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Event Marketing; How local can you get?

Submitted by Mitch Seigel on Tues, 11/03/2015

In the past, when discussing event marketing, I have focused on big ticket events. I have to tell you that local events can be just as effective as a marketing tool. Case in point, I just left a chamber of commerce golf tournament, where records were set in attendance, donations for a good cause, overall fun for the participants.

The cooperation among many volunteers, organizers and sponsors was fantastic. The end result; increased dollars to support education for college students. It takes time to pull something like this off. Planning meetings, reaching out to the community for support, plus more planning meetings.

This event was the fourth in four years for this chamber. The list of significant sponsors has grown immensely, and that is due to the excitement developed over time. I actually had two people comment on all the sponsors that were supporting the program this year.

After the golf there was a dinner where there was a live auction, and a few more thousand dollars were secured by the generosity of the golfers. Using an outside company to handle the auctions (live and silent) made it so much easier on the organizer of the event.

Event marketing does not have to be on a grand scale. It can be as local as you want it to be, like a local golf tournament. It can be local sponsors and it can be regional offices of corporations as sponsors. It all works. One word of caution, have a committed team to make the event work, and start to plan months in advance of the event, if not sooner.

What are your challenges when it comes to event marketing? I look forward to hearing your comments. Until next time…