The Secret Connection Between Events & Content Marketing

As marketers, you have a lot of channels you leverage for a campaign. You might have a strong element of event marketing, and you might have separate, ongoing content campaigns with videos, white papers, etc. But you can make both of them better by establishing a connection between them.

So what’s the secret connection? First, let’s make a quick analysis of both event marketing and content marketing.

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The Key to Event Marketing

At events that you sponsor or exhibit at, you probably get excited about the chance to have face-to-face conversations with prospects and customers. That quality interaction informs your marketing all year (and hopefully generates some sales too).

That’s the end goal of all the work you put into your exhibit, right?

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The Key to Content Marketing

With your content, whatever form it takes, you are trying to generate a relationship with prospects and customers by getting them to view, share, comment, or download. As you discover which messaging and platforms engage your audience the most, you use that intel all year to inform your marketing (and hopefully generate some sales too).

That sounds pretty familiar, right?

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The Secret Connection

Both events and content are about starting conversations and gathering intelligence. So, why are they so rarely used together? When you thread the same conversation through your face-to-face and virtual interactions, you get some serious engagement.

So how would that look played out?

One scenario would be to start a video and white paper series that asks and answers questions that are important for your audience. Carefully sequence the content out over time almost like a television series with lots of messaging building toward the “season finale.” Then, invite those that have interacted with your content to come see the final installment . . . in person at your event.
That content-based buildup gives your prospects a reason to seek you out in a sea of booths and a reason to move the conversation beyond the digital world.

But using that method to drive booth traffic isn’t the only benefit.

That big content-based video or lecture at your booth also gives attendees that haven’t been engaging with you online a reason to do so. Think of all the prospects walking the show floor. They walk by and see your space filled with their peers, engaging with you. Then, hopefully, if your content is superb, they seek out the online continuation of that content.
So, the secret connection isn’t really secret nor is it a real connection . . . unless you purposely connect the offline and online conversations. But if you leverage them both, everyone will think you have a secret weapon in your marketing arsenal.
Interested in event marketing? Check out “3 Ways to Market to the Trucking Industry at Events.” Or looking for tips on content marketing? Read “7 Content Marketing Musts.”

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