Events, whether virtual or in person, are a big part of the business world. There’s no denying the amount of work that goes into planning and executing an event, but you shouldn’t stop there. The actions you take after an event go a long way to helping you meet your event goals, whether it be nurturing leads or growing your audience.
Let’s take a look at a few post-event tactics you can use to help foster relationships with your attendees.
5 effective post-event marketing tactics
1. Harness the power of a well-placed “thank you”
A simple “thank you” to attendees, vendors, speakers and staff can go a long way to creating positive feelings about your event. One of the easiest methods to show your gratitude is to send an email. Make sure to send the email within 24 hours of the event and include photos and/or highlights of the event where it makes sense.
Another fun way to say thank you is with video. You can use video and pictures taken from the event itself, include energizing music, and say thanks with a voice over or text. Participants will have fun looking for themselves in the event footage, and it’s a more interactive way to get your message across than a copy-rich email. We recommend embedding or linking to the video in your thank you email. It can also be used on social media and your website to generate interest for future events.
2. Get 360-degree feedback
Post-event surveys are a terrific way to get input and honest feedback from participants. You’ll want to survey attendees, as well as vendors, speakers and event staff. This will give you a complete view of your event and provide you with the data you need to make necessary improvements for the next one.
There are many great survey tools out there, many of which are low-cost, so use the one that will give you the options and reporting you need. We find ourselves using Survey Monkey the most often because of its easy-to-use interface and reporting tools.
If you do include a link to your survey in the thank you email, it is best to also have a follow-up email, reminding recipients to take the survey.
3. Give a gift to show appreciation
Who doesn’t love a present? Whether it’s a discount code or a physical gift, participants enjoy feeling special and appreciated. If you use a discount code or special offer, make sure to promote that it is for “event attendees only” and give a time limit to create a sense of urgency. When it comes to physical gifts, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy, sometimes small and fun is the best route.
For example, one of our international clients handed out bags of trail mix at the end of an event with a little note that said “happy trails” and included the dates of the next few conferences happening around the globe.
4. Polish your attendee personas
Your post-event survey data will come in especially handy here. Similar to buyer personas, attendee personas are the ideal people you want to attend your events. Creating attendee personas before your event will give you a better understanding of who is and wants to attend your event, how to market to them prior to the event, and how to nurture the relationship afterward.
Once your event has included, review the feedback you received from participants and the data from your event itself (number of attendees, their titles, their company name, etc.) to see if you attracted the personas you expected. Now that many events have moved online, it is not surprising to find you might have new personas to include with the next conference, or if some of the goals of your existing personas have changed.
If you have never created attendee personas, your secret is safe with us. You can use these six example attendee personas to get you started, or even better, let us help! With our experience in event marketing and buyer persona creation, we can get you up-to-speed quickly.
5. Hold a post-mortem meeting with your team
The people that helped you pull this event off have some very powerful insight, especially those that were on the ground at an in-person event or a moderator at a virtual event. Give the team a day or two to recover, and then hold a post-event meeting. While everyone may be tired of talking about it, you want to hold the meeting while the information is still fresh. A little bribery, such as a treat or gift, will go a long way to keeping participants happy.
During this meeting, take time to walk through the event, talk about what went well, what didn’t and what feedback or input anyone may have received from attendees. This should naturally lead to a conversation about the next event and generate some excitement.
Don’t wait for your next event, act today
Whether you finished an event yesterday or two months ago, using some of the post-event marketing tactics mentioned above will help increase ROI and meet your event goals. Not to mention, it will help you prepare for a more successful event the next time.
Feeling uncertain or need some event management assistance? That’s what we’re here for! Contact us today to get help with post-event marketing.