7 most used event types in relationship marketing

Using events in your marketing works. You not only bring people together but also develop a stronger relationship with customers. There are many types of events that all have their own uses. Therefore, u must make the right choices for your marketing strategy. These vary from virtual and corporate events to trade shows and product launches.

Here is an overview of the most common events in business-to-business relationship marketing.

Conferences

Conferences are very popular and often used by B2B marketers. You can participate in a conference yourself but you can also organize one. Organizing a conference will increase your product or brand awareness. Besides, a conference is also good for positioning yourself well on the market and having open discussions about a topic. Conferences are meant to encourage conversations and give people a platform to share their expertise. It is a popular addition to any event strategy where you decide how big you make it and how much money you want to spend on it.

Conferences can take place either online or live. If you regularly organize conferences yourself then your conference can become a standard in your business sector, which can only benefit your image.  Moreover, your conference can potentially become a source of additional income if you manage to turn it into a successful paying event.

Seminars

The purpose of a seminar is similar to that of a conference. Reach an audience and deliver valuable information. The biggest difference between the two is:

Conferences

• Often feature keynote presentations that are delivered to clients
• Clear information is expected about the product or service

seminars

• More intimate, educational events
• Focus on connecting with guests by offering practical information, tools and skills
• Not only in real life but also online through various platforms such as Zoom or InviteDesk

Product launch

The launch of your product is just as important as your product itself. And of course, an event is a unique opportunity to let your customers and prospects get to know your new service or product up close.

In this way, they can see how the product works together with an expert and get direct answers to all possible questions. This provides certainty and clarity around your product or service and allows laying the foundation for further commercial contacts. Of course, budgets vary in line with your approach.

 

Product launches come in many variations:

• Product knowledge
• Entertaining shows
• Customer experience
• Promotion

Hospitality (Festivals, party’s, concerts…)

Everyone loves a party so why not use it to provide a fun experience for your prospects and customers.

Hospitality events provide:

• Excellent first impressions
• Building business relationships
• Rewarding your staff
• Etc…

The challenge here, however, is to ensure that every customer you bring in stays loyal to you. Business hospitality can ensure that the existing relationships you have continue. In addition to this, you not only create a fun experience for everyone but it allows you to network with more than one company at a time.

Webinars

As you probably know, webinars offer many of the same opportunities for live events. It allows you to increase brand awareness, generates leads, and inform customers. Also, you can reach a much larger audience because this type of event can be streamed and hosted online all over the world. There is also usually a time for a convenient question and answer session at the end of your Webinar.

This way, prospects and customers get an immediate answer to a question and you ensure clarity. There are plenty of great platforms for hosting a webinar such as Zoom, Teams…

Did you know that InviteDesk offers its own webinar solution that takes care of some of the traditional disadvantages of webinars.

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Networking events

Networking events are a great way to:

• Meet people with similar interests at once
• Promote your business
• Expand your customer base
• Meet investors

 

It gives you a chance to show who you are, what your company stands for and what sets you apart from the competition. Plus, you’ll increase your knowledge of the latest trends and technology.