More and more marketing agencies are seeing the benefit of managing events for their clients. In the past partnering with event planning organizations was part of the equation, but with advances in technology, marketing firms are finding they can host more meetings without the use of a third party. This has broadened their focus from branding events to monthly training courses and smaller networking meetings.
When hosting events, companies and organizations traditionally have managed using in-house marketing teams or external event planning agencies. Now, we see a newer option for event hosting with the introduction of the tech savvy marketing agency. Companies are looking for a one-stop-shop to their branding and marketing needs, but aren’t finding their marketing agency to be as full-service as anticipated, lacking the expertise and resources to deliver everything they need in one place. Therefore, many marketing agencies are finding ways to host their client’s events, enabling them to be all encompassing.
Marketing agencies are doing so because they want to offer their client all amenities under one roof, omitting the need for them to turn elsewhere.
New Kids on the Block
There are many event agencies out there, but there are less true marketing and advertising agencies that are also capable of creating, planning and coordinating events.
The difference? Event agencies focus specifically on events and event branding. Traditionally, marketing agencies manage client’s promotion, advertising, and company branding. Marketing agencies that are more full-service benefit from managing client events. Marketing agencies who do host events often utilize a third-party, like an event planning agency, to help them fulfill client deliverables.
So why suddenly do marketing agencies feel they have the capability of hosting their client’s events without the use of third party planners.
They Have the Resources
“We need the talent and creativity of agencies. An agency can pull on you and keep you real and honest in terms of talking to consumers in the way they want to be talked to,” said Atom Bank’s Wood in Marketing Weekly.
They understand their client’s target audience and understand their brand. With the introduction of full-service event planning platforms, they have the capability of optimizing event experience and company branding, overall, leading to a happier client.
For those marketing agencies taking advantage of event technology, they are more adept to cut third-parties out of the equation. Quickly, they’re now able to add event management to their arsenal. In this glorious digital era, they’re becoming more capable to offer their client event management without hassle. Also, they’re able to provide expertise of a marketing eye when building attendee experience.
But why is hosting events becoming so valuable to marketing agencies?
It Adds Value
Their client is doing one of four things: not hosting events (unlikely), they’re hosting events through their marketing agency, hosting events using an in-house marketing team, or organizing events using an event planning agency.
Companies should be hosting events both internally for their teams and externally for the community. It adds brand awareness and puts and experience behind the brand which is vital to stand out from the competition.
In-house results in long hours and a lot of trouble-shooting to execute a flawlessly well-branded event. They are likely printing and stuffing badges manually, not utilizing an event app, and not nurturing sponsorship or vendors to the best of their ability.
By offering them the ability for you to manage their events, agencies add value to their brand and, ultimately, locking them in for continued business.
So what does this mean for the event industry?
For traditional event planning companies, there is an increased need to have more tech options available in their back pockets to win RFPs. Meanwhile marketing agencies with a strong grasp on digital strategy and technology are poised to gain more ground in the space. For any agency, whether focusing on specifically on events or branding, a strong knowledge of available event tech platforms and features will be key in 2019.
Tell us your thoughts. If you use an agency for your events, how much did technology play a role in your decision?