EVENT MARKETING:Bring the Heat

James GrevasPRINCIPAL, ACTIO MARKETING

The View From Where

We Sit

New Company, Seasoned Players

Exclusively B2B Focused

Primary Verticals- Tech and IT Channel, and Owner/Operator/Distributor/Franchise

Both Event and Non-Event Related Marketing

Event Marketing’s Dirty Little

Secrets Every single piece of content or design is

event marketing

It takes time OR money, and usually both

The more personal it is, the more success you will have

This isn’t just about attendance – it’s about engagement

EVENT MARKETINGBOOTCAMP

Stacey RuthPRINCIPAL, ACTIO MARKETINGPRINCIPAL, ACTIO MARKETING

WHAT’S WRONG HERE?EVENTING MARKETING MISTAKES:

Top 6 Event Marketing

Mistakes

Mistakes

1. Putting tactics before strategy

2. Too much/too frequent information

3. Not enough information4. No metrics of success5. No time 6. No budget

1. Start with who/where/ when & goals

2. Rule of three ideas

3. WIIFM 4. Measure what’s working5. Urgency messages6. $ value of an attendee

Fixes

A GOOD EXAMPLEPUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE:

The Company:

Vertical: Enterprise Software Revenues: 225m (2011) Approximate Customer Base: 2500

The Situation:

Annual User Conference Engagement window approximately 5 mo. Current attendance 633 Goal- 30% 0f installed user base (833 attendees)

Current Strategy and Assumptions: Currently uses:

– event website– company website link– email announcements– personal invitations from sales team

Competes with 7 other industry user conferences Holds conference in Vegas Gets great feedback from attendees

The Approach: Perform a sample population survey on both previous attendees and non-

attendees. Asks about:

– Awareness– Location– Content– Format– Business challenges– Reasons for attending and obstacles to attending

The Insights: Most non-attendees were

unaware of conference (75%)…(sales people not communicating)

…Or could not get their boss’ approval to attend a conference in Las Vegas. (15%)

Attendees liked networking, but preferred different networking formats

Attendees did not want a focus on a sales message, but did want time to get hands-on experience with the product

The Solution: A script and incentive contest was

developed to encourage sales team to invite customers

The event website was re-designed to present “reasons to attend” and focused on new, improved networking opportunities, and hands-on learning opportunities

Event website included testimonials and personal invitation from the president

Event location was moved the following year to Dallas

Attendance went from~600 to ~900 in first year

Takeaways:

Question your assumptions, and your audiences

Do the due diligence, and do something about what you learn

Content is King.

/ActioMarketing

/JamesGrevas

@ActioMarketing