In this episode of Talk Commerce, I had the pleasure of chatting with Ashley Stanford, the co-founder of Ice Cream Social. Ashley is a seasoned expert in the event industry, having worked with TicketSocket, a white-labeled ticketing and events registration platform, before launching her social referral widget designed to turn customers into brand influencers.

This conversation delved into the unique challenges and opportunities that have emerged in the event industry since COVID-19. Ashley shared valuable insights on how event organizers can adapt their strategies to thrive in this new landscape.

The Shift in Event Marketing

“COVID has been an interesting time in events,” Ashley remarked. “It was a downer, but it also led to the silver lining of peeling Ice Cream Social off from TicketSocket and making it its own company.” She also highlighted some key trends that have emerged from the pandemic:

“There’s three things in particular that I’m finding with events and marketing right now. One, you have to be smarter with your budget than ever before. You really want to create a lot of buzz and create a lot of leads before you ever go on sale for your event.”

This resonated with me as well. We see a lot of events struggling to make back the budgets they had before COVID. It’s critical to make sure your dollars are being spent wisely, and maximizing lead generation upfront is a great strategy for getting more bang for your buck.

Ashley also stressed the importance of optimizing marketing timing, emphasizing that today’s audience doesn’t plan as far in advance as they used to.

“People will buy tickets more last minute, more so than ever. So you want to make sure that your budget is split in a way where you’re heavy on the peaks of your sales cycle.”

This ties into the need to be smarter with your budget. Allocate your resources strategically, targeting the most impactful periods in your sales cycle.

Finally, Ashley stressed the importance of delivering a truly memorable experience.

“You need to put on a great event. You need to have a great track record, a great history. A lot of events that used to sell really well are struggling now. Your event really needs to activate all five senses.”

This is crucial for events in the post-COVID era. With so much competition for people’s attention, events need to deliver unique, engaging, and memorable experiences to stand out and keep attendees coming back.

Harnessing the Power of Social Referral Marketing

Ashley is a strong advocate for social referral marketing. She believes that traditional influencer marketing is becoming less effective, and that the real power lies in activating the word-of-mouth marketing potential of a brand’s existing customer base.

“An influencer does not need to have any social media. An influencer can be just any person. That’s what we’re trying to help events realize and activate within their customer database.”

I’ve always been a believer in the power of referrals, and I really like Ashley’s approach to gamifying this. By providing tools that empower attendees to easily share their experiences with friends and family, both on social media and through messaging apps, event organizers can tap into a vast, untapped network of potential customers.

Beyond Social Media: Leveraging Sponsorships & Partnerships

Ashley highlighted the importance of strategic sponsorships that align with the event’s audience and goals.

“You wanna think about sponsors for your event that very much align, has very similar raving fans, of people who would like to come to your event because they’re going to have a captive audience of the exact people you’re trying to reach.”

This is a key to success for any event, but it’s especially crucial in the post-COVID world. By partnering with brands that share your target audience, you can leverage their existing network to expand your reach and attract new attendees.

Furthermore, Ashley emphasizes the importance of making it easy for sponsors to participate in your marketing efforts.

“You wanna make it so easy for them to help you that you give them a whole package. Hey, here’s some pre-written social media posts customized for each platform. Here’s a folder of images. Here’s a blog post.”

By providing sponsors with ready-to-use marketing materials, you can ensure that they are actively promoting your event and maximizing their investment.

Final Thoughts

Ashley’s insights on navigating the post-COVID events landscape are invaluable for anyone involved in the industry. Her emphasis on strategic planning, creative marketing, and leveraging the power of social referrals offer a compelling roadmap for success.

For a deeper dive into these ideas and more, be sure to listen to the full podcast episode. I hope this blog has inspired you to think differently about event marketing in the post-COVID era.

Let me know your thoughts on these insights and share your own event marketing experiences in the comments below!