Post-Event Marketing: How to Maintain Engagement After Your Triathlon

Post-event marketing refers to the efforts that businesses and organizations make to maintain engagement and brand loyalty among their target audience after a specific event has taken place. It tells your brand’s story after the event is done.

You can use digital or print branding materials for events to raise brand recognition and spread awareness.

At MVP Visuals, we leverage attention-grabbing visual branding displays and custom promotional products that will showcase your brand during and after your triathlon. Attendees will remember the beautiful custom tents, custom inflatables, and custom flag banners strategically placed on your triathlon’s course.

After the event, you can engage in follow-up strategies to ensure the attendees are locked in for the next event. Incorporate tactics that will keep your brand on their mind long after the event ends.

For instance, you can repurpose your triathlon’s landing page. Here, you can thank the attendees for coming, or tie it to a recurring event. Include those who missed out by encouraging them to sign up next time, and save the date.

For even more fear of missing out (FOMO), leave a link where users can watch video recaps or special behind-the-scenes footage.

There is a popular adage that goes “Better the end of a matter than the beginning thereof.” The difficult part (planning and running the event) is over, and while there is more work to be done in post-event branding, it is easier and less stressful.

Companies need post-event marketing as much as they do pre-event branding, as it takes into account mistakes made and lessons learned. Moreover, engaging with your event’s attendees after the event shows them that you are a trustworthy and reliable brand, meaning improved engagement and brand loyalty.

1 - Understand Your Target Audience

Companies waste over $37 billion in ad spending yearly because they are yet to identify their target audience. Without an accurate definition and segmentation of your target audience, your marketing strategies will be thin, uninspired, and reckless.

As Steuart Henderson Britt said, “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but no one else does.” And may we add, if this advertising is not targeted to a specific group, the effect is similar or worse.

Here is a sobering truth: No one will buy from you if you don’t engage with them directly.

This is why you need to collect data on your prospective clients. It will help you build effective buyer personas, who are fictional representations of how your ideal customers think, and how they’d shop. You can use the following analytics tools to give you a clearer picture:

Surveys
Customer data
Buyer preferences
Demographics

Once you identify your core target audience, you can create focal brand activation techniques that speak directly to their needs. What’s more, you can generate Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) and turn them from prospects into paying customers.

It, therefore, goes without saying that targeted ads are twice as effective as non-targeted ads.

At MVP Visuals, we provide indoor event branding tips that will speak directly to your target audience. Our MVP Bundle has a 10 by 10 Forever Flash custom-printed tent that uses full-color dye sublimation, a table cover, a deluxe roller bag, weight bags, and other items that you can leverage to advertise to your target audience.

You can speak with us if you want to include a specific design. We begin with a white canvas so design ideas are welcome. Use this chance to speak to your audience succinctly.

Food For Thought: What if your triathlon was attended by individuals who weren’t part of your target audience? Should you cry foul over the marketing strategies that you used? The answer to this is a resounding no.

It just means that it’s probably time to reassess your branding strategies and fine-tune your post-event branding so these new clients stay, and the absentees return.

2 - Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Harnessing the power of social media begins even before the event. While most people create a buzz around the event before it happens using hashtags and posts, following up with those who attended your triathlon post-event is as important.

Some of the surefire ways to use social media as a post-event branding tool are:

Create fun and engaging posts about the event that will encourage followers to interact.
Use a social media content calendar to post about the event consistently. Curate your posts so tactfully that the attendees won’t feel spammed even if you post five pictures a day.
Build FOMO using alluring captions, such as “Season one was a success…”
Interact with your audience by responding to comments and feedback and answering questions. It shows that you do not take them for granted and that you value their engagement with your brand.

Here is a table that could help you keep track of the content that will be shared on social media platforms after your triathlon:

Date	Social Media Platform	Content Type	Content Description
04/25/2023	Instagram	Photo	Share a photo of a participant crossing the finish line
04/27/2023	Twitter	Video	Share a video of the top 3 finishers receiving their medals
04/30/2023	Facebook	Post	Share a congratulatory message to all participants
05/02/2023	LinkedIn	Quote	Share a quote from the guest of honor

Furthermore, you can encourage attendees to share their own photos and videos via their social media platforms in a market strategy known as user-generated content (UGC). It not only amplifies your brand credence with existing clients but also expands the company’s reach to people unfamiliar with your brand.

In fact, millennials are 50% more inclined to trust UGC than the original content generated by these brands. This is because UGC is raw and authentic. You can then share this content on your own social media and tag the attendees as a way of recognizing and valuing them.

A tastefully designed MVP Visuals custom inflatable archway will surely be the center of attention. Attendees will want to take selfies beside it and post the pictures so everyone will know that they attended the event of the year.

“The arch and the tent were a big hit at our events. Thank you MVP for the help and the quick follow up on our order. Very much appreciated.”

David Wikette, President, Ferrari Club of America - Ohio Chapter

So, whether you want to print your brand’s or event’s hashtag on the arch inflatable, consider this a UGC marketing strategy and score perfectly.

3 - Email Marketing

This may sound like an offshoot of the previous point, but it deserves its own section. Email marketing is a key follow-up strategy after your triathlon event. However, there is a thin line between being pushy and polite when following up with attendees via email.

The trick is to be subtle yet firm. Some mistakes you should avoid include:

Making the subject line too blatant, such as “Follow-Up Email.” Instead, consider saying, “Thank You!” or “Nice Seeing You.”
Delaying sending the email. Typically, send the follow-up email within three days. The event will still be fresh in the attendees’ minds so they’ll take your Call-to-Action (CTA) more seriously.
Elongating the email. People are busy and will prefer it if you went straight to the point. Be brief but direct.

Let the attendees know that you enjoyed hosting them and that you look forward to any feedback they have to make the event better next time. Trigger a valuable memory that happened during the event nostalgically.

You can send a thank you note alongside the email or a questionnaire for them to fill in. Your CTA should be clear and well-defined. Do they call you if they need further information about the next event? Do they reply after reading your email? You can include post-event promo codes, special offers, and discounts.

Consider email personalization, such as “We met on June 19, 2019. It’s been two years of making magic…” instead of batch-sending a generic email to everyone. The client will feel appreciated and will engage more with the brand. Email personalization increases revenue by up to 760%.

Summary: While social media marketing helps to build anticipation ahead of your event, email marketing helps to sustain it after the event.

4 - Host Exclusive Events

Exclusive events are the perfect opportunity to introduce a new product to the market or promote existing products. As long as people are talking about your brand after the triathlon.

According to Aventri, 95% of marketers claim people forge real-life connections with brands after live events. This experiential marketing strategy has the following benefits for clients:

It helps them understand the company’s products and services better.
It avails them the chance to ask questions and seek clarification one-on-one from company representatives.
It makes them feel special, and they are likely to talk positively about their experience.

Exclusive events include meet-and-greets with famous athletes or keynote speakers, VIP access to product releases, or guided tours of your facilities.

One of the most important aspects of an exclusive event is the event registration table. At MVP Visuals, we have a penchant for making your brand stand out. Our game plan? Custom logo tablecloths with your brand name, logo, and tagline. The first point of contact with your guests will surely leave an indelible impression.

Here are some of the all over print table covers we offer at MVP Visuals:

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This explainer will guide you on the features to look for when deciding which custom printed table cover best suits you.

Expert Tip: How about having a custom inflatable mascot (preferably the one you used at the event) suit up and guide people to their seats? Fascinating, right? Moreover, this giant inflatable will entertain younger attendees who may get bored with all the professional talk.

5 - Partner With Other Brands

One effective way to maintain engagement and brand loyalty after a triathlon is to partner with other brands. Partnering allows brands to leverage each other's audiences (reach is multiplied) and create mutually beneficial promotions, giveaways, and events.

Remember, the key is to get people talking about your brand. So, if you join forces with another brand, it will create a buzz which is one of the most powerful engagement strategies used in marketing.

Promote this partnership via discounts, giveaways, and hosting joint events to promote brand awareness and increase your reach.

One of our clients, The Ronald McDonald House of Orange County, organized a charity walk and required our affordable and durable inflatable arches. They partnered with major companies such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s culminating in a huge success that it probably wouldn’t have without these partnerships.

“We initially bought this arch for our 5K Walk but have since used it at almost every event we have! It takes no more than 15 minutes to assemble and storage is equally as easy. Thank you MVP Visuals! You have taken our marketing and branding to the next level!”

Ruth Wu, Special Events Manager, Ronald McDonald House of Orange County

How to Measure the Success of Your Post-Event Marketing

After your event, you’ll need to determine the total Return on Investment (ROI) of your event marketing solutions, in terms of money, time, and resources spent. You can then use the lessons learned to craft better post-event marketing ideas that will effectively transform leads into revenue.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable metrics that measure success according to the event’s goals. For instance, if you targeted 1,000 attendees for your triathlon and 2,300 showed up then your event was a success when measured in terms of check-ins and attendance rate.

In fact, 91% of businesses globally use the total number of attendees to measure their marketing strategy's effectiveness.

You can measure your next triathlon branding’s success with metrics such as session analytics, social media mentions, gross revenue, and returning leads.

The following are key metrics to measure your event marketing solutions’ success:

Web traffic. How many people visit your website and social media pages? An uptick means that more people are interested in your brand.
Lead generation. How many prospects have been attracted to your event? Would they love to join next time?
Engagement rates. This refers to how much users engage with your content through comments, shares, likes, and other interactions.
Conversion rates. How many people take the desired action after interacting with your content? This can include making a purchase, signing up for your newsletter, or participating in your CTA.

So, there you have it.