If prepared and planned for properly, being involved in events (exhibitions, conferences, networking meetings, etc) can provide an ideal platform to meet with and impress your target audience. However, it is often difficult to know where to start in planning for an event, which can often result in a poor event and resulting low return on investment (ROI).
Here at Connect Events we have compiled a list of top tips to help you and your team prepare effectively for any event you are involved in.
Pre-Event: Planning & Preparation
1. As with advertising, events should be treated as part of an overall marketing strategy rather than a last minute choice as a way of utilising left over budget. This ensures that the events you sponsor and participate in will be the ones most suited to meeting the goals and objectives of your organisation.
2. To maximise ROI we’d always recommend the setting of measurable objectives. Doing this ensures that your staff attend the event knowing what it is they and the organisation want to achieve from the event. It creates focus and can help make the difference between a good event and an exceptional one.
3. Request to see a copy of the event marketing plan from the organisers. This provides you with the opportunity to double check that a) the right people are being targeted and b) they are actively promoting the event to the market.
4. Produce a detailed budget, which is circulated to the key members of the event team. Ensures a clear understanding of the finances available to help meet the event objectives.
5. For efficiency, appoint one person to be responsible for the planning and budgeting of the event – often known as an Event Coordinator. This can be either and internal or external appointment. One of their responsibilities is to read the event manual.
6.
On Site: At the Event
1. Ensure you select the right (and best) staff for your on-site team. Whether you have a large exhibition stand or just a small spot in the networking area the quality of your staff’s performance is central to your event success. Often it can be useful to provide training for your staff pre-event to ensure they are aware of ideal event behaviour.
2. It’s easy to spend a lot of money on the most visual aspect of an event – your stand – without actually getting the stand to have the right impact. It is important your stand is designed to meet your objectives rather than simply to be eye-catching in an exhibition. A bold and flashy stand is no use if customers and prospects can not see or find the messages you want them to.
3. Research and make the most of additional on-site sponsorship and networking opportunities. A lot of events have on site activities such as drinks receptions, breakfast briefings, seated lunches, etc that sponsors are encouraged to attend. Utilise these free / low-cost elements to maximise your event presence and experience.
4. Avoid asking questions such as ‘can we help you...’ almost everyone will say no. Ask open questions that encourage answers and discussion.
5. Produce an easy to use and understand lead-recording system. This will ensure that when busy on-site at an event your staff will be able to complete them quickly. Some events will have a barcode on their badges, which contains the FULL contact details of the delegate – at these events hire a scanner – this ensures that you will be able to record the details of those delegates that have taken the time to visit your stand.
6. As mentioned in point 1 the right staff on site is vital to your event success. Of similar importance is to ensure your staff are motivated and looked after on site. For example provide achieveable targets for your stand staff to help concentrate the mind but also book them into a hotel close to the event to ensure they do not have a long and tiring journey in the morning.
Post-Event Site: ROI
1. A common error is to think about following up leads once the event has finished; you need to plan your follow-up before the event. This can include, for example, setting a deadline for making contact with all leads, not just the hottest ones.
2. If organisers have promised data post event make sure someone in your team is allocated to chase the event data up. It should not take an organiser more than 3 days to get the data to you.
3. Don’t overload your sales team post event. If they are too busy they will not be able to follow up the event leads so try, where possible, to clear their diaries for a week after the event.
4. To maximise ROI ensure that leads are prioritised according to importance – in other words those that are most likely to result in business are contacted first. Ideally leads should be categorised on site
5. Linked to closely to point 3 is the importance of following up leads immediately. The longer you leave a lead before contacting them the less likely they are to purchase your product / service (or even worse they may use one of your competitors instead).
6. Very rarely will you see a result from a lead sooner than 3 months post event. Be patient but persistent both with the leads but also your sales team. In the current economic climate the procurement process of many organisations is much longer so take this into account when analysising your ROI.
Further hints and tips can be found on our homepage - http://www.connectevents.co.uk/
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