STRATEGIC ONLINE MARKETING FOR BUSINESSES & EVENTS

CASSIE ROBERTS

YOU DON’T HAVE TO TAKE

(PERFECT) NOTESI will post these slides to slide share and send the link to Dr. Heere & Amy

INTERNET WINS POPULARITY CONTEST

MOBILE IS GOING TO WIN TOO

Source: Morgan Stanley Research

WHAT TO GET OUT OF THIS?

SPEND YOUR MONEY WHERE IT COUNTS!

PRESENTER

Cassie RobertsManager, Sales &

Partnership• Received BS Public

Relations, & Masters Sport Management, The University of Texas

• Born in Central City, NE• United States Olympic

Committee• Rodeo Austin

COMPANY HISTORY

SAFFIRE CLIENTS

SAFFIRE CLIENTS

SAFFIRE CLIENTS

www.saffireevents.com/customers.aspx

WHAT WE DODevelop event websites

• CMS• Strategically planned Layouts

Create Email Tactics• Customized HTML email campaigns

Provide Tips & Tricks for Social Networking• Webinars on Social Media• Educating the older population

PALAMINO FEST

AGENDAPrioritize your WEBSITE Using SOCIAL MEDIAMaximize your MOBILE presenceImportant STATISTICS TO WATCH How to make money with EMAILSpecific ONLINE MARKETING IDEAS

YOUR WEBSITE

HOW DO YOU MANANGE YOUR

SITE

YOUR WEB GUY

THE GOALTo be the most successful

and to maintain your sanity,

you must be able to market your event on your website in real

time.

BUT!Websites can be expensive!Maybe I can write the code to make my own website!

LET’S FACE IT

WORDPRESS-NOT JUST FOR

BLOGGERS!• Manage all your own content• Pick or apply your own theme• Use a blog if you wish- good to

help people find you on Google• Pick layouts/modules to best fit

brand

Click to learn about WordPress Websites

EXAMPLES OF WORDPRESS SITES

www.run13.com

EXAMPLES OF WORDPRESS SITES

www.watersportsguru.com

MAKE INFO QUICK TO FIND

Don’t have more than 5-7 links in one place.Make your information hierarchical.

MAKE IT FUNUse photos- events are naturally photogenicGive people features to click

MAXIMIZE WEBSITE

SPONSORSHIPS• Sell prime real estate—but not banner ads

• Take advantage of sub events and pages• If you sell a sponsorship to something

already, add in the bonus of the website-your sponsors will appreciate it!• i.e., “Look at these pictures from the HEB

jumbotron!” or “Check out the O’Reilly Auto Parts Fun Run!”

ECOMMERCE

ECOMMERCE = INSURANCE POLICY

ECOMMERCE IS STILL GROWING

SOURCE: emarketer & moderate

REDEMTION RATES80/20 rule• Approximately 80% of the tickets you

sell online will be redeemed• Offer 20% discount• Come out even

Free shipping or print at home• ESPECIALLY when cheap to ship

MAKING IT MOBILE

MOBILE

APP OR MOBILE SITE?

An-droid46%Apple

iPhone30%

BlackBerry24%

APP OR MOBILE SITE?

Customers use mobile search to shop.• 95% of all mobile searches are for

LOCAL products and services.• 61% of all local searches result in

a purchase.• What are they looking for when

they get to your mobile site? ECOMMERCE!

WHY MOBILE?

WHAT MAKES A GOOD MOBILE

SITE?• Big buttons• Most relevant items on top• Drive content from one

source (don’t try to manage separately)

• Same info as on the website if you can

ANALYTICS

GOOGLE ANALYTICS

4 IMPORTANT THINGS TO WATCH

• Low visits? Improve SEO or online marketing of your site

SITE VISIT

S

4 IMPORTANT THINGS TO WATCH

• High bounce rate? Improve your homepage

BOUNCE

RATE

4 IMPORTANT THINGS TO WATCH

• Not enough action? Make your website more compelling (good rate: 2%)

ACTIONS/

CONVERSION RATE

ONE MORE THING TO WATCH

• Low time?Add interactivity and other “stickiness”

TIME ON

SITE

SOCIAL MEDIA

2013: THE YEAR OF THE…

Story!

VISUAL STORYTELLING

A marketing technique that can bring you increased

exposure, better customer engagement and retention,

and more sales.

THE KEY TO SUCCESS

Create visual features that

tell a story about your event.

Share them everywhere.

FACEBOOKYour top social media priority1 billion monthly active usersOne in every seven humans on earth is an active Facebook userFacebook trends to know• People use it on mobile• People use it for photo sharing

TWITTERYour 2nd priority for social media530 million accounts340 million tweets a day1 million accounts addedto Twitter every day

WHY TWEET?Twitter is best for up-to-the minute important news and cultural happenings.

Ramp up your publishing frequency, and make timely content the focus of your Twitter activities in order to satisfy information-hungry users.

MANAGE YOUR TWEETS

GO ABOUT YOUR DAY

Install Firefox extension

TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER

TWITONOMY

50% of all web content is…

YOUTUBE

3rd in your social media priorities4 billion videos/day viewed800 million unique users visit YouTube each month44% of YouTube’s users are agedbetween 12 and 34

YOUTUBE

Customers exposed to videos are 437% more likely to engage in your brand.

• Engagement = Purchases

RECOMMENDATIONMake your videos raw and not too produced to help

customers identify with your brand.

What is the fastest growing

website of all time?

PINTERESTPinterest was the first site to get 10 million unique visitors in a month.

Pin event photos (and more) and invite your customers to follow your boards!

Not your highest priority, but do it! It’s fun!

EMAIL MARKETING

EMAIL SEEMS NOT COOL:One of the oldest

online marketing tactics

WHAT’S COOL ABOUT EMAIL?

COOL:67% of global marketers

rated email the most successful

digital marketing tacticSource: CMO Council, May 2012

WHAT’S COOL ABOUT EMAIL?

EMAIL IS KEY FOR ONLINE SALES

Email is the top revenue generator for many companies (even above social media)Email gives some of the fastest results, often within 24 hoursEmail is the most cost-effective marketing tool

COMPELLING REASONS TO

EMAIL

• Outlook contacts• Board of directors• Volunteers• Sponsors• Exhibitors• Past purchasers• Etc.

START WITH YOUR STAKEHOLDERS

EMAIL SIGNUPS ON EVERY PAGE

HeadlineImageText (short, with links)Call to action• Consider “Click here to enter

now!”

EMAIL ARTICLES: THE FORMULA

CONSIDER A PYRAMID

one main story

two smaller features

TEST AGAINST

EACH OTHER

two smaller features

Don’t tell the whole story.

Goal: CLICKS!

WHAT WILL WE SAY?

EXAMPLE OF SAFFIRE

CAMPAIGNS

Include something recognizableUse action wordsNot too spammy50 characters or less• Turn into Tweet, with 120 characters,

# and shortened URL• Turn into Facebook, with 150

characters, graphic and no #

SUBJECT LINES LEAD TO OPENS

SPECIFIC ONLINE MARKETING IDEAS

Ask questions that get people to talk about themselves in relation to your event onlineThink about what YOU and YOUR AUDIENCE would want to click!

DEEP THOUGHT...

MAKE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE INSIDERS

Be the first to know about X via social media!

See behind-the-scenes looks at our event!

Your customers feel special, and they are more likely to be long-term followers.

SINCE PHOTOS ARE SO GOOD-USE

THEM!Photo contests on website and Facebook

Caption that photo

Funny video upload

GET PEOPLE TALKING

Show live tweets on concert side screens

Have a vote or quiz• Answer on text, app, QR code, etc.

Have a contest for front row concert seats• Text, tweet or post on FB page NOW =

publicity

CREATE AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR

Your website is your first priorityIf you can, get a mobile websiteIn this order, focus on this social media

• Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest/Instagram

Prioritize email, especially during your eventImprove your trackingCreate an editorial calendar

TO REVIEW

THANK YOUI will send…

These slides

The Editorial Calendar template

Email me! Cassie@saffireevents.com

Follow us on Facebook (SaffireEvent) and Twitter (@saffireevents)