Summer Festival Marketing and Networking Tips

Summer is almost here, and that brings summer festivals. Summer festivals give businesses opportunities to sponsor and market to many people at one location. Research upcoming festivals and see what they offer. How many days do you need to be set up? What are the available times? What are the fees? Do you have the staff to be at the festival and still operate your business? Start with the festivals close to your base of operations.

Think about partnering with a non-profit organization in your booth. People like to do business with companies that give back to their communities and to charities. This also allows for cross promotion, which expands the reach of both businesses.

Create a memorable experience with a promotion. Think outside the box with your event giveaways. It will be a busy day with a lot of other attractions and vendors competing for attention. Don’t just hand out pens and paper fans to all –think about how to engage people and get them to spend time talking with you, which will hopefully lead to them working with you after the festival. Try a fun game in your booth or a bizarre visual display or contest. Incorporate a photo booth – people love selfies.

Start promoting your booth as soon as you know you are going to be part of a festival, even if you don’t have all the details finalized. Ask your employees to share the information on their social media platforms.

Come to the Oswego Chamber booth at PrairieFest on Thursday, June 13th – Saturday, June 15th. Thursday night isKids Night, with a reptile show in our tent and activities for the kids. Friday and Saturday, some of our member businesses will be promoting in our tent. Stop by for FraidyCat specials and to check out our members. On Sunday, find us in the PrairieFest Parade.

For more information, please contact:

Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce : 25 E Jackson Street : Oswego, IL 60543 : 630.554.3505 : http://www.oswegochamber.org/