4 lessons learned in event marketing with Hannah Tyler

Having spent a fair few years running events, Hannah landed at Contentsquare 3 years ago. Fast forward to 2022, she’s now heading up the event marketing channel for the UK, specialising in hybrid events.

With her epic experience, we asked Hannah to dish out the top four things she’s learned about event marketing so far. Here’s what she said:

Lesson #1: Give the people what they want

The only way to find out what the people want (and not what you think they want) is to talk to them. Everyone likes to be asked their opinion, so play on that.

The easiest way to get a lot of feedback – and quickly – is to send out a feedback form straight after the event. Typeform is my favourite platform to use for this! You can offer prizes for the best constructive feedback so you know that the feedback you’re getting is of good quality.

If you ask them specific questions, you’re more likely to get detailed answers. Which session did you enjoy the most and why? What’s one thing you could do better next time? You can also use the feedback to make your sales follow-ups easier. What’s one challenge you’re currently struggling with within your role?

For your die-hard event fans, they’ll likely know your name from the invites. I regularly reach out explain a new event concept or topic and simply ask what they think. 9 times outta 10 I’ll get a response. As an extra bonus, I’ve even met some future event speakers through doing this. Using the past information, you can also use the platform of people search, and find new potential attendees who will be interested in your future events, so you can send them the invitation about it.

Lesson #2: If you’re not excited, no one else will be

In-person events are back baby, and invites are flying into every inbox. As an event marketer, you need to be the ultimate hype-person to your wider marketing and sales teams, event partners and speakers. Excitement is infectious and you need to be the one leading the way. So, bring on those positive vibes!

Two tips from me:

1. Your copywriting / content is what sells the event. It’s everywhere. In your emails, your registration page, calendar invites, design assets and your signage at the venue. Lazy copy is obvious. Don’t be that person who copy-and-pastes from the last event and hopes no one notices. They will. Every event is different and your copy needs to reflect that.
2. It’s much easier to get your internal team and registrations excited if you’ve got something exciting to talk to them about. Events are experiential marketing and not a never-ending programme of long talks. We’ve done events at venues with ping pong tournaments, multi-sensory bingo halls, held wine tastings at 11 am and even had a champagne skirt lady roaming about with 100 glasses up for offer. Give people a reason to talk about your event.

Lesson #3: (Interactive) content is king

Since going virtual, the event industry has become obsessed with audience interaction. In-person events are no different. Your audience (either in-person or virtual) are still expecting to have that interactive experience. My two tips to leave attendees wanting more:

1. Slido is an easy way to make audience interaction simple for presentations and with Q&As, from quizzes, word clouds and polls, it’s a quick win. It also integrates with tons of virtual event platforms, plus the UX is dreamy.
   
2. Want something more classic? Do something your audience won’t expect and get them up and moving with voting paddles or cards for the speaker to ask the audience questions. If that’s not an option, go for the stand-up / sit down method.
   

Lesson #4: Take the plunge and go hybrid (you won’t regret it)

The thought of executing a hybrid event strategy can be overwhelming, there is so much to think about. You’ve got two audiences who are experiencing the event very differently. It’s your job to make sure they don’t feel they are having two separate experiences.

For those looking to incorporate hybrid events into their strategy, I wanted to share how I got started. 

1. Stalk the sh*t out of other hybrid events. From attending hybrid events to looking at their event messaging, it was the best way for me to work out what I wanted a hybrid event to look like at Contentsquare – and what I didn’t.
2. Talk to someone in your professional network about their own hybrid strategy. I’ve learned so much from simply reaching out and comparing hybrid strategies with other event marketers. We can only learn from each other!
3. My most important tip: Invest in the right tech equipment and team. With hybrid events, you need to put the money where your mouth is. Regardless of whether you’re outsourcing to a production company or if it’s internally driven, make sure you take account of these extra costs in your budget. Don’t skimp because it will impact the hybrid experience for everyone.

Get in touch!

Finally, if any event marketers want to reach out and chat more I’m happy to! Just get in touch with me via LinkedIn. Or if you’re interested in a career at Contentsquare, check out our career pages to browse our open positions across the world 👇

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