If you’re at all involved in gaming online, you probably heard that BlizzCon was last weekend. That annual celebration of all thing Blizzard Entertainment draws more than 35,0000 attendees and hundreds of brands looking to grab their interest. While swag and eye-catching booths are important, the key to event marketing starts at the computer.
Example: CORSAIR
We’ve talked about CORSAIR before, but when scrolling through some of the most engaged with posts of BlizzCon it was hard to miss the PC components company, which has become synonymous with hardcore gaming.
CORSAIR tackled the crowds of BlizzCon with an event marketing strategy that relied heavily on social media promotion and of course, influencers. George Lampard, CORSAIR’s Community Marketing Specialist, described BlizzCon as a “content focused event” for the company.
“It largely came down to knowing our audience, and feeling the same passion for Blizzard titles that they do,” Lampard said in an email to Sideqik. “All of us are big fans of games like StarCraft, Diablo, Warcraft and Overwatch here at CORSAIR, so when we create content, we create with that passion and love in mind.”
That passion was clear. Using Sideqik’s analytics, we took a look at how their social channels did over the course of the event, and the results were impressive. Primarily using Twitter, CORSAIR was able to generate more than $17,000 in earned media value by both promoting their booth and just highlighting the great atmosphere of BlizzCon. Top performing posts reached nearly 70,000 impressions and racked up 3,000 retweets. And that’s just on CORSAIR’s social channels.
For the event, marketing efforts focused on driving BlizzCon participants to CORSAIR’s booth. This was done with giveaways, influencers and great events. By focusing on digital first, CORSAIR was able to generate major buzz about their influencer-supported events at the convention.
About those influencers
CORSAIR knows how to leverage the stars of gaming. At BlizzCon, influencers still had a major role in the brand’s event marketing.
“We are lucky to be working with some amazing organizations and streamers that have deep ties to Blizzard! Our esports team, Splyce, showcased their skills in front of the BlizzCon audience on the World of Warcraft Arena and the StarCraft World Championship Series stages. Jackson “Bajheera” Bliton and Ted “Sloot” Bacinschi, two household names in World of Warcraft, attended the convention hosting events and greeting fans. Anne Munition was not only on multiple panels during Blizzcon, but she also gave fans that couldn’t attend the convention an opportunity to walk the ground floor by doing an IRL stream tour,” said Alexander Lin, CORSAIR’s Partnership and Gaming Marketing Specialist.
“With that kind of influencer support, it was just about making great pieces of content that resonated with people including our influencers.”
How to recreate successes in event marketing
Don’t forget to think of your event as a whole experience. It doesn’t matter how great your booth is if you aren’t driving traffic. We live in 2017, where convention-goers are much more likely to be checking Twitter and Reddit than pamphlets to find out where they should go. Here’s the steps you need to follow:
1. Generate buzz.
With CORSAIR, they took a multi-pronged approach. They used Blizzard-specific influencers and great in-person giveaways to make people want to stop by.
2. Get the word out
Well that is one way to wear our #BlizzCon patch! pic.twitter.com/TE01TtWZBf
— CORSAIR (@CORSAIR) November 5, 2017
Fire up your social media team, because they’ll be working overtime. The best corporate Twitter accounts are ones that are truly excited about the convention their working with.
3. Put on a great show
This one’s easy. Use those skills to truly wow your customers and have them tweeting and posting about your booth, adding to your online presence and driving more visitors to your team.
4. Measure your results
Just because it’s in-person, doesn’t mean your event marketing strategy shouldn’t be measurable. Using Sideqik’s tools, we make it easy to digitally track in-person interactions with supporters. Don’t miss out on checking that ROI.
Event marketing is a whole world, but when you look at it as just another extension of your influencer program it can get a bit easier. Let Sideqik make your next convention a little easier.
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