Online Event Advertising
While your next event may not be as massive as the Beijing Olympics, follow some of these tips and your event will certainly be a winner
While your next event may not be as massive as the Beijing Olympics, follow some of these tips and your event will certainly be a winner
We’ve all come to expect a massive marketing push around big sporting events like this month’s Beijing Olympics. If endorsement ads or product tie-ins don’t get you, the endless articles about athletes, venues, and Olympic history will. And why not? Olympic competition and glory — and all those captivated eyeballs — is magic elixir for advertisers. Late last year, ZenithOptimedia predicted global Internet ad sales to increase its total share of the market to 9.4 percent in 2008 (up from 8.1 percent), in part buoyed by “a so-called ‘quadrennial’ kick year, in which major events like the Olympics, Euro 2008 soccer tournament, and U.S. presidential elections coincide.”
Whether you’re trying to piggyback on the hype of an existing event or market one on its own, the Web ought to be a part of this effort. A while back, ClickZ columnist Heidi Cohen examined online event marketing that still includes important best practices for today.
Advertising events online can cut a wide swath. If an event is local, the ad campaign should be confined using geo-targeted or localized advertising. Events like industry conferences may try to reach a more national but niche target audience. Web events or contests, which can be events unto themselves, have no geographical restrictions.
Cohen also spoke of important online event considerations.
Let me add to and update her solid list, particularly with respect to online advertising:
Data collected from the Spongecell interactions is stored in its Web interface for advertisers to precisely see who’s responding and how.
When it comes to online event advertising, Courtenay Roy, Web sales specialist for BaltimoreSun.com, helped to compile this list of common pitfalls to avoid:
With more event marketing either taking place directly on or being transferred to the Web, be sure to know your online advertising options and follow these best practices to make yours a success.