In-person events are coming back strong in Q3, so how do you get the most out of your conference investment?
Defining what success looks like is step-one for any marketing initiative. Here are the metrics we use at ScrappyAF to measure success for our clients when they attend, sponsor and exhibit at conferences and events.
Qualified contacts/leads collected (total count and percent of total possible)
Number of lead follow up appointments set
Projected revenue from appointments set (apply your standard conversion rate for opportunities that reach this stage of your pipeline)
Number of on-site meetings held and/or solution demonstrations given (if applicable)
Projected revenue from on-site meetings (apply your standard conversion rate for opportunities that reach this stage of your pipeline)
Number of new deals closed with existing customers
Total revenue from new deals closed with existing customers
Number of newly acquired customers
Projected total lifetime revenue from new customer acquisitions
Number of new competitors/competive-solutions identified
Session/presentation attendance (if anyone from your company was a speaker/presenter)
Social media reach during the event (impressions, shares, follows, comments, likes)
Website traffic impact (increase during show)
New content subscriptions (if applicable)
New Influencer follows
For every conference that you pay money to sponsor, attend, or exhibit at, the best way to answer the question “was it worth it?” is with data. At ScrappyAF we recommend setting goals for each of the measures above before the event to concretely define success for each area. Circle up with your team after the event, take a hard look at the numbers and decide:
A) Rinse and repeat next year
B) Revamp the strategy and try again next year
C) Skip the event next year and allocate your budget in a different way
Are in-person conferences still worth it? Learn more to discover the most critical factors to calculate the ROI (Return on Investment) specifically for your company (put the link here to the other article – Was it worth it? How to Calculate the ROI of Sponsoring and/or Exhibiting at a Conference)
If you have other measures or tips for conference domination, we’d love to hear about them – drop in a comment below.
For creative and strategic support for your B2B marketing needs, get in touch with us:
Closed business and new opportunities might dominate the ROI conversation for vendors that spend money on conferences, but there is a lot more to be gained at these events for those who know how. At ScrappyAF we coach our clients on how maximize conference ROI by capturing hot industry intel for strategic positioning, solution road-mapping and competitor domination.
Here’s the basics:
If you send staff to a conference or tradeshow, set clear expectations for the intelligence you want them to capture. Make sure each attending staff member understands their intel mission and how you expect them to go about achieving it. Techniques include walking the floor, starting up conversations, attending conference sessions, asking questions, conducting surveys, talking with the event coordinators and tracking (and participating in) the event’s social media channels.
Set a post event de-brief meeting to run through the topics and have the assigned team members deliver their reports.
Industry / Stakeholder Pain-Points
What are the challenges our stakeholders are dealing with?
What did they come to the conference to see, learn about?
What are they looking for on the expo floor?
What initiatives are they pursuing / do they have innovation initiatives?
What keeps them up at night?
Competitive Marketing Intel
Hot collateral? Hot booths?
Engaging conference mojo?
Stand-out attire?
Events / drawings / other attractors?
Thought leadership or other high value content?
Strong video work?
Culture and personality?
Who’s got a crowd and why?
Competitive Company Intel
Who is out there pitching similar solutions to your own?
What value propositions are they using?
What differentiators?
What does their Delivery / Implementation model and timeline look like?
Whenever possible, capture collateral/print-material and photos of competitor booths
Competitive Solution Intel
Who is out there pitching Analytics, Business Intelligence, Decision Support, Data Assets Management?
