1. How-To Guide
© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Fundamentals of Event Marketing
Executive Summary
According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), there are 14,451 tradeshow
events held annually in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Tradeshows are just one of
a variety of event types that organizations are using to promote their brand and generate
leads. Events have strong appeal for many organizations because they facilitate face-to-
face interaction with large groups of customers and prospects.
This How-To Guide is designed to provide practical advice for executing an event
marketing strategy. This guide outlines use cases for event marketing, event marketing
best practices, the keys to a successful event, and a detailed action plan to begin your
event marketing initiative. It is intended for use prior to and in conjunction with our
Executing an Event Marketing Plan How-To Guide.
What is Event Marketing?
From a marketing perspective, an event is simply an activity designed to bring a specific
group of people together at some venue at a specific time and for a specific purpose.
Here are some other definitions of event marketing:
“The activity of designing or developing a themed activity, occasion, display, or exhibit
(such as a sporting event, music festival, fair, or concert) to promote a product, cause, or
organization.” - BusinessDictionary.com

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© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
“Event marketing is the effort to spread recognition of an entity by association with a
social event. Constant competition for the public’s attention rages in print and broadcast
media. Event marketing moves that competition to the experiential arena and hopes to
engage the participant more fully and make memories more lasting. An experience that is
fun, participatory, and readily available may translate into the desired action by the event
attendee, making the effort cost-effective.” – WiseGEEK.com
The fundamental events marketing premise is to offer something of value to attendees,
often education or entertainment, that draws them to the event. This gathering of
attendees, who are typically customers or prospects, is then exploited for marketing
purposes.
What Constitutes an Event?
Events come in a wide variety of forms, including but not limited to the following types:
 Trade Shows  Conference Exhibits
 Webinars  Virtual Events
 Ribbon Cuttings (e.g. new office)  Press Conferences
 Focus Groups  Training & Education Sessions
 Customer Socials or Reception  Product Demonstrations
 Sponsored Sporting Events  Business dinners
 Shareholder meetings  Product Launches

3. How-To Guide
© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Value of Event Marketing
Event marketing is an excellent strategy for many companies because:
 Events concentrate groups of customers that represent a company’s target market in
one place and at one time.
 They facilitate face-to-face interaction with customers and prospects, which is usually
the most prized form of interaction.
 Because of the face-to-face interaction (or real-time interaction in the case of virtual
or online events), they create a stronger impression than other forms of promotion.
This impression is ideally favorable, but poor execution at an event can damage the
relationships or create negative impressions.
 The quality of interaction at events can accelerate the sales cycle. As the diagram
below illustrates, different types of events are effective throughout the sales cycle:

4. How-To Guide
© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Event Marketing Spectrum
For some companies, events are the primary marketing strategy. For others, events are just
one of many tactics used to accomplish sales and marketing goals. Your company’s level
of commitment to events will vary depending on the forces driving your marketing
strategy. Using the chart below, determine if events are a strategic part of your marketing
mix or if they are more tactical in nature:
Events as a “Tactic” Events as a “Strategy”
Infrequent events, as needed.
Frequent events needed to hit
revenue targets.
Complementary to mission. Critical to success of mission.
Ad hoc team, minimal resources. Dedicated team and resources.
Viewed as a cost center.
Viewed as critical investment with
clear ROI.
Decide which side your organization falls on this event marketing spectrum by selecting
the characteristic below that best describes your disposition:
 Low - You use events infrequently, but you still need to do them well.
 Med - You use events periodically, and want to get more out of them.
 High - Events are a strategic part of your marketing plan, and want to show ROI.

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Note: Even if events aren’t a strategic part of your marketing mix, you must be sure to do
them well or risk damage to your firm’s reputation.
Key Success Factors for Events
Review the key success factors below and consider the reasoning provided.
Key Success Factor Reasoning
Clear objectives for each event
If you are unsure of objectives, how can you
show results?
Meticulous planning
Events can be stressful if they are not carefully
planned.
Flawless execution
You can’t afford to have an event turn into a
disaster.
Solid promotion
Events are only successful if you have enough
attendees.
Measurement of results
You need to know which events provide the
most ROI.

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© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Action Plan: How to Get Started
1. Review our Executing an Event Marketing Plan How-To Guide – to understand the
all the steps in the event planning process. The first step in this planning process is
to set objectives for your event marketing initiative. For many companies, the
objective is lead generation. Whatever it is for your organization, have clear
objectives and build your event marketing strategy around them.
2. Identify where you fit on the Event Marketing Spectrum. Whether events are
infrequent and tactical for your organization, or frequent and strategic, understand
this and prepare to invest appropriately.
3. Download our Event Marketing Plan Methodology to create & manage your event
marketing strategy. Make sure that your planning accounts for each of the key
success factors identified in this document.
4. Prepare your company. – As prescribed in the Event Marketing Plan Methodology,
establish a budget for your event marketing plan. Even more important, put a set of
measurements in place to track the results your event marketing efforts produce.
Bottom Line
Event marketing can accomplish many key objectives: lead generation, sales cycle
acceleration and overall brand perception enhancement. Does it make sense for your
business to use events as a marketing strategy? To answer this question intelligently, first
consider your objective for participating in or hosting them. Reasonable objectives include
lead generation, brand awareness, thought leadership, partner recruiting, media exposure

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© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
or something else. Set an objective before you do anything else, because you’ll optimize
your presence at an event around this objective. Your planning and preparedness will
determine the extent to which event marketing will produce the desired outcome.
Assessing your organization’s current commitment to event marketing and creating a
detailed event marketing plan will help you get a return on your investment in events.