they bringing to the table that will entice people to want to not only attend the event, but talk about it after the fact?

Ray Sheehan is Founder of Old City Media, a national marketing agency helping brands connect with target demographics through experiential marketing.