How to build brand awareness with your next event

Building brand awareness through events can be a powerful way to engage with your target audience. In turn, creating a lasting impression.  

Of course, we all know the adage about striking the right impression — it’s a one shot deal. You don’t get a second chance, which is why your event planning and event management needs to be top notch. 

A fantastic event must be memorable, meaningful, and offer value to attendees. Think of the value of your event as representative of your brand. After all, that’s how your attendees will understand and experience it.  

In order to increase awareness with your next event successfully, we’ve compiled this piece on how to create brand awareness. This features professional tips and proven strategies. As well as, a couple of cautionary tales about what not to do in order to when it comes to brand awareness marketing. 

How to increase brand awareness & why is it important? 

When we talk about “what is brand awareness,” we’re referring to the level of recognition. Often, consumers have a sense of familiarity with a particular brand. It is the degree to which people can recognize and recall a brand name, logo, or product/service. 

In addition, increasing brand awareness is important because it is the first step in building a strong brand. It is the foundation upon which all other brand building activities are built. Without a compelling brand awareness strategy, potential customers may not even know that your brand exists. 

When people are aware of your brand, they are more likely to consider it when making a purchase decision. It can also help to establish credibility and build trust with your target audience. Additionally, strong brand awareness can lead to word-of-mouth recommendations and customer loyalty, which can be invaluable for long-term success. 

Overall, brand awareness is an important metric for measuring the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and the overall health of your brand. A strong brand awareness can help to differentiate your brand from competitors, increase sales, and drive long-term growth. 

When building brand awareness, there are several key factors to consider to ensure your efforts are effective and successful.  

Before event planning

Before you leverage event planning, make sure you take into account the following: 

Your target audience: It’s important to understand who your target audience is and what they care about. This will help you create messaging that resonates with them and choose channels that they are most likely to engage with. 

Consistency: Your brand should have a consistent message, look, and feel across all channels and touchpoints. This will help to reinforce your brand identity and make it more recognizable to consumers. 

Differentiation: You need to differentiate your brand from competitors in a way that is meaningful to your target audience. This could be through unique product features, messaging, or brand values. 

Emotional connection: Building an emotional connection with your target audience can help to create brand loyalty and increase engagement. This can be achieved by telling compelling stories, using relatable messaging, and creating experiences that resonate with consumers. 

Measuring success: It’s important to track and measure the success of your brand awareness efforts. This can be done through metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, and customer feedback. 

Adapting to change: The business landscape is constantly evolving, and it’s important to stay up-to-date with changes in consumer behavior and preferences. This may require adjusting your messaging, channels, or strategies to ensure your brand remains relevant and effective. 

Finally, we recommend that you heed the words of branding expert, David Brier, “If you don’t give the market the story to talk about, they’ll define your brand’s story for you.” 

Keep in control of your brand narrative in order to leverage the power of events for building brand awareness to the fullest! 

The power of events for building brand awareness 

Events can be a powerful tool for building brand awareness. Events provide a unique opportunity for brands to engage with their target audience in a meaningful and memorable way. Here are some ways events can help build brand awareness: 

1. Face-to-face interaction: Events provide an opportunity for face-to-face interaction with potential customers. This interaction can help to establish a personal connection with your brand, making it more memorable and meaningful. 
2. Brand exposure: Events offer an opportunity for brands to showcase their products or services to a wider audience. This can help to increase brand exposure and reach potential customers who may not have been aware of your brand previously. 
3. Brand storytelling: Events provide a platform for brands to tell their story and showcase their unique value proposition. This storytelling can help to create an emotional connection with attendees and differentiate your brand from competitors. 
4. Social media amplification: Events provide an opportunity for attendees to share their experience on social media, amplifying your brand’s message and reach. This can help to increase brand awareness and reach a wider audience. 
5. Relationship building: Events provide a unique opportunity to build relationships with potential customers and other stakeholders. These relationships can help to build trust and loyalty, leading to long-term customer relationships. 

Overall, events can be a powerful tool for building brand awareness. By providing a unique and memorable experience, events can help to establish a personal connection with potential customers, increase brand exposure, and differentiate your brand from competitors. 

Illustrations

We like the way Hubspot illustrates brand awareness: 

Have you ever heard people refer to themselves as “Apple people,” “Nike people,” or “Trader Joe’s” people? 

This is what brand awareness can do for a brand: embed itself into consumer lifestyles and purchase habits so that they don’t have to think twice before becoming a customer — time and time again.” 

In order to embed yourself into your target customer’s purchase habits, the power of a personal connection between your brand and ideal consumer cannot be overstated.  

Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, knew this to be true: “If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.”  

When a consumer feels a personal connection to a brand, they are more likely to develop brand loyalty. This will result in engaging with the brand, and become a repeat customer. Or, as Seth Godin explains, “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”  

Connection

In order to create this connection and nurture it, your brand needs to embrace and foster the following: 

• Trust: Personal connection helps to build trust between a brand and a consumer. When a consumer feels that a brand understands their needs and values, they are more likely to trust the brand and feel confident in their purchasing decisions. 
• Emotional connection: Personal connection helps to create an emotional bond between a brand and a consumer. When a consumer feels an emotional connection to a brand, they are more likely to have positive associations with the brand and become a loyal customer. 
• Repeat business: When a consumer feels a personal connection to a brand, they are more likely to become a repeat customer. This can lead to increased sales and revenue for the brand. 
• Word-of-mouth marketing: When consumers have a positive personal connection to a brand, they are more likely to share their positive experiences with friends and family. This can lead to increased brand awareness and new customers. 
• Customer satisfaction: When a consumer feels a personal connection to a brand, they are more likely to be satisfied with their experience. This can lead to positive reviews, recommendations, and increased customer retention. 
• Ultimately, personal connection is an important aspect of building a successful brand and driving awareness about it. By understanding and connecting with their target audience on a personal level, brands can create a loyal customer base and increase their chances of long-term success. 

Personal connection is central to building brand awareness through your next event and should be top of mind when planning and executing your event.  

Strategies for building brand awareness through your next event 

Brand awareness is critical to an organization’s success, which is where impactful events come into play. As Jeff Bezos said, “A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn a reputation by trying to do hard things well.” 

Fortunately, building brand awareness with your next event doesn’t have to be hard.

7 Stragetgies for building awareness

Here are some strategies for building brand awareness through your next event: 

1. Define your brand message and goals:

   Before planning your event, it’s important to define your brand message and goals. This will help to ensure that your event aligns with your brand values and objectives. Consider what message you want to convey to attendees and what you hope to achieve through the event. 

2. Choose the right event:

   The event you choose should align with your brand and target audience. Looking for events that are attended by people who are likely to be interested in your product or service. 

3. Create a unique and memorable experience:

   To build brand awareness, it’s important to create a unique and memorable experience for attendees. This can include interactive displays, live entertainment, or hands-on demonstrations. Be creative and think outside the box to create an experience that will leave a lasting impression on attendees. 

4. Leverage social media:

   Social media can be a powerful tool for promoting your event and building brand awareness. Creating a dedicated hashtag for your event and use it in all your social media posts. Encourage attendees to share their experience on social media as well. Consider using paid social media advertising to reach a wider audience. 

5. Partner with influencers:

   Partnering with influencers in your industry can help to expand your reach and build credibility for your brand. Invite influencers to attend your event and share their experience with their followers. Consider offering influencers exclusive access or perks to incentivize their attendance. 

6. Offer giveaways:

   Giveaways can be a great way to attract attendees and generate buzz around your event. Make sure the giveaways are aligned with your brand and will appeal to your target audience. Consider offering a grand prize to incentivize attendance and encourage social media sharing. 

7. Follow up with attendees:

   After the event, follow up with attendees to thank them for attending and offer additional resources or information. This can help to build a stronger connection with your audience and keep your brand top of mind. 

By following these strategies, you can create a successful event. This will help to build brand awareness and engage with your target audience. Remembering to stay true to your brand message and goals throughout the planning process, ensures a consistent and memorable brand experience for attendees. 

How to measure brand awareness 

It’s difficult to know what sort of impact you’re making with an event without the ability to measure awareness about your brand. Knowing what you’re doing well is critical to sharpening your strengths and improving upon areas of weakness. 

But, how do you go about measuring brand awareness? There are several ways to measure brand awareness.

Metrics

Here are some common metrics to measure. 

Recognition and recall:

Recognition measures the ability of a consumer to recognize a brand when presented with it. However, recall measures the ability of a consumer to remember a brand without being prompted. These metrics can be measured through surveys and market research studies. 

Social media engagement:

Social media engagement can be a good indicator of brand awareness. This includes metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and mentions. Monitoring social media engagement can help to track the reach and impact of your brand messaging. 

Web traffic:

Monitoring web traffic can be another way to measure brand awareness. This includes metrics such as website visits, time spent on site, and bounce rate. An increase in web traffic can indicate increased brand awareness. 

Brand mentions in media:

Tracking brand mentions in media, including news articles, blog posts, and reviews, can provide insights into the reach and impact of your brand messaging. 

Brand searches:

Tracking brand searches on search engines such as Google can provide insights into the level of interest in your brand. An increase in brand searches can indicate increased brand awareness. 

Surveys and focus groups:

Surveys and focus groups can be a valuable tool for measuring brand awareness. These methods can provide direct feedback from consumers on their familiarity and perception of your brand. 

Overall, measuring brand awareness requires a combination of qualitative and quantitative metrics. By tracking these metrics, you can gain insights into the effectiveness of your brand messaging and identify areas for improvement. Once you’ve magnified the lens on your brand awareness and have a sharper sense of how your brand is recognized and received, you can start planning your event in order to leverage more awareness and appreciation.  

Moreover, branding events are a powerful way for companies to create buzz, engage with consumers, and promote their brand.   

Inspiration

By way of a little inspiration, here are some of the best branding events and campaigns in recent years. 

• Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) – Apple’s annual WWDC event is one of the most highly anticipated events in the tech industry. The event provides a platform for Apple to showcase its latest products and software updates and engage with developers from around the world. 
• Nike’s “The Chance” – Nike’s “The Chance” campaign was a global talent search to find the next generation of football (soccer) stars. The campaign involved a series of events and trials around the world and culminated in a final event at Nike’s headquarters in Oregon. The event generated a lot of buzz and helped to position Nike as a brand that is all about empowering young athletes. 
• Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Machine” – Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Machine” was a viral marketing campaign that involved placing a vending machine in a public space and surprising people with unexpected gifts and experiences. The campaign generated a lot of positive buzz and helped to reinforce Coca-Cola’s brand image as a source of happiness and joy. 
• Airbnb’s Floating House – Airbnb’s Floating House was a marketing stunt that involved creating a floating house on the River Thames in London. The house was designed to look like an exact replica of a typical Airbnb listing, and the stunt generated a lot of buzz and media attention for the company. 
• Red Bull Stratos – Red Bull Stratos was a marketing event that involved sending Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner to the edge of space and having him jump back to Earth. The event generated a lot of buzz and helped to reinforce Red Bull’s brand image as a company that is all about pushing the limits and taking risks. 

On the flip side

You should also be aware of some branding event cautionary tales in order to avoid undermining your brand awareness. This can tarnish your brand with a bad event experience. 

In the wise words of Warren Buffet, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” 

Unfortunately, these brands did not…  

Check out these examples of events that flat out failed.  

Sometimes knowing what not to do when it comes to building brand awareness with events is just as valuable. For that reason, and by way of illustration, here are a few well known examples of brand events and product launches that fell flat.  

• Fyre Festival – In 2017, Fyre Festival was promoted as a luxurious music festival on a private island in the Bahamas. However, the event failed miserably as it was plagued with problems like lack of food, water, shelter, and basic amenities. The festival was ultimately canceled, and its organizers were accused of fraud. 
• New Coke – In 1985, the Coca-Cola Company introduced New Coke, which was intended to replace the original Coke formula. However, the new formula was poorly received by consumers, and the company had to reintroduce the original Coke formula after just a few months. 
• The DeLorean Car – In the early 1980s, the DeLorean car was marketed as a revolutionary new sports car that would change the industry. However, the car was plagued with production problems, and the company went bankrupt after only a few years. 
• Google Glass – In 2013, Google introduced its Google Glass wearable technology, which was designed to provide a hands-free computing experience. However, the product failed to catch on with consumers, and Google ultimately discontinued the product in 2015. 
• Segway – In 2001, Segway was introduced as a revolutionary new transportation device that would change the way people move around cities. However, the product failed to catch on with consumers, and the company was sold to a Chinese firm in 2015. 

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed or unsure how to delegate responsibilities and establish roles to get your efforts off the ground. 

That’s where event technology is proving to be a game changer for businesses and brands everywhere.  

Event technology

Event technology can be a powerful tool for building brand awareness. It can help to create engaging and interactive experiences for attendees. 

By leveraging event technology, like Attendee Interactive, building brand awareness isn’t nearly as hard as it might initially seem.  

Check out the following ways event technology can empower your efforts to build brand awareness: 

• Virtual and hybrid events: With the rise of virtual and hybrid events, technology can be used to create engaging online experiences. This can include live streaming, virtual reality, and interactive features, such as live Q&A sessions and polls. 
• Social media: Social media can be used to build buzz around an event and increase brand awareness. This can include creating event hashtags, live streaming on social media platforms, and encouraging attendees to share their experiences on social media. 
• Mobile apps: Mobile apps can be used to enhance the event experience for attendees and create a more personalized experience. This can include features such as event schedules, maps, and push notifications for important updates. 
• Gamification: Gamification can be used to create interactive experiences and increase attendee engagement. This can include interactive quizzes, scavenger hunts, and leaderboards to encourage competition and engagement. 
• Interactive displays: Interactive displays can be used to create immersive experiences that showcase a brand’s products or services. This can include touchscreens, augmented reality, and interactive kiosks. 

Conclusion

In summary, brand awareness is important because it helps to create familiarity and trust with a brand among consumers.  

Furthermore, when it comes to your bottom line, brand awareness matters and should check the following boxes for your business: 

• Consumer recognition: Brand awareness helps consumers to recognize and remember a brand. When a brand is recognizable and familiar, it is more likely to be top-of-mind when a consumer is making a purchasing decision. 
• Increased sales: When consumers are aware of a brand, they are more likely to purchase from that brand. Brand awareness can lead to increased sales and revenue for a business. 
• Differentiation: Brand awareness can help to differentiate a brand from its competitors. When a brand has high levels of awareness, it can stand out in a crowded marketplace and create a competitive advantage. 
• Trust: Brand awareness can help to build trust with consumers. When a brand is familiar and recognizable, consumers are more likely to trust the brand. Ultimately, resulting in feeling confident in their purchasing decisions. 
• Brand loyalty: Brand awareness can lead to increased brand loyalty. When consumers are aware of a brand and have positive associations with that brand, they are more likely to become repeat customers. 

Brand awareness

Building brand awareness engenders feelings of familiarity and trust with your target audience. By building strong brand awareness, businesses can increase sales, differentiate themselves from competitors, and create a loyal customer base. 

Using events to broadcast your brand and deliver value to event attendees is a smart strategy that can yield amazing ROI for your business.  

And yes, event technology is a smart solution designed to amplify your efforts and effectiveness.  

While there are plenty of event technology options on today’s market, they are not created equal and making a well-informed decision about the event management solutions you need is key.  

Finally, as Steve Forbes reminds us, “Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.  

Protect your investment with end-to-end content management software that delivers real results. We invite you to contact Attendee Interactive and let us help you build brand awareness with your next event.