WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING and events, audience is everything. And when the two come together, impact is amplified. We had a meeting of the minds with David St. Martin, production director at agency EA, to review some key words you need to know.
Ambient marketing: atmospheric designs implemented to create brand recognition indirectly with color, texture and other sensory cues.
Affiliate partners: marketing partners that promote to followers/subscribers.
Attendance incentives: small incentives/gifts offered to attendees to discourage drop-offs, (i.e. first 100 guests receive a special gift).
Brand ambassador: model hired to represent a brand at an event, often in uniform.
Click-through rate (CTR): the percentage of recipients who click on a given URL in an e-blast.
Collateral: promotional material for distribution including flyers, postcards, evites, etc.
Cross the streams: shifting conversations between social media channels.
Event marketing: the process of messaging the purpose and value of anevent to drive attendance.
Event page/website: an online home for an event, inclusive of all eventd etails and registration information.
Event sponsor: company/organization that provides funding and/or products for an event in return for deliverables that match the level of investment. Often categorized to avoid competitive conflicts.
Evite: an email invitation inclusive of all event details and registration information.
Experiential marketing: sensory-based activations at live events with an emphasis on attendee interaction and relationship development.
Guerrilla marketing: unconventional marketing with surprise elements that can be implemented for events.
Guest profile/analytics: data captured for all registrants to be managed in an internal database.
Hotlink: click-through on an evite/event page that is offered to sponsors and partners.
Marketing promotional opportunities (MPO): possible areas for logo inclusion.
Media alert: notice sent to industry websites and media outlets.
Media wall: backdrop that showcases content (often logos) for press/red carpet photos (aka step-and-repeat).
Open rate: analytics of email invitations opened.
Opt-in marketing: using mailing lists to reach subscribers who have registered or otherwise provided permission to receive newsletters and announcements.
Point of sale (POS): branded items such as pop-up banners, bar equipment and décor.
PR Door: check-in run by public relations professionals who wrangle and capture photo opportunities of high-profile guests.
Product seeding: planting a product to be seen by influential individuals.
Registration platform: website that manages databases, e-blasts, RSVPs and more.
Street team: a group of people who hit the streets to promote an event, handing out informational flyers and promotional materials.
Spokesperson: celebrity/personality contracted to attend, host and/or presentat an event
Stylized vignette: branded lounge space designed to highlight a specific sponsor.
Social media engagement: using social media prior to and at an event to extend messaging to a wider digital audience and leave lasting online impressions that are tracked by organizer/sponsor handles and event hashtags.
Sponsor lounge: exclusive area with special amenities/services/gifts for selected guests.
Swag: free takeaways such as sample products, branded novelty items, giftcards, etc.
Target registrants: potential attendeesthat are segmented by location, demographic, psychographic and behavioral information.
Verbal recognition: sponsor deliverable for special thanks during presentation at live events.