There are two types of Venues

a. Those that make things happen

b. Those who watch things happen

……………….What venue are you?

I’m sure we all like to think we are venue a, but are you??? Darren Scurville, Design Inc’s Events & Venue Marketing specialist explains ‘Building an effective venue-marketing plan is like sowing a field for a successful crop. There are certain methods that are absolutely necessary. You can tweak a little here and there adding your own special methods as long as you include the main components’

He added ‘“Distributing seeds instead of planting them in one place by not just reaching people individually and telling them what your venue does or has is a tough way to do it and an uphill battle. Instead thinking of each person you interact with as someone who can carry the seed of your venue to someone else is valuable. Your goal shouldn’t be just to convince them, it’s to give them some way, large or small to carry your venue message forward.

How are you as a venue making things happen and distributing the message? Do you…..

Blog – demonstrating your venue industry awareness, expertise, knowledge and establish yourself as a recognised venue industry voice connecting to the topics of the moment.

Send tactical e-shots & newsletters – To reach out and engage with your audience, telling them about your venue’s successes, latest events at your venue, your venues new features, the venues new services or even the venues new staff.  Also to solidify your current client relationships, strengthen your venue ‘brand’ and keep your venue constantly in the public eye.

Strategically Advertise – With calculated planning, compelling copywriting and powerful messaged advertising design for your entire venue advertising campaigns. Making sure it is tailored to appeal to your target market using compelling and strategic design, graphics and messaging to entice a reaction, an enquiry and a venue booking.

Design your marketing collateral tactically – Making sure your brochure and direct mail pieces truly reflects and delivers your venue’s image, values and core services. Creating interactive elements such as incentivised response devices for data capture and the use of enticing formats and tactile materials.

Stand out at Exhibitions - to distinguish and differentiate your venue amongst all the other venues doing the same thing. Making sure your stand fascinates, captivates, generates interest, interacts with your audiences, creates the WOW factor and leaves a compelling impression on your visitor.

Optimise your Website – incorporating strategic, valuable keywords & phrases that relate specifically to your industry so your prospective clients find your website ahead of your competitors. Integrating strategic creative designs, high impact copywriting and a fully comprehensive statistics area to gather that all important marketing data.

If you are a venue marketing person, then the answer is most definitely yes.

Of course, the events are your clients and they bring in the money. If you have no events, whether they be celebratory, conference or expo, then your venue can sit empty. As a venue you need to market all the forthcoming features and events, where permission is granted. As a venue marketer it is so important to market the venue as a brand.

Some may say that venues are only as good as the events inside them. This may be true but prestigious client, events and shows like to host in prestigious venues. How you brand the venue can help you sell to host the events that you want.

Understand that your venue is an unique brand and needs an individual approach to market it. Your venue requires unique branding, message & design throughout all your communications. So what really is your unique selling point?

Could this be your;

• Location
• Style
• Size
• Architecture
• History
• Blank Canvas appeal
• Clients
• Theme
• Food
• Experiential and sensory experience

Events and venue marketing specialist, Darren Scurville reports, “Once distilled and defined as the single-minded proposition, venues can then tailor a targeted, results-driven creative campaign. The key is to know your own strengths within the saturated market and to deliver a differentiated marketing communications package based around this.”

“Of course,  once the message is understood internally, it can then be promoted externally through new or tried and tested channels such as website and email promotion, direct mail, advertising or a combination of all of these. Differentiating your venue brand and setting your values, profile and identity is the key to engage interest from your audience.”

It is true that we cannot all have the same USPs as

• 30 St Mary’s Axe- for its icon appeal
• The Crypt at St Pauls for it’s architecture
• Altitude 360 for the view

But, understanding what you do have to offer and how to turn this offering into a strong brand is vital in these times. Perhaps, more importantly, is whether this brand can be strong enough to be also applied for London 2012 marketing. More on that later.