Guide to Refreshing Your Marketing Collateral for Events

Published on 19 August, 2021 | Last modified on 15 May, 2024

Marketing collateral for events are the secret ingredient to a memorable brand presence. That said, they are only effective if you take the time to refresh your collateral ahead of each event so that it is fresh, relevant, and personalized to the event.

While this may sound like a lot of work, it actually only requires you to take five simple steps. Follow this guide to make sure you deliver stand-out marketing collateral for each event in the next year!

Step 1: What Kind of Marketing Collateral Do You Have versus What Do You Need for Events?

Marketing collateral comes in almost as many forms as events do. Before refreshing anything, take stock of what you already have, and then compare it with what you need for your event.

For example, you may have several case studies designed for print so that sales can mail them to clients with personalized notes. While case studies are perfect for conversations at the bottom of the funnel, they won’t be as effective at your tradeshow booth when prospects are being introduced to you for the first time. Instead, you need a brochure or one-sheeter that concisely explains your brand value.

Now that you know what you have, you can move forward with a better idea of what marketing collateral can be refreshed and what needs to be created from scratch for your event.

Step 2: Update Brand Basics

If it has been a while since your last event, your brand may have gone through some identity updates. For example, Mimeo did a brand redesign during the pandemic, so we had to update our marketing collateral with our new colors before our first event of the 2021 season!

Do an audit of any collateral for events to make sure they are up-to-date on: logo, colors, fonts, and contact information. If these are not consistent across your event collateral and digital presence, you will confuse your prospects. Be sure to work with a designer so that they can make your collateral stand out from the sea of print handouts at the event! (Here are some tips for designing marketing collateral to get you started)

Step 3: Update with Event Specifics

Each event is different, so your marketing collateral for each event will need specific updates, too. For example, name-drop the event to make a stronger connection with attendees (the same way that music artists add your city-name into their lyrics at live concerts…to make you feel seen!).

You will probably also want to update your call-to-action. Think about using a dedicated landing page, a shortened link with tracking, or a custom promo code so that you can measure the effectiveness of driving attendees to your online presence. Or, you may simply want to list a specific sales person’s name so that all prospects from the event get tracked by their initial point of contact.

Step 4: Update with Business Practices that Build Trust

In the COVID-19-conscious world, consumers want to know that your brand will protect them and your employees in the case of virus outbreaks. Consider adding information on your event marketing collateral about your safety procedures, communication practices, and business model so that prospects can trust you will keep everyone safe and stay open through uncertain times. You probably also want to include other key business values to further build trust with prospects!

Step 5: Review for Consistency

Now that you have made updates to reflect your brand and event specifics, it is time to review all your marketing collateral for the event to make sure it is consistent! Make sure your messaging stays on-topic, your brand visuals are the same print and digitally, and that your call-to-action is simple and standard. This small step is important for creating an event presence that feels cohesive, rather than one that feels slapped together.

Tip: Fresh Printing Makes a Difference

One final pro-tip from us to you – it is worth printing new marketing collateral for events, even if you didn’t make any changes to the design!

Event attendees only give you a sliver of their attention, so it is important that every ounce of your presence makes a good first impression. There is nothing more lackluster than collateral faded from years of storage or crinkled from too many shipments. An on-demand printer can help you print just enough marketing collateral for each event so that you can afford fresh print each time!

Whether your next event is a tradeshow booth, a roadshow, or a client dinner, your marketing collateral will help make it that much more valuable to your attendees.

Next Post Previous Post

Mimeo Marketing Team

Mimeo is a global online print provider with a mission to give customers back their time. By combining front and back-end technology with a lean production model, Mimeo is the only company in the industry to guarantee your late-night print order will be produced, shipped, and delivered by 8 am the next morning. For more information, visit mimeo.com and see how Mimeo’s solutions can help you save time today.