Businesses Need Events to Stay Relevant: Experts

Although creating a conversation with your consumers online is vital, engaging with them face-to-face adds a whole other dimension of loyalty. With a marketing event, clients can get your message out much faster, more effectively, and to an audience who is more eager to hear it. As senior lecturer and MD of winkball.com, Dr James Ohene-Djan mentioned at a recent event, “Events are the most important part of marketing for any modern business.” The renowned businessman and founder of the reporter video network believes that events are integral to any successful business that wish to stay relevant now as well as in years to come.

Dr Ohene-Djan goes on to described how understanding newsworthy events is key to unlocking business success, “The shift towards the Events and Experience Economy has been so successful that we have reached the point where it is difficult to see what news is created, what is random and what is contrived for maximum impact.

Newsworthy events remain the best possible way for sponsors to reach communities. They offer businesses the perfect opportunity for brand association, awareness and targeted messaging to specific audiences. 

By providing a platform for videographers and presenters to become tomorrow’s influencers, WinkBall is allowing consumers to tune into the thousands of events happening every day and provides a vast opportunity for sponsors to reach those untapped communities.

We add every event planned for a region or neighbourhood, and video reporters accept commissions to cover it. Sponsors bid to associate their brand with the event coverage. Every brand and every event thus gets the kind of professional coverage big brands are spending billions on.”

According to Dr Ohene- Djan, five major problems have surfaced that stop media outlets and news professionals from benefiting from events coverage;

1.   The lack of resources and decreasing manpower in local and regional media.

2.  The cost associated with production and distribution of professionally produced digital video content.

3.  Failure to widen the number of businesses and brands engaged in direct sponsorship of events and digital communities.

4.  The nature of advertising and downward pressure on unit cost/sales from social media

5.  User-generated content is unstructured, unpredictable and difficult to leverage for sponsors.

According to The Content Marketing Institute, 75% of B2B marketers listed “in-person events” as their top marketing tactic, above even blogging and social media. The event-marking trend is clearly an effective strategy that isn’t bucking anytime soon, and it shouldn’t be surprising. Real-life experiences are more engaging and can shape our memories much more profoundly than anything else. 

With consumers looking for specific products or services today and they are left with so many options, it can be difficult to cut through the clutter. An event facilitates face-to-face discussion with your consumers, helping them to establish a much more personal and intimate relationship with your brand than what is possible in the digital space. Events do a ton to generate brand recognition. Participants who take part in a marketing event pass that experience on to someone else, making your brand much more accessible to your target audience.

Experts also believe, events are a cost effective way to roll out new products or services. With an event, you can generate feedback almost immediately about your product or service. The quick turnaround allows you to address any potential questions or issues. Not only will this make your business more flexible and adaptable, but your customer satisfaction is likely to improve. So, if event marketing isn’t already part of your overall marketing toolbox, experts believe its time you consider adding it.