The security industry is in a constant state of evolution, adapting to the latest technologies, shifting trends and emerging threats. Yet, at its core, its mission to protect property, information, networks, operations and most importantly, people remains unchanged. After all, many security professionals enter this field with a singular purpose to safeguard others.

People are the driving force for security events’ success and impact. While attendees arrive at events with different goals, whether it’s securing a set number of qualified leads or unveiling the latest innovation, they leave with strengthened connections and new relationships beyond their objectives.

Recognizing the power of connection among the industry is the key to successfully marketing your next security event and should remain at the forefront of your event planning and marketing strategy. Follow this step-by-step guide to craft a marketing event strategy that resonates with the security industry, engages its professionals and leaves a lasting impact.

The Kickoff

Whether your kickoff meeting takes place in an all-hands call with a detailed agenda or among email chains bouncing around ideas, the objective to identify the event’s priorities remains the most crucial aspect to drive your strategy.

• Why will people attend the event?
• What do we want to be the driving factor in why people attend the event?
• Who do we want to attend the event?
• What are the primary objectives for this event to be successful?
• What are our resources and budget?

With priorities identified, it’s time to lay the groundwork for what’s next. While a kickoff meeting should include all relevant stakeholders, the creative brief is where marketing takes the reins and gets to work crafting compelling messaging and visuals that bring it back to our driving force, the people.

The Creative

A creative brief serves as a strategic roadmap and ensures all marketing materials present a unified voice, tone and visual identity. One of the most important components is messaging. Specifically in the security industry, people-first messaging.

People-first messaging, in content marketing, means your content speaks to your audience on a personal level and addresses their needs and wants. The goal is to present a clear and compelling message that answers what they care about most:

• What problem does this event solve for attendees?
• How does this event improve their professional life?
• What unique experiences or benefits will they gain?
• How can we make attendees feel seen and valued?
• What emotions do we want our messaging to evoke?
• Who else is attending and what type of people will they meet?
• How does this event strengthen the security industry as a whole?

By aligning key messaging with the overall event strategy, you set the stage for a cohesive and compelling marketing campaign that puts your audience first.

The Promotion

On a more technical side, it’s time to move on to creating a promotional plan to go more in depth on key dates and promotions.

Start by determining when to begin promoting your event. At PSA Network, we specialize in security conferences featuring networking and learning and development opportunities that are exclusive to our membership. In our experience, a great starting point is a save-the-date announcement, which we aim to place typically 18 to 20 weeks in advance, followed by more direct promotional efforts around 16 weeks out, if your timeline allows.

Once your key dates and campaigns are set, such as early bird discounts or hotel block deadlines, look to your creative brief to plan for the best channels to reach your audience. A multi-channel approach works best, and in our experience, security professionals favor LinkedIn and regularly check their email. Also consider channels outside of marketing. Engage your sales teams and other departments to amplify your message and encourage them to use people-first messaging to cultivate connections.

Finally, track your communication metrics and be ready to adjust your strategy as needed to maximize engagement and reach.

The Event

You and your team worked hard to get everyone to the event, but the promotion does not stop there. I always recommend a week-of or on-site promotional plan. Whether you’re on-site yourself or relying on coworkers in attendance, pre-written content or talking points can ensure you stay on schedule.

When promoting an ongoing event, show non-attendees what they’re missing and engage their curiosity. Balance sharing information and resources that only scratch the surface of what the event covered, and work to plant the seed for them to consider attending next time.

A successful security event doesn’t end when the last session wraps up, it extends beyond the venue, leaving a lasting impression on attendees and the industry as a whole.