the “Start Early” Principle for Event Marketing

Why Starting Early Matters for Trainers

• Reduces Panic: Emphasizing this from the beginning sets up trainees for less stress and better results as the event approaches.
• Time for Strategy: Early starts allow for thoughtful planning instead of rushed, reactive tactics.
• Build Buzz: Early promotion lays the groundwork for organic growth in excitement and awareness.
• Iterative Approach: Starting early provides time for tweaking campaigns, testing, and optimizing based on early results.
• Foundation for Success: Starting early sets a good habit for trainees’ entire event marketing careers.

Key Concepts for Training

1. The Domino Effect
   • Logistics: Venue booking, securing speakers, catering – these often have long lead times.
   • Content Cascade: Early marketing assets (even teasers) can be repurposed later
   • Partnerships: Building relationships and securing sponsors take time and cultivation.
2. It’s Not Just About Event Day
   • Think in Phases: Pre-event buzz building, at-event excitement, post-event follow-up
   • Working Backwards: Start with the event date and reverse engineer ideal timelines for key milestones.
3. “Early” is Relative
   • Event Scale Matters: Larger events may need a year-long lead-up, smaller ones can be more nimble.
   • Audience Reach: If building from scratch, factor in the time it takes to grow organic awareness.

Training Activities

• Timeline Challenge: Provide different event scenarios and have trainees create realistic timelines working backward from the event date, identifying key tasks for each stage.
• “What If You Were Late?”: Present scenarios where event promotion was started too close to the date. Trainees brainstorm the most likely negative impacts and how to mitigate them (if at all possible).
• Early Bird Wins: Have trainees research examples of events that offer incentives for early sign-ups or create hypothetical early bird offers for an event scenario.

Training Resources

• Project Management Tools: Introduce simple tools like Asana or Trello to illustrate how to break down complex timelines into manageable tasks.
• Event Planning Blogs: Many blogs aimed at event planners will include articles about the importance of timelines and offer sample templates.
• Real-World Examples: Showcase the long promotional lead-up for major events like conferences or festivals. This demonstrates the scale of ‘starting early’ at the highest level.

Trainer Tips

• Flexibility is Key: Remind trainees that plans will need adjustment, but a strong early foundation makes this easier.
• Showcase Success: Share examples of events where starting early clearly contributed to success (big attendance, viral buzz, etc.).
• Connect to Other Concepts: Constantly tie ‘start early’ to other topics. This shows how it’s woven into the fabric of good event marketing, not an isolated idea.