Here in the Monadnock Region there is an abundance of things-to-do. It seems there is always an event going on, in fact there are hundreds of them held throughout the year, both large and small. From the Keene Pumpkin Festival, the Clarence DeMar Marathon, and the Radically Rural Summit to the Keene Music Festival, and Monadnock International Film Festival to the Ice & Snow Festival and The Sentinel’s own Autumn Festival and several award and recognition events. There’s something for everyone.
Here’s a link to the ELF Magazine Event Calendar for an example of the robust and diverse upcoming event schedule for the region: https://www.keenesentinel.com/elf_calendar/
If you’re a local business owner, this region and the many events being hosted throughout the year represent a terrific opportunity for your business.
Local events are an important marketing opportunity because they build brand awareness and a positive reputation within the community, offer a chance to directly interact with customers, and drive sales and customer loyalty. Participating in these events allows businesses to demonstrate community investment, connect with potential customers who are already in their target market, and gain valuable feedback in a low-pressure environment.
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To optimize these opportunities, you’ll want to make sure your investment generates measurable value including brand visibility, customer engagement, leads, sales, or community goodwill. Below are some ideas to help you and your business get the most out of an event opportunity.
Clarify Your Objectives: Before you invest in an event, consider and define what success looks like to you. What do you hope to accomplish? Do you look to increase recognition in your local area or target demographic? Do you hope to develop leads by collecting emails and sign-ups? Do you hope to drive purchases of your product or service tied to a promo code or event-day discount? Or maybe you seek to strengthen your reputation through support of local events or causes? Whatever your business objective may be, be certain you have clear vision on those goals and that the goals for your event involvement align with your broader marketing KPIs.
Choose the Right Event: Pick events where your target audience will be present and engaged:
- Check demographics of the event’s target audience.
- Look at the planned event marketing support, anticipated event attendance, and social reach of the host.
- Consider the exposure and advertising assets the host will share with you.
- Assess brand alignment…Does the event’s vibe match your business’s image?
- Consider exclusivity…Being one of a few sponsors is more powerful than being one of many.
Negotiate for Visibility and Access: Don’t just accept logo placement at the event, ask for additional marketing assets to help make the most out of your event participation. Ask for:
- Stage mentions or speaking opportunities.
- Branded giveaways, product placement, or interactive booths.
- Logo placement on signage, social media, and website, along with email blasts.
- Inclusion in event hashtags or content campaigns.
- Exclusive category rights including: ‘official beverage sponsor’ or event co-branding opportunities.
Activate Your Sponsorship: Turn passive visibility into active engagement.
- Create an interactive experience including a photo booth, step & repeat, contest, or sampling station.
- Create social media tie-in by creating a custom hashtag, Instagram filter, or a giveaway for people who post about your brand at the event.
- Seek opportunities to partner with event organizers to create co-branded content such as producing short videos, reels, or stories featuring your brand.
Promote Before, During, and After the Event: Prior to the event, announce and advertise your sponsorship on your channels including tagging your event. During the event consider posting live updates to run on stories or reels. As well, share highlights after the event, thank attendees, and follow up with leads or new followers.
Further, consider supplementing your sponsorship with a multimedia campaign that announces your booth and location. As well, consider a geofencing campaign that targets attendees and invites them to your booth to sample or enter a contest. Look-back features of geofencing campaigns will enable you to stay engaged with attendees.
Measure Your Return-on-Investment: After the event, evaluate your results vs. your objectives. Measure the quantitative aspects of your campaign including visitors, impressions, leads collected, promo code uses, social media mentions, web traffic spikes, sales, and more. As well, consider qualitative results including brand sentiment, media coverage, visibility, and engagement.
Build Long Term Value: Don’t stop at game day involvement, use your sponsorship as a launch pad for further marketing engagement. Consider posting and re-purposing photos and videos in future marketing, engage event participants through email or social media; and if it all works well, turn it into a recurring event partnership that builds recognition and further cements your brand with the good vibes of the event and the target market.
There is an incredible amount of brand value simply associating your company with local events. But moving beyond visibility to optimizing an event opportunity helps you transform that visibility into meaningful engagement and long-term value.
The Keene Sentinel and Sentinel Solutions host many events throughout the year from festivals to recognition events to fairs and expos. We’d welcome a chance to chat about your event marketing goals and how we can help you achieve them.
For a full list of local Sentinel events, please click here. As well, as a full-service marketing agency we can also help you optimize other events you may participate in. We’re here to help.
If you’d like to learn more about optimizing event marketing opportunities, please give us a call or email us here at Sentinel Solutions.
We are experts in these tactics and can assist you in incorporating them effectively into your marketing plan. We can help you build compelling campaigns that engage your audience and drives sales.
Give us a call if we can help at 603-352-5896 or e-mail to Advertising@SentinelDigitalSolutions.com. We’re here to help you succeed.
Disclosure: This post was curated with AI assistance.
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