Maximizing Event Effectiveness 3 Ways

Fall is on its way and that means industry events season is about to start. This September kicks off with some of my favorite events including Content Marketing World, Inbound14, MarketingProfs B2B Forum, and then of course, Dreamforce and the list goes on. It’s a pretty exciting time for marketers as we both attend and exhibit at these leading industry events.

Attending events is usually pretty great, engaging sessions, networking and often one… or even a few eventful nights out. However, when you are exhibiting at the events, the months of planning, creative development, production, scheduling the staff, shipping crates, not to mention the content marketing strategy to drive attendees to your booth and how to Engage them once they are there…well, it can be a bit much.

Why do we exhibit at these industry events? According to a recent post via Content Marketing Institute, Take Your Event Beyond the Venue: 4 Content Marketing Ideas, 70 percent of marketers rated in-person events more effective than nine other tactics for generating demand….four years in a row. That’s why we do it. Results.

We know in-person events are effective. However, most marketers treat events as one-off, ad-hoc events, rather than viewed within the context of a holistic Demand Generation Strategy. If this were done, not only would the event yield a greater ROI, it would provide a better overall experience for your Buyers and customers.

Here are three tips to maximize your event ROI and connect with your Buyer:

Strategy and goals:

When developing your strategy and goals, remember events are not a strategy, they are a highly effective tactic to Engage with your Buyer and need to be incorporated into your broader Demand Generation Strategy. However, you still need to set objectives and goals for the event and measure diligently (number of leads, accelerating deals in pipeline, new partnerships or customer meetings). When done correctly- you not only achieve your goals, but stand out from the crowd. As my favorite marketer Seth Godin says, “Strive to be missed.” Make people remember your booth message, your unique offer that “spoke” to them or the insightful content. It matters, and all helps to attain your goals.

Market to your Buyer:

The reasons we choose to exhibit at certain events is because we have identified a unique opportunity to connect with our Buyer. As in everything we do in this buyer-centric world, develop pre and post-show content that speaks to your Buyer. What motivates them? What are their pain points? Remember that when you develop your signage and content. Where are they reading or learning about industry solutions? Develop thought-leadership content and offer it there to help increase your visibility at the event or drive more traffic to your session. Don’t forget to market to your Buyer at events with the Buyer Insights you already know.

Get a jump on it :

This sounds obvious, but despite the months of planning that is generally necessary to execute an event well, most marketers don’t give themselves enough time to plan effectively. The best advice I can give is to plan backwards once you have decided on your event schedule. Think about who needs to be involved in every detail of the event from new product demos that need to be built, to training required for new demos…it’s generally a cross-functional team that makes an event a successful component of your Demand Generation Strategy. Plan early as it always takes longer than you think.

To drive ROI from an event takes a holistic approach to Demand Generation. It starts with choosing the event that helps you best Engage with your Buyer, a clearly defined event strategy, extensive cross-functional team planning, and a focus on details. The next show you attend, look for the organizations that run their events the right way. Make note of what you like, how they organize their booth, their messaging or what makes them unique. It’ll be obvious who is doing things well and who is not. Strive to be the organization everyone looks for at the next event…strive to be missed by your Buyer and it will have a positive impact in the form of revenue.

Maximizing Event Effectiveness 3 Ways