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See How It's MadeOutdoor events are a fantastic way to engage with your local community, create brand awareness, and connect with potential customers. But how do you take full advantage of these events? The answer lies in pairing them with smart, local advertising. In this blog post, we’ll look at how combining outdoor events with targeted local ads can maximize your brand’s impact.
Why Outdoor Events Matter
Outdoor events, whether it’s a community fair, a farmers market, or a sports event, offer unique opportunities for businesses to connect with their audience face-to-face. These events tend to draw a lot of people, many of whom are local and interested in supporting businesses in their area.
Engaging with people at these events is a chance to create lasting impressions, showcase your brand, and generate immediate interest. Not only does it allow you to interact directly with potential customers, but it also gives you the opportunity to show that your business is active in the community—a quality many customers value.
In fact, 80% of people attend local events to support the community, and businesses that are part of this culture are more likely to be top-of-mind when people need a product or service.
Combine Outdoor Events with Local Ads for Greater Exposure
While outdoor events are great for in-person engagement, pairing them with local ads can extend your reach and reinforce your message. Here’s why combining the two strategies can be so effective:
- Extend the Reach Beyond the Event
When you combine outdoor events with local ads, you’re able to reach an audience beyond just the attendees at the event. Digital ads, print materials, or even local radio can promote the event in advance, building anticipation. After the event, ads can serve as a reminder of your brand’s involvement and keep the momentum going. - Target the Right Audience
Local advertising allows you to target specific demographics, ensuring that your message reaches the right people. For example, if you’re attending a family-friendly event in a specific part of Dallas, you can use local ads to promote your presence to families in the area. With digital ads, you can even target people who have recently attended similar events or shown interest in your services. - Reinforce Your Message
The more touchpoints people have with your brand, the more likely they are to remember you. By combining outdoor events with a multi-channel advertising approach, you can reinforce your message multiple times. Whether it’s through social media ads, print materials, or sponsored posts, consistency across multiple channels helps build trust and familiarity with your brand.
How to Pair Outdoor Events with Local Ads
Now, let’s break down the steps to successfully pair outdoor events with local ads.
1. Plan Your Event Presence
Start by determining how you want to engage at the event. Will you have a booth? Sponsor a section of the event? Offer a special giveaway or host a contest? The goal here is to make your presence known and stand out from the crowd.
For example, if you’re running a local landscaping business and attending a neighborhood festival in Plano, you could offer free landscaping consultations or create a fun, interactive display where visitors can ask questions about their yards. This type of engagement creates a memorable experience.
2. Use Local Digital Ads to Build Buzz Before the Event
To make sure people know you’ll be at the event, start advertising early. Use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and even Nextdoor to get the word out. Geotargeting is your best friend here. By targeting your ads to a specific neighborhood or zip code, you ensure you’re speaking to the people who are most likely to attend.
For example, a restaurant in Frisco might run Facebook ads showcasing their participation in a local food festival, with an invitation to stop by their booth for a special promotion. These ads should be simple and direct, with a call to action like, “Join us at the [Event Name] this weekend!”
3. Use Print Ads for Local Exposure
While digital ads are essential, print still holds significant power in local advertising, especially when paired with an outdoor event. Consider running ads in community newsletters, local magazines, or even sponsoring sections of the event’s program. You could also distribute flyers or postcards at the event, offering a discount or promotional code to anyone who visits your booth.
A printed ad provides something tangible that attendees can take home and refer back to later. And when they see it alongside your digital presence, it reinforces your brand’s presence both online and offline.
4. Leverage Local Media for Greater Reach
Local TV stations, radio stations, and even local newspapers can offer a platform to promote your event participation. A well-placed ad or sponsorship on a local radio show can reach a wider audience in your community. Don’t just promote the event; share what makes your business stand out and why people should check out your booth or booth activities.
For example, a Dallas landscaping company sponsoring an outdoor concert might also run a radio ad or a short TV spot that highlights their sponsorship, inviting the community to visit their booth.
5. Maximize Social Media Engagement During the Event
Social media is key to engaging with the audience during the event. Share real-time updates, behind-the-scenes shots, and even short live videos of the event on Instagram or Facebook. This creates excitement and keeps people involved.
You can also encourage event-goers to take pictures at your booth and tag your business for a chance to win a prize. This builds more engagement while also generating valuable user-generated content.
If you’re interested in building deeper relationships with your community, check out 10 Ways to Get Your Business Involved in Your Community for more tips on becoming an active, trusted local presence.
6. Track and Measure Results
Once the event is over, don’t forget to measure the success of your combined effort. How many people visited your booth? How many redeemed the promotion you offered? Did you see a boost in website traffic or social media followers after the event? These are the key metrics to track.
If you used digital ads, make sure you measure the success of your campaigns with analytics tools to see how much traffic and engagement came from your event promotions.
7. Follow-Up After the Event
You don’t want the relationship to end when the event does. Use your ads to follow up after the event by sending reminders, offering discounts, or promoting your next local event. You can also keep engaging on social media, showing appreciation for those who visited your booth or interacted with your brand.
If you’re in Frisco, Plano, or any other DFW suburb, this is a great opportunity to highlight your business’s community involvement and continue building connections with potential customers.
Why Local Ads Are Key to Event Success
The real power of pairing outdoor events with local advertising lies in your ability to keep your brand top-of-mind. While people may attend the event and interact with your business in person, local ads extend your brand’s presence even after the event is over.
Here are a few stats to back up why local ads are so effective:
- Local advertising will account for nearly $150 billion in 2023. This massive investment shows that local businesses are seeing a huge return on targeting their audience within their own communities.
- 70% of consumers are more likely to buy from a business they see advertising locally. That means your presence in community events, paired with local ads, could directly drive sales and customer loyalty.
Conclusion
Outdoor events provide valuable opportunities to connect with your community and engage with potential customers. But if you want to make the most of these opportunities, pairing your presence with local ads is key. Digital ads, print media, and social media engagement all work together to amplify your reach and ensure that your message sticks.
So, whether you’re running a booth at a Dallas street fair or sponsoring a community event in Plano, use local ads to build awareness before, during, and after the event. By pairing outdoor events with local advertising, you’ll see maximum impact for your business—both in the short term and long term.
Ready to get started? Take action today and start planning how your business can make an even bigger impact at your next local event.
