- April 4, 2017
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3 Digital Event Marketing Tactics: The Geo-Fence and Beyond
Many integrated marketers tasked with event marketing set up a geo-fence around events, but may not be aware of some of the other digital marketing tactics and tools they could use at their events.
Geo-fence the Event Location
A geo-fence is a virtual field using GPS, Wi-Fi, RFID or similar technologies to collect event attendee data. They trigger the fence when entering or exiting an event venue. While inexpensive to set up, a geo-fence does require an app or platform like Facebook or Twitter to share location data. Like other location-based mobile marketing tactics, geo-fencing gives integrated marketers the opportunity to send push notifications, navigation tips, on-site notices (autograph signings, keynotes) or other relevant messaging.
The downside to using a geo-fence is its limited reach: the audience tends to be small, with data collected only from those entering or exiting the event location. However, by combining this technique with those below, event marketers can enjoy more significant audience engagement.
Expand Your Fence
Move the dimensions of your geo-fence outside of the main event venue into nearby locations including hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, etc., where your attendees may be staying or dining. People often spend more time on their mobile device before or after the event, or during meals, so this expanded reach will allow integrated marketers to share timely, contextual messages and valuable content with a larger pool of attendees.
Continue the Conversation Post-Event
Don’t let the interaction end when the event does. Instead, continue audience outreach after the fact using the data collected on-site, building out stronger audience profiles. Send out surveys, encourage social media interactions, and send post-event messages and reminders –have another related event coming up or a webinar that they might be interested in? Geo-fencing also offers event planners additional analytics data that can further be used to enhance user demographic data.
Conclusion
Technology has transformed event marketing. Not only do we have the capacity to geo-fence, but integrated marketers can capitalize on the above techniques to send targeted messaging. Consider combining the pre-show attendee list with your geo-fence for custom messaging before and during the show. There are also sponsorship opportunities associated with these technologies including sending custom messages to attendees based on their physical location, the size of the audience, or details in their individual profiles.