How to create an event marketing using a “light and explosive” approach?

Among various methods of acquiring traffic , event marketing has always been favored by corporate marketing departments. There are two reasons. First, it can quickly increase popularity and attract attention. Second, it may be possible to achieve great results with small investment, thus saving a lot of media placement costs and gaining traffic with a high cost-effectiveness ratio.

But be aware that with the advent of mobile Internet and social media , we have entered an era of information redundancy and rapid news decay, and event marketing is no exception.

Consumers are now exposed to far more information every day than they would like to receive. Overload of information reception leads to reduced value of information, increased consumer attention costs and aesthetic fatigue. Many times, consumers may not have the time or mood to watch the content you worked hard to create.

At the same time, the time that current hot events remain in the minds of the audience is getting shorter and shorter, and the influence of the events is getting weaker and weaker. In 2015, the popularity of a hot topic could last for about 7 days. However, in the past two years, the outbreak and end of an event only took 1 to 2 days, or even just one morning. It can be said that they come and go in a hurry.

In addition, users will become more and more picky about the content of screen-sweeping events, and it will be more difficult for companies to make a big profit with a small investment. This is like watching too many Hollywood blockbusters, and then watching some low-cost small-budget movies , which will definitely not be up to your taste. Without stars, IPs, and certain media placements, it is difficult to achieve marketing expectations simply by relying on good ideas and an offline event . The investment in event marketing is increasing, but the results may not necessarily affect product sales.

Event marketing skills: 5 key points to achieve quick and explosive results

Are there any techniques that companies can learn from when conducting event marketing?

First of all, current event marketing should not be too heavy. Events and hot topics come and go quickly, so event marketing must be "light, fast, and explosive" in order to be creative and effective.

● “Light” means that the content should be light and the media selection should be light. Ideas that are too complex or too fancy are not encouraged in event marketing, and it is best to choose online media. "Light" itself means to gain the fastest time for event marketing.

● “Fast” refers to the speed of transmission and speed of force. The current market situation is changing rapidly. If the preheating period is too long, by the time the creative idea is released, the market and competitive environment may have undergone tremendous adjustments and changes. A good advertising work can be polished for three months or even more than half a year, but a cost-effective event marketing must first be fast and exceed public expectations.

● “Explosion” means that the explosion point of event marketing must be strong and powerful. The core path for event marketing explosion nowadays is generally on the Internet 's social media, so both creative design and media combination must be designed around social media. In terms of "explosion", there are 5 things you can learn from.

1. Hotspot

As the name suggests, hot spots are marketing that leverages public sentiment to promote the brand . Following hot topics has become a basic skill for advertisers and marketers , and the purpose is actually to increase traffic. It is much more difficult for agents and advertisers to create an event or a hot spot on their own than to leverage a hot spot. And at a time when hot marketing has become the norm, it’s already a noisy form of insurance.

There is a big taboo when chasing hot topics: hesitation. To follow hot spots, you need to act quickly. You can make preparations in advance or respond in time.

2. Breaking point

The hot spots in event marketing actually refer more to the “ keywords ” or “symbols” of marketing.

Each event marketing must have a short and highly recognizable keyword (generally a keyword of 5 characters or less, clear double-hash keywords, such as # EscapeFromBeijing,Shanghai ,Guangzhou#, #BeatU#, #ThrowingBooksBattle#, etc.), and must also have a reinforced and unified visual symbol, and the creativity must be clean and simple.

Only when key words and symbols are highlighted can it be conducive to word of mouth among the public and media reports and descriptions.

3. Selling Points

Throughout the entire process of event marketing, you must stick to the core selling points of your products. Only by grasping the core selling points can we prevent traffic overflow and ensure that marketing activities are implemented. For example, the core selling point of Shenzhou Private Car when it was founded was "safety", so #Beat U# focuses on the safety issues of illegal private cars. The core selling point of Shenzhou Maimai Car is the special sale of hot-selling cars, so Wang Zulan’s “Maimai Dance” and live broadcast have always revolved around “hot-selling cars”.

4. Slots

Social media makes mass communication more convenient and simpler. Now that everyone can speak up, the threshold for complaining is getting lower and lower. The audience's participation in the event and its strong spread have reached an unprecedented level. Brands can take advantage of the potential of complaints and control the direction of the audience's complaints by "burying points for complaints", and then use the complaints of joke tellers and ordinary netizens to keep the topic hot, and finally reap the benefits.

There are several things to note when designing slots:

First, the criticism should be able to spark controversy. For example, in the Shenzhou #Beat U# case, although most people supported Uber, many netizens also supported the safety of private cars. This controversial conflict quickly made Shenzhou private cars the center of discussion.

Second, the criticism should be simple to facilitate netizens’ involvement. Brands need to lower their profile appropriately and make the audience feel that they can "comment on you" (superiority in IQ) before complaints can occur, just like the deliberate "beating of the copywriter " in #Beat U# who arranged the typo "黎" in "怪蜀黎". The purpose is just this.

Of course, complaining is an art, and it takes courage to face it with a smile.

5. Node

Mastering the rhythm of event marketing is the accumulation of long-term experience and the key to execution.

In event marketing, key figures and time nodes are very important and may change the direction of the company's control over the event. For example, in the “Spartan Warrior” incident, the police were the key figures in the emergency. Without the police’s control, it is likely that the spread of this incident would be more complete, and even the brand would be exposed. Of course, it is possible that this incident will not be remembered deeply, and this is all regardless of the possible results.

"Spartan Warriors" event marketing

Time nodes are variables that must be considered. The best time to schedule normal event marketing is from Tuesday to Thursday, because many people are at work during this period and can complain about an event when they see it break out.

Topics discussed during weekend breaks are generally not popular and are not recommended.

Competitive topics are usually chosen on Thursdays, so it is difficult for competitors to respond quickly on Friday.

When choosing key opinion leaders, it is best to choose those who match your own tone so that you can cooperate with them in communication.

Case Study: “Who are we?”

When doing event marketing, there are four words that everyone likes to say the most: leverage the momentum and create momentum.

Taking advantage of the trend means taking advantage of hot topics to quickly gain popularity. It requires a brand to have high creativity and responsiveness. Most of the hot posters in the circle of friends , such as Durex , fall into the category of taking advantage of the trend. Event marketing that leverages opportunities is not just about posters. It involves more investment, such as spreading the word through media placement, social topics, and advertising shoots. If done well, it can achieve twice the result with half the effort and achieve great results with a small investment. Taking advantage of the situation is currently the event marketing direction that many companies are willing to choose.

In the case of hype-based event marketing, companies create events and topics completely out of nothing. Many first-line brands mainly rely on their own promotional activities. Firstly, they are authoritative and professional with good tonality. Secondly, they are highly controllable and well prepared, without having to compete with speed or stamina like leveraging momentum. The investment in hype-building event marketing is generally large, and the risks are also high. Many of them may just be the company’s own fun, with average communication effects.

Although #Beat U# of UCAR belongs to the category of creating momentum, from the perspective of the "light and explosive" operating principle that I advocate, I personally prefer marketing through leveraging momentum, which requires less investment, has a stronger possibility of dissemination, and has a higher probability of success. Next, I will talk about the flash delivery case operated by the Hydrogen Interactive team in August 2017. This case was rated as one of the top ten event marketing of 2017 by many media. The conversion effect itself is also good and it is worth elaborating on.

When you see the picture below, you will remember that this is the comic "Who are we?" that swept the circle of friends in 2017. Because of its simple, cute, and easy-to-Photoshop pictures, it attracted a lot of copycat complaints. Copywriters from all over the world have rolled up their sleeves and started chasing hot topics, but most of them just change the copy and tinker with the pictures.

The original picture of "Who are we" that swept the circle of friends

Various copycat versions of "Who Are We"

The Hydrogen Interactive team seized on this wave of popularity, quickly found a connection point with Shunfeng Express, and created a real-life version of "Who We Are" for this same-city express delivery brand within 24 hours. Since the hot topic at that time had not yet passed, the live-action version was released very quickly, and the copy was also very interesting and down-to-earth, which made the Shunfeng reality show immediately popular in the circle of friends .

Quickly follow the hot spot "flash delivery" marketing case

It was not enough to just take advantage of the posters, the Shunfeng team created a second wave of “light and quick explosion”. In just one day, Shunfeng’s posters were placed on outdoor billboards in major office buildings, elevators, and cinema chains in Beijing (not many were actually placed, but it formed a second wave of online discussion).

Offline advertising display

The 48 hours of continuous operation were as fierce as a tiger. First, the real-person drawing, photo editing, and submission of manuscripts were so fast that many netizens and even advertising colleagues were shocked by the "speed" of flash delivery; second, the offline media cooperation was also fast. The ability to cover various traditional billboards so quickly also exceeded the common sense of advertising. From online browsing to the appearance of offline advertisements, this magical speed attracted the attention of a large number of offline users and they took photos and shared them.

According to internal statistics from Shunfeng Express, while “Who We Are” brought huge exposure to the brand, the number of APP downloads exceeded 30,000 in just two days, achieving a double surge in user activity and mobile downloads. It can be said that this leveraged event marketing truly achieved “brand and effect integration”!

Light and quick is fully demonstrated in the case of Flash Express.

● The content is light (just a real shot of the poster), and the production is simple and quick, ensuring the possibility of rapid realization. If you are shooting a micro video or producing complex materials, it will be difficult to seize this opportunity.

● The strategy was quickly and uniquely leveraged, ensuring that it stood out in the competitive landscape. The quick media coverage also left a deep impression on everyone. The only way to defeat Kung Fu in the world is speed.

● The effect is explosive. Shunfeng was not satisfied with just leveraging posters. By operating advertising, following up on its own APP + WeChat , and following up on social topics, it turned a small hot spot into a real event marketing and achieved growth results.

The author of this article @杨飞 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

Product promotion services: APP promotion services, advertising platform, Longyou Games