Valentine’s Day isn’t the only holiday celebrated in February. February is also known for Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, is a Carnival celebration before the start of Lent. It is known for its parades and costumes. It’s a big economic draw for New Orleans and other cities who celebrate the holiday. Revelers spend a lot of money on Mardi Gras. Those who plan on celebrating in New Orleans can expect to spend between $2,600 to $5,000 on transportation, hotel reservations, and restaurants.

Entertainment venues, who host Mardi Gras events, have a lot to consider in order to make their events successful. Above all, they want to make sure that their attendees enjoy the event. How can venues create a great Mardi Gras experience? They can take advantage of co-marketing and sponsorship opportunities.

Here’s how event marketers can use location data for Mardi Gras co-marketing and sponsorships:

You certainly can’t have Mardi Gras without the food or drinks. With so many restaurants to choose from, it can be tough to determine which one would be best to partner with. By using foot traffic data, venue management can determine which restaurants their attendees visit before or after their events. Based on the data, they might find that their attendees go to restaurants within close proximity to the venue. The venue can start a conversation with nearby restaurants to see who would be interested in creating a shared offer. For example, the venue may discover that a local Creole restaurant is popular with their attendees. The venue can work with the Creole restaurant to offer a discount for attendees who have tickets to the Mardi Gras event. 

What if the venue decides to serve food and drinks during the event? Venues can use location data to gain customer intelligence. The venue might discover that a majority of their attendees are frequent visitors to Whole Foods and love to visit “mocktail” bars. This means that most of the attendees are health conscious. Based on this information, the venue can reach out to Whole Foods to ask them if they would like to sponsor the event’s food and drinks. They can offer healthy food options such as a light jambalaya and create a signature “mocktail” for those who might not be interested in consuming alcohol during the Mardi Gras event.

Music is an important part of the Mardi Gras experience. It’s crucial that you pick the right type of entertainment for your attendees. By using location intelligence, event planners can determine what types of music their attendees enjoy. Let’s say that their attendees often go to jazz clubs and are active on social media. Venue staff can use this information to find a jazz band for the Mardi Gras event. Once the venue books the jazz band, they can work with them to create a social campaign to promote the band’s appearance at the event.

While food, drinks, and music are essential for any Mardi Gras event, you must also consider how your attendees are planning on getting to your venue. For instance, a venue might find that most of their attendees are traveling from far away to attend their Mardi Gras event. Management can use this information for planning purposes. They might know that traffic can get very congested around the venue before and after events. In this case, the venue could work with a nearby hotel to provide free shuttle transportation for attendees. This allows the hotel to advertise their services and attendees can get to the event without having to worry about transportation.

By using location data, event marketers can get the most out of their Mardi Gras events. Co-marketing and sponsorships allow venues to increase event awareness. Location data also provides venues with customer intelligence and attendance data for event analytics. Without having this information, venues wouldn’t be able to provide the best Mardi Gras experience for their attendees.

https://money.com/travel-cost-mardi-gras-new-orleans/