You know the power of quality website content. Keeping your website event calendar chock full of interesting events drives traffic to your calendar and your website and improves SEO. Sure, all this talk about SEO, web traffic, and social media is important, but in-person engagement is what events are all about, right? Right.
Let’s get back to basics and cover the multiple ways your organization can benefit from holding real, in-person, live events.
1. Build brand recognition
Hip-hop stars have hype men to get the crowd engaged and drive attention toward the artist. Think about events as an excellent way to increase the hype around your organization. Hosting events promotes your name and helps people connect with your brand. Plus, people generally travel with others in tow, so your reach will extend as event attendees bring their friends.
2. Showcase your venue
Have a space that’s fantastic for hosting events? Planning your own event to showcase the beauty, utility, overall coolness (take your pick of adjectives) of your venue brings people into the space and gets their minds working. Could this be the perfect convention center for their next company meeting? Could they picture their parents dancing at their 50th anniversary party in this restaurant? Pictures of your venue just never do it justice. Bring people in!
3. Make face-to-face connections
We already mentioned the importance of brand recognition, but really connecting with your clients, audience, or members on a personal level has a big impact on their engagement. These important face-to-face connections are rare in the virtual world, and can really solidify someone’s interest in your group or company. Creating these connections are a key component of Localist’s mission.
4. Strengthen your community
In addition to developing a connection with your organization, people attending your events can build relationships with each other and strengthen the community. There’s power in attending an event and seeing other people who support the same cause, follow the same blog, or support a local team. Meeting like-minded individuals in person will also encourage more active engagement online!
5. Build trust
This is an often overlooked benefit, but hosting events, especially for newly-formed organizations or companies, shows that you’re, well, the real-deal. Not only do you exist, but you have the means to throw events! It doesn’t matter how big or small the event is. All that matters is that folks are able to connect with your brand and your mission.
6. Generate revenue
Cha-ching! If you’re a performer, a local sports team, a city tourism council, or a group just looking to cover the cost of the fun event, charging for admission to your event can generate revenue. Localist‘s online event calendar offers the option for visitors to your online calendar to “buy tickets,” which helps visitors be converted to paying attendees in no time.
7. Fundraise
Non-profits know how to throw great fundraising events, but businesses can also join in and organize an event to fundraise for a charity. Giving back to the community is a great way to raise awareness about an important cause, and gain some recognition for your organization too!
8. Establish thought leadership
Holding a seminar or hosting a meet up for industry thought leaders establishes your business or organization as a driver of new ideas and collaboration. This provides value to your community and helps to establish your business as a valued resource.
9. Have fun.
What could be better than seeing everyone have a great time? If people enjoy themselves at your event, they’ll be back for more.
Hosting events can really benefit your organization in so many ways. Plus, planning and spreading the word about your great, upcoming events is so much easier when you have an event marketing calendar to simplify the process and save you time.