4 Ways to Adjust Your Event Marketing Strategy to Ensure Success

Maximizing sponsorship dollars and gaining exposure should be pressing priorities for brands creating an event marketing strategy. But accounting for the unexpected should also be a priority — maybe even the top one.

Although every event marketer’s dream is to execute their plans without a hitch, things don’t always work out that way. For example, during the early planning of its World Cup marketing strategy, Budweiser (a major sponsor) was committed to offering beer for sale to those in attendance. However, the plan was interrupted two days before the World Cup was set to begin in Qatar — a country that has banned the public consumption of alcohol but previously stated that it would not impose those local customs on the event before abruptly changing course.

Clearly, there was a mix-up between what was to be provided and what was expected. So, what did the brewmaker do? Well, it created Budweiser Zero, a non-alcoholic beverage, and ran with it. And guess what? Budweiser pulled it off, giving us hope that we can do the same when unforeseen circumstances arise. As you can see, success lies in the details — but ideally, those details would be worked out before a problem arises.

The upshot? Because changes can happen suddenly and without warning, it is crucial that your event-based marketing strategy remains agile.

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Why It Is Important to Keep Event Marketing Flexible

An agile marketing methodology can keep your marketing strategy on track even if you are forced to make sudden changes at the last minute. The key is anticipating marketing risks and building ways to address those risks directly into your strategy.

Events are breeding grounds for the unexpected. For example, bad weather or a power outage could disrupt an event, or an event might be postponed or moved to a different location. Anticipating these changes and having a contingency plan in place can help event marketers keep their events on track.

Finally, event marketers need to anticipate risks because they can significantly impact an event’s bottom line. For example, if an event marketer does not have insurance for their equipment and something breaks during setup, they may be responsible for replacement or repairs. Taking out insurance and having a backup plan can help protect against these kinds of financial risks.

Strategies to Overcome Challenges That Occur in the Event Marketing Industry

You can do several things in the early marketing planning process that can help you overcome challenges should they arise.

1. Always have a Plan B.

For example, if you are hosting an event with a culinary specialist and the meal is the primary attraction, have a secondary caterer. Having one to fall back on will keep you from canceling your event due to an unexpected issue, illness, etc.

2. Consider spreading one single large event into multiple, smaller events.

Scheduling multiple trade shows or tours can help mitigate risk in case one of your events gets canceled. In addition to helping you address risks, this approach can increase your exposure and expand your marketing efforts significantly to other markets or regions.

3. Clearly outline documentation.

Your legal team should ensure that your sponsorship clearly outlines what happens in the event of a cancellation or substitution of talent, venue, date, etc., so that you can continue forward with your event and reduce any potential losses. It is also imperative that potential sponsors review the fine details surrounding their contracts and agreements before entering into them. Together, management and sponsors should be able to communicate any additional requests and expectations to ensure everyone is on the same page. Any negotiations should be made in advance and documented correctly so there is no confusion.

4. Create wiggle room in your budget.

Finally, think through your budgetary needs. Be prepared to invest more money to ensure your event stays on track. Ideally, you want the financial flexibility to adjust to changes. For example, purchasing extra tickets to account for unexpected VIPs ensures no one leaves disappointed.

Agile marketing is a must for event marketers, as the nature of the work can be unpredictable at times. Plus, the benefits of agile marketing are numerous, — from the ability to manage crisis quickly, the potential to increase your brand exposure, and locking in your bottom line, you will be set up for success.

As the demand for personalized solutions grows and the landscape shifts rapidly, it’s vital for today’s marketers to take an agile approach that can help them make well-informed decisions that bring maximum results.

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