COVID has undoubtedly changed the game for special events like the Dubai World Cup. How we plan, promote, engage, and attract crowds has all transformed. Now, we’re looking at more virtual options and flexibility for timing.
Raising awareness and getting people involved now relies heavily on paid search ads. Therefore, businesses need a solid plan, a dedicated budget, and the right setup for a monumental event like the Dubai World Cup.
Each event needs a strategy for who to target and what message to send.
But before we get into the details, let’s quickly talk about what Event PPC Marketing is, which events can benefit from it, and why the Dubai World Cup is such a big deal.
What is Event PPC marketing?
Event PPC is a focused online ad service for events like the Dubai World Cup. It lets you, as an organizer or marketer, place ads on digital platforms like Google and Facebook. You pay only if someone clicks your ad, ensuring that your advertising budget is well-spent.
This advertisement method is focused only on people who are highly likely to be interested. It uses criteria based on interests, location, or online behavior to decide who to target. For example, ads can target those searching for “Dubai World Cup” or “horse racing,” etc.
What is the Dubai World Cup?
The Dubai World Cup is one of the world’s most high-profile and lucrative horse racing events, attracting millions of viewers and bettors from around the globe. It is the biggest sporting event in the UAE calendar, hosted annually by the Dubai Racing Club at Meydan Racecourse.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is the driving force behind the Dubai World Cup’s launch in 1996. It still takes place annually, on the last Saturday of March. This year, it is taking place on March 30, 2024. This extraordinary race event, the “richest horse race in the world,” features the most exceptional horses and jockeys and attracts significant global media attention. It offers a total prize of $12 million for the primary race and $30.5 million for the entire race day.
Apart from being a sensational sports event, DWC is also a cultural phenomenon because horse racing is a cultural thing in this region. That’s why horse racing enthusiasts, royal bigwigs, high-profile political and media celebrities, and casual spectators participate in this event.
10 Essential PPC Event Marketing Tips for Promoting Events like the Dubai World Cup
Here are 10 actionable PPC tips and tricks to boost the performance of your event marketing campaign.
- Create a Pre-Hype
- Target the right audience
- Choose Event-Related Keywords
- Re-evaluate your Keywords often
- Identify and Exclude Negative Keywords
- Make Compelling Ad Copy
- Curate Custom-Landing Pages that Drive Conversion
- Optimize your PPC for Conversions
- Spy on your Competitors
- Experiment
Now, let’s explain each of them briefly and see how they can help you gain traction in marketing for an event.
1. Create a Pre-Hype
A secret of a successful Event Marketing PPC campaign is to start early when the event is just on the horizon. This will help you raise awareness about the event and gradually build up the audience’s interest and anticipation. Sometimes you can start as early as six months before the event to give yourself plenty of time and set the stage for winning more conversions. You can thank us later.
Starting your campaign early will also help you better understand your targeted audience. Start with display, video, and social media ads to showcase the event’s highlights and features, such as the venue, the horses, the jockeys, the prizes, the amenities, the foods, the flights, the hotels and the entertainment.
2. Target the Right Audience
Imagine yourself trying to catch a particular fish species by throwing your net in the ocean. This is not a good idea! Similarly, a traditional marketing approach needs to be revised.
On the other hand, PPC lets you laser focus on a specific type of audience. This targeted outreach is made possible by creative methods. For example, by using Google AdWords, we can comb for and target affluent people living in UAE or neighboring areas who have shown some interest in horse racing or attended a luxury event in the past. Similarly, we can look for individuals searching for or consuming content related to horses and racing on YouTube or any social media platform. This will brighten up chances to secure leads and conversions.
3. Select your Target Keywords
After identifying your targeted audience profile, choosing the right keywords is vital. Keywords must be related to the Event you are marketing for.
Keywords are the words and phrases your prospects actively use in, say, Google search or Facebook to get information related to the targeted Event. They often include the name, details and location of the Event, such as “Dubai World Cup 2024”, “Dubai World Cup betting odds”, “Dubai World Cup live stream”, etc. They can also include terms like “Dubai World Cup tickets,” “thoroughbred racing Dubai,” “luxury horse racing event,” and “Dubai World Cup flights,” etc.
While finding the right keyword, one that works for you is an art, there are tools like Google Keyword Planner and Semrush that help you in this regard.
Judicious use of the right keywords will make your Copy accessible and relevant in a clutter of content online.
4. Choose Event-Related Keywords
Choosing the right keywords is a to-do, but getting fixed on them for good is a mistake.
The fickleness of consumer behaviour or changing trends, whatever the reason, but experience suggests that ideal keywords change with time.
Once a promising keyword is not always a promising keyword. And a keyword which works for others does not necessarily work for you.
5. Find and Exclude Negative Keywords
Not all attention is good attention.
Negative Keywords are search queries that are apparently related to your campaign but do not align with your motive.
For example, your campaign is about selling tickets or accommodating the Dubai World Cup attendees. Then you do not want to cater to “free Dubai World Cup tickets” or “how to watch the Dubai World Cup online”.
Triggering ads from negative keywords is a waste of money for you. You can find those irrelevant keywords through keyword research and add them as negative keywords in your campaign.
Identifying and excluding negative keywords will enhance the effectiveness of your ad campaign.
6. Craft Compelling Ad Copy
Producing engrossing ad copy is the art of weaving words into a tapestry of narrative.
A good Ad Copy compels the targeted audience to click through to your landing page or perform the desired action. He will be at a later stage of the funnel.
A performing ad copy understands the prospect’s psyche well, recognizes their pain points, and provides clear solutions.
You must write a riveting ad copy after identifying your keywords and the right audience. Your Ad Copy should use keywords specific to your targeted event.
7. Curate Custom-Landing Pages that Drive Conversions
Clicking on the ad copy leads to the next step in the funnel: an appropriately written and designed landing page. This is where your prospect will either convert or bounce.
Some features of a high-converting and top-performing landing page are seamless navigation, mobile-friendly design, pertinent call to action, concise and persuasive copy, etc.
Most importantly, your landing page should align with the promise in your ad copy and your prospect’s expectations.
So, consider planning a great landing page to enjoy a high conversion rate later. Use arresting visuals and gripping infographics. Finally, give a clear and concise call to action that aligns with your motive.
8. Optimize your PPC Campaign for Conversions
Have you done everything but still need to get the desired sales or conversions?
Conversion is the action you want your prospects to perform. For example, you might want them to buy tickets or register for a traveling package. To increase your conversion rate, you need to optimize the whole PPC process.
First, you want to attract people who are genuinely interested—the kind of people who can really be your customers.
Install conversion tracking in Google ads to see which keywords are performing best and worst for you. Based on this data, you can tweak your campaign a bit.
While at it, test different versions of your ads, bids (offers), and other landing page elements. Finally, don’t forget to re-target prospects who look promising but have not made up their minds.
9. Spy on Your Competitors
Spy on your competitors. See what is working for them and what is not.
In a fast-paced PPC event marketing scenario, competitors’ researching can save you time, cash and effort.
Tools like Semrush and Spyfu can help you to know more about your competitors, including their ad copy, keywords, landing pages, estimated traffic, budget spent, etc.
Analyzing this data will help you tweak and optimize your own PPC event marketing strategy and avoid potential pitfalls.
10. Experiment
Staying updated equals staying competitive. PPC is a dynamic field, and new trends, features, and platforms are continually emerging.
Eminent PPC platforms frequently introduce new features or updates. For example, Google and Microsoft Ads introduced the Generative AI for Performance Max feature in early 2024. This feature can instantly generate different ad variations based on text and image variations. However, it adheres to your brand guidelines. You can utilize this feature to gain a competitive edge by making real-time, personalized ad creatives and efficient testing.
Similarly, the revamped Ads Attribution model and Messenger Lead Generation are two new updates under the Meta umbrella.
So don’t ever be complacent; keep an ear out for new features and updates. Directly visit source announcements, subscribe to credible PPC newsletters, and join online forums and channels.
Final Word
PPC has no longer remained a choice, but instead it has become a knight in shining armor for marketers globally. Comprehension of the size of event, correct set of keywords, and target audiences are all significant in creating and running a successful PPC campaign. Through abiding by the tips discussed in the article above, PPC marketers can generate qualified leads and conversions.
However, running a successful PPC campaign is no less than winning at chess. Multiple elements like, keywords, CPC, and timings must be kept in mind while creating a winning PPC strategy. Thus, instead of wasting your precious time in learning this complex skill, it is best to consult with a professional PPC agency in Dubai. They can help you create and run a winning PPC campaign without any hassle.
FAQs
- What is PPC for Event Marketing?
PPC is a complex online advertising strategy perfect for event marketing. You market an event by soliciting online platforms to show your ads to relevant audiences. You pay the platforms only when someone clicks on your Ad.
- How often should you promote an event like the Dubai World Cup on social media?
There are no set rules, but consistency is the key! Another way to answer this is that it depends on the event’s magnitude: 1 – 3 times a week for smaller events and daily for significant events.
- When is the Dubai World Cup?
The Dubai World Cup is typically held on the last Saturday of March, this year on March 30.
- What creative formats should I use in my PPC ads to effectively capture attention for the Dubai World Cup?
Fast race horses + fancy crowd visuals. Short text with date, location & “Get Tickets!”.
- How much budget should I allocate for a PPC campaign to promote an event like the Dubai World Cup?
Your budget depends on your goals and competition. You can start with a comfortable amount and track results—scale up for wider reach and scale down if needed.
- What types of events can you promote using PPC marketing?
PPC is versatile in the types of events that it can promote. There is no shortage: Educational events, Corporate events, Fundraising and Charity events, Product launching events and Entertainment events and few more.
