5 Tips To Launch a Multi-City National Experiential Marketing Program

Use these tips to help plan, launch and activate a multi-city, national experiential marketing program.  You will need to consider several factors when scheduling events, hiring Brand Ambassadors and evaluating potential partners.  Below are 5 things to consider before launching your program.

1. Stagger the program launch in each market. – If possible, don’t build the program to launch on one specific day. Stagger the kick-off of theevent promotion in each market by a few days. This allows for any wrinkles in the plan to be ironed out early and for best practices to be shared by all.
2. Anticipate changes in each market. – Even though the event marketing plan is to manage and activate one program in 10 markets the reality is that the majority of the time it ends up feeling like 10 separate programs being activated in 10 separate markets. Every city, state and municipality requires different permits, fees and paperwork to activate. Be sure to anticipate the changes each will bring and the time it takes to manage this process.
3. Think locally when planning. – Weather, sports, special events and traffic are just a few of the uncontrollable elements to deal with when activating field marketing programs. Although you can’t control blizzards, World Series, Presidential visits and 10 car pile-ups you can plan proactively within that market. Take the time to talk through the activation of event promotions with local contacts and client representatives. They know their markets inside and out and usually have their finger on the pulse of what’s in store for the future. Their advance warning about many of these obstacles will make for a smooth activation of a successful event marketing plan.
4. Hire Experienced Event Marketing Managers. – Don’t pile more work on top of the sales force. Hire a market specific event manager to take the reins to launch and activate your program. The program will be their main focus which will provide a much more successful event marketing activation.
5. Work with Event Management Companies that have Coast-to-Coast experience. – If you are activating a national experiential marketing program hire a company that has experience with this scope of work. It pays to go with experience when covering multiple cities in multiple states. A national company can provide insight and cost savings due to this experience.