KING ABDUL AZIZ UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF TOURISM

Course Title — Promotions & Events

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY PROMOTE EVENTS, FESTIVALS,

CONVENTIONS, AND EXPOSITIONS

What are KPIs?

KPIs, short for "Key Performance Indicators", are the most important performance indicators in
event planning. They measure a nd represent the success of an event in key figures. By measuring
the KPIs of your event, you can check how high your return on investment (ROI) is and to what
extent your previously defined goals have been achieved.
Event KPIs (key performance indicators) are the best way to track and measure your event’s
success.
When determining KPIs, your goals and desired outcomes are the best places to start. Goals will
guide what you should measure to determine event success. Whether your main objective is to
increase audience engagement, maximize revenue, or obtain more event sponsorships.

▪ Event Key Performance Indicators:

1. Number of registrations
2. Participants on-site
3. New vs. returning participants
4. Mentions and tagging in social media
5. Social Media Engagement
6. Turnover
7. Profit
8. Interaction rates of your email marketing
9. Download numbers and usage analysis of your event app
10. Conversion rate of your website and shop or registration page
11. Participant satisfaction
▪ Conference Key Performance Indicators:
1. Event Check-ins
2. Event Surveys
3. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
4. Active Community Members
5. Messages Sent
6. Speaker Engagement
7. Session Analytics
8. Top Performing Topics
9. Live Polling Response Rate
10. Social Media Mentions
 KING ABDUL AZIZ UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF TOURISM
Course Title — Promotions & Events

A series of questions you should be asking yourself ahead of your next exhibition.

1. Your current turnover?

2. How many customers do you have?
3. Your average customer values?
4. Next year’s target turnover?
5. What percentage from existing customers?
6. What percentage of new customers?
7. How many new customers do you need?
By answering these questions, you should achieve a level of clarity surrounding your KPIs as you
head into your next exhibition.

Examples of Smart Objectives & KPIs for Exhibitions & Events

▪ Smart Objectives Examples

1. --------- revenue from the exhibition by ----------- date

2. Secure -------- strong business leads by the end of the day
3. Secure ------- pieces of industry or press coverage from the event
4. Improve social media engagement by ------% from the event
5. Set ---- high profile meetings up from the event by ------ date

▪ Event KPI Examples

1. Number of leads and number of conversions by ------- date

2. Track data capture for detailed business leads
3. Number of social mentions, tagging images, reach of mentions and quality of coverage
4. Track social shares, comments, likes, new followers, hashtags used
5. Number of leads captured & appointments booked
 KING ABDUL AZIZ UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF TOURISM
Course Title — Promotions & Events

A multifaceted approach to marketing, promotion could be defined as the stirring up of interest in

your enterprise. The promotional campaign may include a wide range of marketing tools, or as few
as one, depending on your products and your needs. Promotional techniques for event marketing
may include advertising, public relations, cross-promotions (partnership marketing), street
promotions, stunts, and public service “cause-related” events, among others.

There are many tools to be considered for use in a promotional campaign, among them:

▪ Letters
▪ Flyers (single sheets)
▪ Brochures
▪ Mailing inserts
▪ Advertising
▪ Posters
▪ Speeches
▪ Postcards
▪ Street demonstrations
▪ Radio and television commercials in host venue
▪ Public service announcements
▪ E-mail, list serves, and e-commerce
▪ Tent cards at host facility
▪ Bus and subway signage (inside and outside)
▪ Press kits
These and other types of promotions should be selected based on how you define your market or
festival/event. In addition, the amount budgeted to fund the effort will assist you in making that
decision. Because the full range of promotional tools can be enticing to marketing executives, it is
essential to conduct market research to determine which of these tools will be most cost effective
and generate the greatest return on investment.

ADVERTISING
One of the most predominant and traditional event promotion techniques is advertising. While most
think of advertising in print form, involving newspapers or magazines, it may come in many forms
that we see every day. Advances in electronic and broadcast technologies provide a platform for
advertising on television and radio, over the Internet through “banner” ads and other inserts, and
even on the big screen in movie theaters.

How do you decide on the right advertising instrument for your festival/event needs?

First, identify the audience you wish to attract. Then investigate the demographics reached by the
advertising media you wish to consider. For example, marketing executives for larger events may
consider broadcast media, which may reach a regional or even a national or international audience.
More localized events will likely be promoted through community newspapers, local flyers or
 KING ABDUL AZIZ UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF TOURISM
Course Title — Promotions & Events

brochures, posters, and co-promotion with supporting groups and facilities. The primary
consideration is the reach, or total impressions, of the group being sought, even before considering
the demographic audience of the media being utilized.

Media sales representatives are equipped to demonstrate the demographics of their readers,
listeners, and viewers. You should ask if the demographic data have been verified by an
independent auditing firm. Ask when that audit was performed, and investigate the following
criteria, among others of interest to you:

▪ Age
▪ Income range
▪ Trade or profession
▪ Gender
▪ Geographic location
▪ Marital status and family size

Public Relations
Unlike advertising, which is primarily what you say about your organization or event in order to
win acceptance, public relations is the promotional discipline of forming what your audience thinks
or feels about the value of your enterprise and, even more important, about your organization as a
whole. It is a broader, more time-consuming approach to building continuing allegiance to your
cause and participation in your events. The goals of a public relations campaign may vary
significantly, ranging from creating awareness of your event in its early stages of development, to
continuing such awareness over a period, to offsetting negative publicity or controversies about the
company or association that sponsors your event.

Regardless, there are certain principles of public relations that will be employed.The first step
should be to examine previous public relations efforts and their relative effectiveness in promoting
greater participation or in mitigating challenges. Were the responses positive or negative? Attitude
surveys, focus groups, and analysis of attendance trends are helpful in this examination.
Newspapers remain a staple outlet, as do radio and television broadcasters, magazines, newsletters,
the Internet, and other online services. Related associations and corporations must also be
considered as public relations resources, especially for their support of the event and their
understanding of its purpose and their potential roles and mutual benefits.
 KING ABDUL AZIZ UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF TOURISM
Course Title — Promotions & Events

this list has six steps to a successful public relations campaign.

1- Always Ask! Do I need media? If so, why? Media coverage is a means, not an end.
Stay focused on your overall goal.
2- Define Your Goals. What specifically are you trying to achieve?
3- Target Your Audience. Are you trying to attract students? Lawyers? Bricklayers?
Men? Women?
4- Select Your Media. Focus on the media that will best reach your defined target
market.
5- Define Your Message. Stay focused on message throughout the campaign. Be
clear, and consistent.
6- Find Your News Angle. Look for the unique and unusual news about your event.
Look for the story that will define your message. Ask yourself two key questions:
What’s the story here? And why do we care?

Public relations require careful analysis of the project’s purposes, audience, benefits, and the
media available to deliver the appropriate message.

Press Materials
There are a few tools available for the public relations effort: Press releases, press kits, media alerts
(“requests for coverage”), organizational and event “fact sheets,” specialty advertising items, flyers
(also called “single sheets”), photos, and brochures.

Press Releases
Every press release should be designed according to the following format and with all the
information outlined and in this order:

▪ Organizational letterhead or news release form.

▪ Name, address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address.

▪ A date for release to the public, or “IMMEDIATE RELEASE.”

▪ Flush right: (For More Information: name of contact person and phone number).

▪ Short headline in bold capital letters.

 KING ABDUL AZIZ UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF TOURISM
Course Title — Promotions & Events

▪ Leading the first paragraph, begin with release date and location (city) of release. The first
paragraph should clearly define the five Ws of the event, with additional background and
information in subsequent paragraphs.

▪ Information should be double-spaced (so editors may make notes) and printed on one side
only.

▪ If the release is more than one page, signify by writing –MORE– at the bottom of the page.
Begin the next page with

▪ the page number and the identification of the event or organization and continue with each
succeeding page.

Press Kits
A press kit is a more comprehensive tool used to relay as much information about an event and
its purpose as possible, packaged in an attractive folder or portfolio imprinted with the name of
the sponsoring organization, the event, a logo, and other pertinent information. Typically, press
kits may contain:
■ Press releases
■ Photos
■ Media alerts
■ Requests for coverage
■ Press conference announcements and invitations
■ Speeches
■ Background news stories
■ Videotapes
■ CDs or DVDs
■ Organizational information
■ Biographies
■ Folders, brochures, postcards
■ Advertising specialty items
 KING ABDUL AZIZ UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF TOURISM
Course Title — Promotions & Events

The Five Ws of Marketing and Promotion

In facing the new challenges of marketing events, a continuous analysis of fact-finding must
precede each campaign. This analysis must include the five Ws of marketing (see Figure).
“Dr. Joe Goldblatt” in Special Events, Twenty-First Century Global Event Management,
states that the 5Ws help determine if the event is feasible, viable, and sustainable. In event
marketing, we use the same questions to determine the feasibility, viability, and
sustainability of the marketing plan.
 KING ABDUL AZIZ UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF TOURISM
Course Title — Promotions & Events

1- WHY?

When you look at promotional materials for events, the most glaring omission is often this
essential element for encouraging attendance. You will probably see the name of the event, the
organization’s logo, the dates, and the location. That should be standard procedure.
The opening message of virtually all promotional materials should feature the “why?” Why
should someone take the time and spend the money to come to your event? To answer that
question, the marketing and management team for the event must determine the overriding
reasons for the event itself.

2- WHO?

To whom are we marketing the event? Your target audience may vary, depending on the nature
of the product being promoted.
as well as trade publications, electronic media representatives, and the consumer press. A
vigilant analysis of the audience to be attracted is essential to target marketing, economy of
printing, postage, list maintenance, and staff time.

3- WHEN?

Timing is everything! The enlightened management team should make the marketing function
an integral part of the planning process to maximize the value of timing of an event.
Strategies for planning the timing of an event are integral to the challenges faced in the
marketing process. And timing should also be carefully weighed considering the schedules,
patterns, and needs of the market being served. Scheduling conflicts with attendees present
natural impediments to attendance.

4- WHERE?

The location of the event can be a critical element in driving sales. Among the assets you should
look for as benefits to promote are:
▪ In urban areas, the availability of public transportation, valet parking, convenience, and
efficiency of travel
▪ In rural areas, a chance to enjoy panoramic views and pastoral scenery
▪ In shopping malls, an opportunity for centralized activities, ease of parking, and ancillary
shopping and entertainment features to enjoy
▪ At resorts, the ambiance of pools, golf, upscale shopping, beaches, and gourmet dining
▪ At airport hotels, the inherent efficiency of getting the work done with minimum travel and
commuting time because of the fly-in, fly-out design of the location
 KING ABDUL AZIZ UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OF TOURISM
Course Title — Promotions & Events

5- WHAT?

Every event is unique unto itself, or at least the marketing executives should present it as such.
It may offer an opportunity to discover a new concept, a look into the future of industry or trade,
or a chance to view an innovative line of products and ideas. Regardless of the content you have
identified, every event should be presented as refreshing and exciting.