Event MarketingBest Practices

Wendy Fitzpatrick Nerissa TraolaElliott Lowe

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Agenda

Event Best Practices

CA Case Study (Susan)

CA Case Study (Regan)

Q& A

Closing Remarks

Event Best Practices

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Factors contributing to high participation levels

> The two critical elements that are part of the process of attracting registrants Pull and Push

– Pull More qualitative elements such as relevance of content,

excitement about the speaker, physical location of the event, and even social networking aspect

– Push Quantitative involving the mechanical steps surrounding

the invitation and promotional process

How do you “push” your message out to the invitees?

Source: Fred Ewald, De-mystifying the Event Recruitment Process; From an Art to a Science – Whitepaper, May 2008

Pull Factors

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Pull Factors

> Content Remains the most important motivator for events

Attendees looking for solid value: solutions, ideas, best practices, knowledge, trends

Content Pitfall - Delivery

> Entertainment/Venue/Food & Beverage People attend events to be entertained on some level

What constitutes entertaining is broadly defined

– Location/venue, networking breaks and social hour

– Food and beverage

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Pull Factors

> Convenience Invitees should be “in range”

– No more than a 20-30 minute drive

Also related to convenience is timing

Isolate competing events

> Connections Networking is a significant motivator for event invitees

Provides a platform to expand their exposure

– Elevating their personal “marketability” Some look for jobs at events

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Pull Factors

> Opportunity Cost Key Concept underlying any recruitment process Time is a scarce commodity

– Need to give busy professionals a compelling reason to want to attend

– At the VP or even C-level the opportunity cost is massive Need to be enticed with a special offer

– Round of golf with senior CA executive and other CIO’s

– Offer the high-value accounts something “extra” Unique gift in advance, car service to event or sales to bring

attendee

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Push Factors

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Push Factors

> List Quantity (Self Evident) Number of invitees receiving the invite Leverage CIDB and pull based on SCF zipcode (3-digit range)

– Provide additional descriptor information– Use Campaign codes (self qualified / qualified through title)

> List Quality Make sure you have the “right” audience Need to make sure the records are still valid (reconfirm with

sales)

>

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Push Factors

> Recruitment Process Initial invite (60 days prior)

– DM is recommended as first touch point

– Have a version that sales can send

Email to non-responders (5-10 days later)

Tele-recruitment to non-responders (5 days after email)

> Confirmation Process Email reminder to

registrants (15 days prior)

Phone call to registrants (5 days prior)

Email reminder (day prior)

A A strong Recruitment and Confirmation Process can double or triple the number of attendees.

The higher the level the more time is needed

Source: Jefferson Davis, Competitive Edge, High Impact Exhibit Marketing

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Event Best Practices for Tier 2 Cities

> A great opportunity to generate business among accounts that are eager for insight and attention

> Proven recommendations Promote the event through local user groups and associations Schedule events on a regular basis so they know that their business is

important to CA Local sales rep (s) are highly involved in the recruitment process Encourage registrants to invite their colleagues Schedule national web casts on a regular basis for different product lines Create Cross-brand events to cover more solutions and broader

messaging Create multi-track events for different audiences

Source: Area Marketing feedback

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CA Local Case Studies

Susan Kunz (Central)

Regan Ogner (Canada)

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Bringing Clarity to Service Management Roundtable

Event Format Roundtable – Chicago, 10/29 Evening Event featuring networking, (3)

presentations coupled with hor d’ oeuvres and wine tasting

Target Senior IT and Business Leaders – C-suite, VP,

Director and Manager

Event Overview Leveraged best practices and benefits of

fully integrated management solutions Specific use cases for service portfolio,

demand and change management Evening Event featuring networking, (3)

presentations coupled with hor d’ oeuvres and wine tasting

Recruitment Strategy Sales (AD/AM), Clarity and SM Solution

Strategist Email blast to CIDB and Simply Direct survey

contacts Reminder email blast itSMF Email blast to Chicago members Hard copy invites mailed to Chicago PMI

membership Approval for PMI CPE continuing education

credits

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Bringing Clarity to Service Management Roundtable

Outcome Initial target – 15 – 25 attendees

32 registered

22 attended

Key Learnings Topic and speakers resonated well

with attendees based on evaluations

Roundtable was the right format

Customer Speaker is Key!

Multi-faceted recruitment strategy is deemed important

Content/slides need to be shorter to fit the allotted agenda

Messaging needs complete alignment

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Service Availability Seminar

Event Format Breakfast Seminar – Toronto, 11/4 & Regina

11/5 ½ day seminar featuring analyst Jim Metzler

and CA speaker Tom Hayes

Target Influencers and Decision Makers for both IM

and APM (Manager level and higher) Customers that have one or more of the

products or none

Event Overview The strategy was to show how CA has

leading products in both Infrastructure Management and Application Performance Management.

In addition showcase the value of the integration of the two solution sets.

Recruitment Strategy 1 month prior to recruitment: Event

Overview email is sent to reps and presented at Sales Briefing

Sales (AD/AM), IM and APM Solution Strategists, Customer Solution Architects

HTML, Text & PDF invites provided Toronto: Email blast to CIDB contacts;

Teleboosting campaign with outside vendor; confirmation phone calls

Regina: 2x email blasts to local Help Desk Institute Membership

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Service Availability Seminar

Outcome Toronto

– 37 registered; 26 attended (70% turnout, typically expect 50%)

Regina– 33 registered; 31 attended

(93% turnout)

Key Learnings Provide sales with plenty of time to

understand the event, the strategy and time for recruitment

Prior to event speakers need to understand the audience and opportunities

Teleboosting goes beyond the event..– create awareness about CA and

our solutions even if customers/prospects cannot attend

Plan for 100% attendance rates in smaller markets

With cross BU events, a new event series plan for high CA attendance

CIDB is questionable in terms of value

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Conclusion

> Survey attendees prior to event to determine lead topics

> People attend events to be entertained on some level

> Know what you are up against – isolate competing events

> Networking opportunities are critical

> Time is a scarce commodity – busy professionals need a compelling reason to attend

> Start the recruitment process way in advance (60 days)

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Sources

> Fred Ewald, De-mystifying the Event Recruitment Process; From an Art to a Science – Whitepaper, May 2008

> Reach Force, B2B Marketing and Sales Tip – Event Marketing

> Jefferson Davis, Competitive Edge, High-Impact Exhibit Marketing

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