However, careful consideration must be paid to how this fits into your marketing strategy, not just right now, but in the years to come.
Opportunities
- Offers big splash exposure for your brand and expertise; then by association, your products
- Efficient way to reach many influencers in one place at one time
- Showcase lesser known managers who can piggy-back off the better-known ones
- Great way to plant seeds for important stories
- Build a following by hosting annual or semi-annual events – especially if you’re known for sharing newsworthy insight
- Opportunity to widen your net and invite other influencers from blogs and social media platforms followed by investor groups you’re targeting
- Leverage content you create in association with the event
- Develop content based on information shared at the event: written commentaries, podcasts, videos and more
Challenges
- Journalist attendance is not guaranteed and can be negatively impacted by breaking news and other factors
- Expensive – direct costs typically include room rental and meals as well as expenses for time and travel
- No guarantees of press coverage
- Careful timing is required to plan around other key known news events such as earnings, Fed meetings, key economic data, holidays and more
We recommend – especially if you’re a lesser known boutique financial firm – planning a smaller event in the form of a roundtable. That format allows for a modest group of reporters to join you for a less formal presentation.
The roundtable can be used to gauge interest in possible future events. Additionally, you may want to consider multi-fund company events where one of your executives participates in a panel with six or seven top-performing fund managers from an array of asset management firms, covering a variety of topics. Expenses are then shared and you’ll have a better idea if this is the type of event you’d like to host solely in the future.
Interested in hosting a press event or participating a multi-fund group event? We can help!