There are many cost effective channels which startups can use to do marketing. One of the channels which is missed by quite a many of us is organising events for our targeted audience. One of the best ways to market yourself is to educate your target audience. You can educate them by organising physical events / workshops.
As you know, when they learn from you they will build up respect for you and there would be high probability that they might use your product when they want to use a similar kind of a product. It’s a good activity to retain customers as you would be able to meet them and you would be able to build a better relationship with your existing customers.
One of the best examples in the startup industry has been of LetsVenture. I have been closely following them and they have been organising workshops for startuppers like “Startup Fundraising Made Easy”.
This not only must have helped them out to reach their target audience but also they were able to become thought leaders amongst their audience. Awesome!
So, How could we do it in an effective way to help our startup grow? Below are the few points that might be helpful:
Aim: The main aim of your workshops should be to help your target audience to grow and to reach out to them. Your aim shouldn’t be to make money by organising event as you. Like in case of Let’s Venture their main aim of their workshops was to help startup Founders raise Funding.
Pricing: I would suggest you to organise free events initially as it would be able to get you more signups and in the beginning getting more signups should be your main aim. Those would be your potential leads. More leads more customers. You can increase your pricing to a nominal fees if there is huge traction for your workshops. Keep your workshops not for profits.
Registrations: You can use an event ticketing platform like Townscript which is free to set up and is free for free events to manage your registrations and also they might be able to get you more attendees because of their reach.
Venue: Ideal cost effective venues are colleges or co-working spaces. I won’t suggest you a hotel as they might be quite costly. Lastly, It totally depends on your budget and pricing of the event.
Marketing: This might be easier for you. Create a buzz amongst your target audience online that you are organising a free educative workshop for them.
Also, don’t forget to send a mailer to your existing customers. While marketing your workshops you definitely create a great branding about you amongst your audience (even if they are not attending the event)
At the day of the event: Do have tea/coffee & biscuits during the event which shouldn’t cost you much if the attendees range is between 30-50. Food is important! I am sure, it will be a great way to engage your target audience and build authority in their community.
Lastly, you can try to organise webinars (see : How to conduct a successful webinar) also which might not cost you anything. It totally depends on your target audience, if your target audience is tech savvy, you might like to try out webinars as well.
Conclusion:
While there are pros and cons of everything. But you definitely need to identify if organising workshops/events for you. The benefits of being a thought leader in your domain are invaluable.
About Author: Sanchit Malik - He is the Co-Founder at Townscript (Event Registration & Ticketing Platform).Townscript is a fast growing Event Registration Management Platform. He is also a regular blogger, and writes at startupo2.com
*Please let him know your thoughts in comments!
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