Event 360 Blog

Yolanda King became an advocate for the American Heart Association when her mother died of a stroke.Thousands of employees run in the Omaha Corporate Cup 5K because their companies participate. Sometimes people sign up for a charity race simply because they are avid cyclists. People participate in events for different reasons – do you target your audience by catering your event’s message to what drives them?

We've all been guilty of it at some point: in soliciting participation and fundraising for our event, we rely on a single communications approach, casting as wide a net as we can, seeking to win “everyone” to our cause. Deep down, we know the truth: this one-size-fits-all approach may be simple to execute, but it wastes marketing dollars, misses opportunities, and generally results in poor alignment between what an organization needs and the kinds of support it gets.

When Phil Knight founded Nike, one thing he understood very well is that different groups of consumers (market segments) have different wants and needs. He knew that in virtually any market, if different segments can be clearly identified, specific products with specific marketing programs can be developed meet both the physical and emotional needs of the consumer. These are probably the most important and fundamental tools in every nonprofit and event marketer's toolkit: market segmentation and target marketing.

Your fiscal year just ended. The frenzy has subsided and you're now busy tallying your results, comparing year-to-year performance, and plotting your next moves. Before you take your next step, it's important to remember that these new and repeat donors present an opportunity to start building more meaningful connections with an engaged group of people who have just raised their hand. They've raised their hand to voice their support for your mission through their donation.

Event marketing communications are no different from any other type of marketing communications. All are more effective when the event is targeted, focused, and relevant to a target audience. 

MarketingSherpa's complimentary Marketing Wisdom for 2011 special report -- a collection of real-life stories, test results and lessons learned from the previous year -- was released last week.  We've been combing over the report to highlight a few of the best nonprofit-sector submissions.

Earlier today, we blogged about marketing to an audience like the individuals they are, emphasizing the importance of allowing people to identify their interests, preferred channels, appropriate messaging frequency, and content that is applicable to their lives.   Recently, one of my favorite causes reminded me why you should never ignore this rule. 

In today’s modern email marketing environments, lots of focus is placed on design and content – which we can all agree are very important aspects of any email campaign. However, there is one component of soliciting your donors which should be considered for any and every communication you generate via email. This component is called segmentation!

In event fundraising, when is less more?