4 Reasons Why In-Person Event Marketing Is Essential.

As the online space grows ever more crowded, in-person events are becoming more essential than ever. They offer the valuable opportunity to speak directly to your target audience and form in-person connections with them. At an in-person event, you can get immediate feedback and control the customer experience in a unique way. This is why event marketing is an essential element of your marketing mix.

You Build an Emotional Connection

People come to your event because they're interested in what you have to offer. Basically, they're self-selected as the best possible audience to receive your brand message and ultimately buy your product or service. Instead of talking to the internet at large or every reader of a newspaper or the drivers going by on the highway, you're speaking directly to your target demographic.

You can use that opportunity to build an in-person connection that feels more immediate and personal than other forms of marketing. In-person events build an emotional connection with attendees, as Howard Givner explained in an article from Entrepreneur.

Givenr says that companies can leverage the connection guests built at an event, cultivating their emotional connection into an ongoing relationship.

Even if attendees don't buy right away, they've become warm leads, primed for a sale.

You Get Immediate Feedback

At an in-person event, you have an ideal opportunity to get immediate feedback on your product or service. No need for focus groups or emailed customer surveys. Guests can try your product in real-time. You can address their questions right away.

This give and take helps you break down barriers to the sale and show potential customers exactly why they need your product or service.

And the value extends far beyond the end of the event. You can use the feedback, questions and discussion to inform your marketing strategy. For example, you might write a blog based on a question you heard several times or start a new Facebook ad campaign showcasing a feature your attendees were particularly excited about.

You Can Curate the Customer Experience

Consumers are bombarded by advertising and marketing messages all day every day. Experts claim a person sees as many as 10,000 brand messages per day. That's a lot of competition for your ideal customer's attention.

At an in-person event, your competitors are left outside. Instead of seeing dozens or hundreds of options, attendees see one, yours. That gives you an uninterrupted platform for evangelizing your product or service.

Event Marketing Works

In the Content Marketing Institute's 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends survey, event marketing topped the list of effective marketing strategies. And with good reason. According to the EventTrack Content Benchmarking Report, 74% of consumers say they're more likely to purchase after attending a branded event.

The evidence is clear - event marketing just works.