Recessions are tough on people and brands alike. As people face economic uncertainty, many organizations find their audiences are less willing to open their wallets. It often becomes more challenging to plan for your organization’s future.
You may ask yourself whether now is the right time to invest in connecting with your audience through event planning and marketing, or if that’s the best use of your funds. It’s easy to resign yourself to waiting for the economy to turn around — but that’s usually not the best option.
The reality is that connection and event planning are more important than ever during a recession. Below, we discuss why maintaining connections during hard times is so critical — and how to go about it.
A Sense of Community Fosters Repeat Business
Maintaining connections and building engagement helps keep your business resilient. After all, it’s six times more expensive to win new customers than it is to retain existing customers who are already part of your community. It’s also usually more expensive to develop new relationships with partners, sponsors, and other stakeholders than to maintain old ones.
Repeat and referral business is never more important than during a recession, when budgets are tight and you may not have the means to connect with new audiences. Your community becomes your best resource for brand marketing.
Connection seems to be the key to unlocking repeat business. As it stands:
- 56% of consumers are loyal to brands they feel connected to.
- 89% of consumers are loyal to brands that align with their values.
- 69% of consumers choose retailers based on their rewards programs.
In our experience, the same is true for other key audiences, like sponsors and opinion leaders. Stakeholders who already feel connected to your brand are more likely to continue helping with your organization’s objectives.
Values. Connection. A sense of belonging. When your existing base feels they’re a part of your community, they come back. Fostering a community boosts your impact and adds to each customer or stakeholder’s lifetime value.
Strategic Events Help You Understand What Your Audience Wants
Strategic engagement and event planning do more than just keep your existing audience coming back. They give you the chance to get to know your community and what they want during these tough times. From there, you can poise yourself to meet those wants and needs.
When you connect and engage with your audience, you learn their unique pain points and how you can make their lives easier. Connection gives you a clear path forward during challenging times.
Strategic engagement is a two-way street. Your audience can get to know who you are, but until you gain a deeper understanding of what keeps them up at night and what gets them out of bed in the morning, you can’t serve them.
Empathize with your audience. Learn the thoughts in their head. Be an agent of empathy for your audience, and you will figure out your most profitable avenues so you can move forward even when other organizations seem stalled.
Steps to Successful Event Planning: How to Build Connection In Any Economy
Now that we’ve explored why connection is so important during a recession, here are some tips for maintaining your relationship with your audience during tough economic times.
Incorporate Social Media As a Tool for Connection
Social media is free for your audiences, inexpensive for you, and incredibly effective when you want broad audiences to feel seen and heard. It can be an important resource for customers seeking advice or answers, and it can be a lifeline when you need insights from your existing, loyal community.
Social media is also a great place to do digital event marketing, especially when the event is open to the public. If you’re planning an event for brand marketing or public relations purposes, social media should probably be part of your event marketing plan.
Try New Strategic Engagement Platforms
If you want to cultivate lifelong loyalty from your audience, why not offer them something new, like a podcast, newsletter, or useful resource? This type of strategic engagement will help you build an emotional connection and prove your value to both new and existing connections.
Plan Mobile Events and Experiences
To connect deeply with your audience, you need to meet them where they are. Mobile traffic accounts for 55 percent of all online traffic. It’s often easier to engage your audience with online experiences that don’t require any travel.
If your organization is planning an in-person public relations or brand marketing event, you may want to turn it into a hybrid in-person and virtual event. Digital event planning may help you reach audiences who don’t have the budget for travel right now but are still open to a lower-cost virtual experience.
Take an Immersive Approach to Event Planning
Immersive experiences and events — ideally, ones that your audience can attend either in person or online — are a fast way to spread the word about what’s important to you. Thoughtful event planning leads to stronger connections and moments that your audience won’t soon forget.
As you think about how to foster ties with your audiences through event marketing, here are some questions to consider:
- How should you be communicating with your audience during a recession? Do you use different language or approaches? Do you need to speak with authority, emphasize empathy, or leverage your expertise? People who are struggling more than usual may respond better to empathy, but expertise may resonate more with those looking for the best place to spend their limited time and money.
- Does the ‘ask’ of your audience change? How can you continue to maintain a connection when your audience is in a very different position than they may have been a year ago? For example, some audiences may need a more affordable way to stay engaged.
- How do you reach your audience? Should you connect in person, online, or both? What changes (and what can you offer) when you connect in person?
- How do you convince your audience to open their wallets for your brand when they may be budgeting elsewhere? What do you need to consider about their financial situation?
- How can strategic engagements like branded events help your brand connect to your audience during a recession? What can these kinds of engagements mean for your short-term and long-term growth and sustainability?
Focus on Mindful Event Planning
At Immersive Strategies, we believe meaningful, thoughtful engagement and memorable experiences are the best way to amplify your voice. We use a combination of digital and in-person engagement strategies that inspire audiences, drive them into action, and keep your brand moving. This immersive approach to event planning is especially helpful for reaching key stakeholders when many people are tightening their belts.
Creating a community based on connection is the best way to achieve your brand goals. Are you ready to start planning a strategic engagement campaign or branded event? Reach out to our team of experienced, creative professionals today for assistance.
