08 Jan Create Your 2023 Event Marketing Goals
Have you planned out your event marketing goals for this year? Setting goals is super important to make sure you’re keeping up to date with your target audience’s wants and needs, continuously growing your business and meeting the financial requirements for your event. But how does one set marketing goals that are achievable? Read on to find out the best way to set marketing goals for 2023.
First, let’s look back at the trends of 2022:
Consumer behaviour has changed dramatically over the last couple of years – the effects of covid-19 as well as rising costs means that the general public altered their spending habits as well as changed how they entertain themselves.
– Likely an outcome of covid, people bought tickets really late – some even waited until the day before or the day of the event to purchase their tickets.
– Travel is back – with borders opening up in 2022, many people put their entertainment budgets towards overseas or interstate travel.
– Higher cost of living has led to frugality. According to The Research Society, 82% of Australians made changes to their spending habits in 2022.
This informs some of the consumer behaviour trends to look out for in 2023:
– Customers are buying directly from social media platforms or online web platforms, meaning that digital marketing continues to take the cake as a lower cost advertising option.
– Ethics are coming into play – many customers are looking for products or experiences that are ethical and sustainable.
– Health and wellbeing are at the forefront. People are still wary of covid and appreciate the measures that events put in place to keep everyone safe.
What is a SMART goal?
A SMART goal helps you create defined and clear goals. SMART stands for:
Specific: Your goal must be specific to something such as a segment of your target audience or department within your organisation. You should be able to list out a number of steps to achieve this goal.
Measurable: Your goal should be able to be measured by a numeric metric (i.e. ‘X’ amount of attendees will come to the event).
Achievable: The goal needs to be achievable, which means keeping in mind certain trends – higher cost of living may equate to reduced attendees for example.
Relevant: Make sure that the goal is relevant to the overarching objectives, mission and vision of your organisation.
Time-bound: Be sure to include a specific end date for your goal so it is completed in a timely manner.
Creating SMART goals means that your goals should be detailed enough so that the people who are tasked with achieving them know what needs to be done. Sometimes, this means that your goal could be a couple of paragraphs long rather than a sentence. More is more in this kind of situation.
You should ensure that your goals and steps to achieve those goals align with the trends of 2022 and projected trends of 2023. For example, if one of your goals is to attract an older demographic who may be more health conscious and hesitant to attend your event, you need to consider consumer behaviour trends. By taking the steps to show you care about customers’ health and wellbeing by having hand sanitiser and masks available, you have a better chance of converting that audience and achieving your goal.
Overall, it’s important to have goals in place to ensure you are meeting the KPIs of your organisation. By considering consumer trends as well as creating SMART goals, you can create marketing objectives that are specific to your trade and help your 2023 events flourish.