Emails, flyers, social media, word-of-mouth marketing, SEO… For business professionals like you, the sheer number of available marketing strategies and channels can be overwhelming. Most of you feel like you’re talking into a void and look for ways to engage with your audience actively. Here is where event marketing comes in.
Event marketing involves promoting a brand, service, or product through a live or virtual event. This can include webinars, trade shows, conferences, seminars, product launches, experiential events, to name a few.
One of the occurrences that disrupted event marketing, leading to fundamental changes in planning and execution, is the COVID-19 pandemic. With all the lockdowns, travel restrictions, and social distancing, opportunities for face-to-face interactions were lessened.
Due to restrictions on physical events and in-person meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual events gained significant popularity. This shift allowed event marketers to reach a wider audience and offer flexible options for attendees, especially those unable to travel or attend in person.
The adoption of virtual events also gave rise to hybrid events, or the combination of virtual and in-person experiences. This allows for greater flexibility and accessibility for attendees as well.
Since guests find it challenging to travel significant distances due to travel restrictions and health issues, the pandemic has also resulted in a greater focus on local events. Smaller, neighborhood-focused events have been made possible.
One of the most important lessons the pandemic taught is that virtual platforms can bring people together, regardless of financial and geographical barriers, and are proven to give prospects a more engaging and satisfying customer experience.
Event marketing goes beyond simply offering new channels and connections with potential customers. By gathering data before the event, you gain valuable insights that allow you to treat each attendee as an individual, not just a part of the crowd.
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Event marketing in the Asia-Pacific
A recent survey comprising key Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions namely Singapore, Australia, and India reveals that nine out of ten senior B2B marketing leaders are embracing “creative confidence”, shifting away from lead generation and performance as priorities. Rather, they focus more on advertising campaigns for brands that use emotion and storytelling to engage target audiences and make their products more memorable.
Consumers in Singapore and the APAC region correlate emotions, memories, connections, and experiences, and crave a sense of community and local presence when choosing a brand to buy from.
This strengthens the notion that brand-led marketing is even more necessary in APAC because B2B purchasing decisions are more emotionally motivated in the said region than anywhere else. More than the global average (69%), 82% of marketers in the APAC region felt that B2B transactions are just as emotionally motivated as B2C ones.
Brands that effectively connect with customers emotionally are more likely to cultivate deeper relationships, which is crucial for long-term brand recognition and customer loyalty.
The latest stats as of 2024 reveal that ads with emotional content are nearly twice as effective as those with only rational content (31% vs. 16%). On the other hand, customers who feel a strong emotional connection with a brand are 71% more likely to recommend it to others.
Considering that event marketing significantly impacts customer experience and emotions by creating memorable experiences, providing opportunities for engagement, encouraging social sharing, and providing a human touch, it’s no surprise that event marketing is a fitting strategy in the said region.
Aside from these, here are some of the key considerations and trends for event marketing in Singapore and the APAC region:
- Diversity of languages and cultures
There is a vast diversity of cultures and languages that can be found in the Asia-Pacific region. These differences should be taken into consideration when planning an event in the area and customizing the event to the local audience. - Increasing demand for experiential marketing
APAC consumers are increasingly looking for unique and memorable experiences. Due to this, firms are increasingly creating immersive experiences that enable customers to connect with their products and services in a more personal manner. This has increased the demand for experiential marketing.
This region is witnessing the highest growth in experiential marketing spending, with a projected increase of 11.2% this year. - Cultural sensitivities
APAC’s cultural diversity calls for a thoughtful approach to B2B business. Work closely with local partners and research to ensure that your events are culturally appropriate. Understanding the differences in indirect communication and hierarchical structures is more than just courtesy—it’s a strategic necessity. - Sustainability and social responsibility
There is a growing emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility in event marketing as people become more conscious of the effects of climate change and environmental challenges. Brands that can show that they are responding to these concerns are likely to have a positive reception from consumers in the Asia-Pacific region. - Technology adoption
The Asia-Pacific region is renowned for having a high rate of technology adoption, notably in mobile devices. This provides opportunities for event marketers to use technology to develop interactive experiences and raise the number of event attendees.
Explore Our Services: Event Marketing Solutions in Singapore and APAC
Events that thrive in 2024
Event marketing is a very flexible strategy since it can be done in various channels. Here are the top event marketing strategies this 2024:
Trade Shows
Trade shows, also known as expos or exhibitions, are events where businesses from specific sectors or industries gather to showcase their products, services, and innovations to target audiences.
These are designed to allow businesses the opportunity to connect and engage with partners, suppliers, industry peers, and potential customers, and offer a platform for businesses to do demos, product launches, and gather customer feedback.
Trade shows also allow event attendees to learn about the latest industry technologies, trends, and innovations.
Related: 25 Must-Track Tradeshow KPIs to Make your Events Count [INFOGRAPHIC]
Conferences
In a conference, people with common interests, professions, or expertise are gathered to exchange ideas, experiences, and industry knowledge related to a specific industry or topic.
This type of event usually includes workshops, panel discussions, presentations, and keynote speeches from subject matter experts and industry leaders.
Networking Events
These events put less emphasis on business promotion to other businesses and rather focus on facilitating conversations and communications between people in a similar industry.
Networking events can either be formal or informal and can be organized by business groups, professional organizations, or community organizations. These typically allow attendees to engage in one-on-one conversations, take part in group discussions, and exchange contact information.
Seminars
These are educational events wherein a group of people gathers to discuss and exchange ideas on specific topics. Its format may vary, but it usually involves a presentation followed by a group discussion or a Q&A session.
Seminars provide individuals the opportunity to share their ideas, network with other professionals in the field, and gain insights into current developments and trends.
Webinars
These are virtual events, online seminars to be particular, that are hosted over the internet using webinar platforms or video conferencing software.
These are often used by organizations, businesses, and individuals to inform and educate their target audience about a specific topic. Compared to traditional in-person seminars, webinars are more accessible, budget-friendly, and have a wider audience scope.
These are accessible through a computer, tablet, or mobile device and may be attended to from any location as long as there is an internet connection.
Explore Our Services: Webinar and Virtual Event Marketing Services
Live Events
In marketing, live events pertain to virtual or physical gatherings that aim to promote a product, service, or brand through direct audience engagement. Live events are meant to create immersive and memorable experiences that allow businesses to connect with their target audience, generate leads, boost brand awareness, and drive sales.
Poor B2B event attendance
Preparing for B2B events takes up a lot of your time and budget, and it’s only expected that you’ll anticipate that most, if not everyone, in your attendee list will show up on that day.
Sadly, this isn’t always the case. No-shows are unavoidable parts of event marketing. Poor event attendance isn’t as important for digital events compared to in-person ones, but it can’t be denied that attendance rate still matters when measuring the success of B2B events. Here are some of the
Possible reasons why your B2B event attendance is dry
- Tons of competing events
Yes, you can market to the whole world, but so can countless other events including your potential attendees. - People are getting busy
Attending events is often just an option rather than a must-have in one’s schedule, especially if it comes after one’s regular working hours and may come in conflict with other daily tasks. - Poor email reminder scheduling
Humans are undeniably, forgetful beings. Most Registrants will most likely forget about your event after they’ve signed up so sending out reminders makes a difference. - Revisiting older topics frequently
Retreading old, familiar ground loses your audience’s interest. When choosing topics and creating content for your event, make sure to include fresh, innovative, and exciting ones. This will help you to become highly successful in raising your average attendance rate over time. - Lack of promotion and marketing
Promotion and marketing are crucial for the success of event marketing. By effectively promoting and marketing an event, brands can attract attendees, create engagement, build brand awareness, and drive sales.
Let us help you attract more attendees to your virtual and live events with our Expert Event Management Services
Strategies to attract attendees to events
There are several strategies you can use to attract attendees to your event marketing. Here are some of them:
- Define your target audience
Knowing your target audience is important when it comes to attracting attendees and inviting the target sector. Determine your ideal attendees’ demographics, interests, and behaviors and tailor your marketing efforts appropriately. - Partner with influencers
Working together with influencers provides an organic way of promoting your event. With their large number of followers, influencers can help your brand reach a wider audience and build your brand’s credibility.
Start by identifying influencers in your niche and partner with them to create interesting content and other innovative, interactive strategies to foster customer engagement. - Press releases
These are essential tools in event marketing as they are effective in announcing and publicizing an event. Moreover, press releases help generate interest and anticipation for your event.
Among other advantages, they can assist you with PR creation, search engine optimization, and establishing the credibility of your event. - Provide early-bird discounts
Discounts and promos like this entice people to register at your events the soonest time possible. You can also offer discounts for group registrants and referrals to incentivize attendees to bring colleagues and friends along. - Create compelling content
One of the most critical components of event marketing is content. It helps attract potential attendees, promote engagement, establish trust and credibility, improve SEO, and provide ongoing promotion.
Developing interesting content that demonstrates the value and benefits of attending your event is crucial. Some of the most effective content that attracts audiences are videos, blog posts, infographics, and testimonials from attendees from previous events.
Related: Event Marketing: Breaking Down Your End-to-End Strategies
Raise your event attendee numbers with Callbox
Poor event attendance is a misfortune most B2B event marketers encounter when promoting their events. It can be frustrating to spend time, effort, and resources planning and promoting an event only to have a low turnout.
Aside from lowering your morale, high no-show rates can result in wasted resources, revenue loss, damage to brand reputation, and difficulty in promoting future events. To overcome this challenge, B2B event marketers in Singapore and APAC need to level up their event marketing efforts.
While there are many effective strategies that can boost your event attendance, outsourcing to expert lead generation services providers like Callbox can ensure that you attract and engage the right target audience and obtain confirmed leads for the event you’re holding.
Callbox’s multi-touch multi-channel approach helps businesses promote their events and boost attendance by using targeted outreach to reach and generate interest in these events.
Our team uses Voice, Email, Web, Chat, Social Media, and Webinars to attract, engage, and delight leads, and especially help you boost registrations and drive more revenue for your events.
For over 10 years, we have helped organizers and exhibitors raise event attendance and lead conversion. Our team of experts can help you:
- Invite the right attendees through in-depth profiling and targeting
- Increase RSVPs with consistent pre-show touches
- Ensure high event turnout using timely confirmation and reminders
- Increase booth traffic using key promotional channels
- Score more one-on-one meet-ups through personalized outreach
- Turn event leads to opportunities with post-event nurture paths
You can avail of our event marketing services with flexible and tailored pricing according to your business needs (request pricing).
B2B events in the APAC are evolving into more of a journey, and Callbox can help you stay in front of your audience at every step. With the right tools, tactics, and team, you’ll be able to drive more opportunities at your next event. Contact us now!
