Stop wasting time on events without measurable targets!

Businesses love events. They splash out on venues, catering, branding, and overpriced lanyards. They get their sales teams suited and booted, send them in to schmooze, and then pat themselves on the back for ‘putting themselves out there’. But let’s be honest, most of these events are nothing more than glorified social gatherings with an expensive price tag. Why? Because they have nothing to measure their success against.

Why do businesses run events?

Simple, ego and tradition. Someone in a suit once said, ‘We need to be at that trade show’ or ‘Let’s host a networking event’ and nobody challenged them. The idea of a flashy stand and branded freebies sounded too good to resist. But ask them, ‘What’s the objective?’ and you’ll get vague nonsense like ‘brand awareness’ or ‘building relationships’. That’s code for ‘We have no idea, but we’ll pretend it’s strategic.’

Here’s the reality: Events should exist for one reason: drive results. If they don’t, they’re a colossal waste of money, time, and effort.

3 ways businesses generally engage with events

Businesses typically interact with events in at least one of the following three ways:

1. Running their own event – This could be a conference, a networking session, or a private event designed to attract and engage prospects. If you’re doing this, you better have a clear strategy to generate sales. If it’s just a vanity project, cancel it now.

2. Exhibiting at someone else’s event – Whether it’s a trade show, an expo, or an industry exhibition, standing around hoping people stop at your booth isn’t a plan. What’s the lead target? How will you convert attendees into actual business? If you can’t answer that, you’re just paying for an expensive branding exercise.

3. Attending an event as an attendee – If you’re sending your team to a conference or networking event, what’s the goal? Are they there to actively generate leads, book meetings, and create opportunities? Or are they just ‘representing the company’ (which is code for doing nothing measurable and having a nice day out)?

No targets, no accountability

Most businesses don’t set measurable targets for events. They ‘hope’ for leads. They ‘hope’ for good conversations. They ‘hope’ it all works out. Hope is not a strategy. If you can’t define what success looks like in clear, measurable terms, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Try asking these questions before your next event:

• How many qualified leads do we need to generate to justify the spend?

• How many meetings should be booked as a direct result?

• How many follow-ups will convert into sales?

If you can’t answer these, then why are you running the event at all?

Events should be sales machines, not social clubs

The only reason to run an event is to increase revenue. That means:

• Every interaction should have a clear next step.

• Sales teams should be actively qualifying/disqualifying, not just having ‘nice chats’.

• There should be a follow-up plan that is executed with military precision.

• Results should be tracked and measured against the spend.

If an event doesn’t generate a tangible return, it’s just a very expensive day out for your team.

Set clear, measurable targets

If you’re running and/or attending events, do it properly. Define KPIs before you even book the venue.

• Lead Generation: How many qualified leads should come from the event?

• Conversions: How many should turn into paying customers?

• ROI: How much revenue should the event ultimately drive?

Once the event is over, measure against these targets. If it didn’t hit them, something needs to change.

Be brutal about results

Businesses waste fortunes on events that make them ‘feel’ busy without delivering actual results. If you’re running an event without measurable targets, you’re just another company burning cash for the sake of appearances.

Make events work for you, set targets, track results, and if it doesn’t bring in revenue, make a change or stop doing it. Simple.

How can we help?

The bad news is that we can’t wave a magic wand, get people to your event, keep them engaged and deliver a great return on investment to the powers that be, but… we can give you the tools to help you make it happen.

Let's talk about you

You wouldn’t drive around in a Mercedes with a Ford badge would you?

There’s a number of legitimate (and legal) reasons for not doing so, one of them being it’s really confusing to the outside world.

Ok, it’s a bit of a far fetched example, but hopefully you get my drift that the branding is important and keeping on brand makes a difference. We then get to the next question…

Why would you run an event registration page/site diluting your brand with someone else’s?

There are of course some valid reasons for doing so, such as if you’re running a joint event with a partner business. However, if it’s your company’s event then why wouldn’t you want the first event touch point be all about your branding? Not the software provider’s logo, URL or one of those nasty “powered by” tag lines. They are all about the software provider and not you.

Here’s the bit about why you should use white label event software to manage all of your company’s events! Like many event software start ups, we set out on a path to be the “go to” provider for event registration and comms. Reality and common sense prevailed and we decided to focus our efforts on providing a white label solution specifically for the business events sector.

It gives a great impression about your business both internally and externally if you are using your “own” events software. That’s what white label gives you, your own software, minus the cost and resource to develop, maintain and support it (that’s where we come in).

Your brand is at the centre of everything we do. Not a Mitingu logo or “powered by” in sight… your domain and branding aligned with your brand guidelines.

How much does it cost? At the risk of sounding like a politician unable to give a straight answer, we’d like to think it’s more a case of what it could generate in terms of increased brand awareness, event attendees aligned to your brand and ultimately more business for you as a result. But a more direct answer is the cost is aligned to your requirements, making it cost effective whatever the weather!

Find out more about our white label here and let’s start talking about you.

12 Tips to Build Brand Loyalty at Your Event

Online and print marketing can both build up your fan base, but live events offer your audience a unique chance to experience your brand for themselves. By meeting you in person, they are more likely to forge a meaningful connection with your company, which in turn will translate to sales. Almost three-quarters (74%) of customers say that their impression of a business improves following an event.

Events that connect with an audience are referred to as “experiential marketing.” They can take the form of festivals, concerts, pop-up shops, conferences, lectures, and exhibitions – in fact, almost any kind of event can be used to engage with your market.

The most effective events cultivate a sense of loyalty in attendees. Here are a few practical ways you can grab your visitors’ attention and leave a positive impression:

1. Generate excitement before the event  

Announce your event at least a few weeks in advance. Tell followers across each of your platforms where and when it will take place, and when they will be able to purchase tickets. Giving people the opportunity to sign up for notifications is a good way to encourage them to join your mailing list.

 Tell your visitors why they should attend; what’s in it for them? For example, if you have invited any notable speakers or plan to run any exciting contests, highlight it in your marketing materials.

2. Give your visitors a sneak preview of upcoming products or services 

Reward visitors for turning up by staging some kind of “big reveal.” For example, if you are a clothing brand, showcase a few of your new designs for the upcoming season. When you make them feel special, attendees will come away with positive memories of your event, which in turn will foster brand loyalty.

3. Engage your visitors’ senses

Let your guests see, touch, hear, or taste your products. The more senses you can engage, the better. Set up as many interactive displays as possible.

4. Stage a competition

Giving away prizes serves two purposes. First, it provides a good excuse to collect visitors’ contact details, which will aid your marketing efforts in the future. Second, offering a desirable prize encourages visitors to think of your brand as generous and fun, two attributes which will increase their loyalty.

5. Be generous with your freebies

Even if they have paid to get in, attendees still tend to think of gifts and merchandise as a bonus or “added extra.” Branded items that they will want to keep, such as fun toys or useful items such as pens and notepads, will remind them of the event long after they get home.

6. Localize the experience

“Always ask yourself whether your event is catering to your local market,” advises the CEO of PickWriters. Do not assume that just because an event was well-received in one city that it will be met with a warm reception in another. This requires a thoughtful approach. For example, you may need to translate written content, including signs, be sensitive to cultural norms regarding dress codes and greetings, and avoid casual references to controversial issues during talks and demonstrations.   

7. Offer a touch of luxury

Make your visitors feel special, and they will look back on your event with fondness. For instance, you could offer a limited number of passes to a VIP area, or sell tickets to a Q&A session. They will tell their friends about the great time they had, which will further improve your brand’s reputation.

8. Showcase your brand alongside others that target your market

Inviting your competitors to an event would be counter-productive, but what about teaming up with a brand that appeals to a similar demographic? In doing so, you’ll attract a broader crowd who will get the opportunity to experience your brand along with well-established favourites.

9. Invite speakers from outside your company to share their knowledge

If you are running a B2B event for professionals, recruit speakers to run workshops or give demonstrations. These should give attendees actionable strategies they can use in their business. Your guests will feel as though their time at your event was well-spent, and will respect your brand for caring about issues that affect them.

Hiring external speakers also equates to free publicity, because they will probably let all their clients and social media contacts know that they are taking part in an event.

10. Recruit enthusiastic, knowledgeable staff  

If even staff are indifferent to your brand and bored by the event, your visitors will notice, and this won’t inspire their trust or loyalty. If possible, send company employees to oversee the event, rather than workers from a PR agency.

11. Make it easy for visitors to share their experiences

Set up a hashtag for your event, and encourage your visitors to use it. Hashtags let your guests share their photos and questions they may have for you. Make sure someone is responsible for responding to social media posts throughout the event; a quick, friendly reply or acknowledgement will generate goodwill. You can also use hashtags to organize contests. For instance, you may run a competition whereby the 100th person to upload a tagged photo of themselves at the event wins a prize.

12. Livestream your event

Reach out to those who can’t get to your event by livestreaming it. Set up a video feed that gives viewers a sense of the event atmosphere. Be sure to broadcast talks, demonstrations, and Q&A sessions. Your viewers will appreciate your efforts, feel engaged with the event, and may direct other people to your stream via social media. Encourage viewers to submit live feedback and questions.

Obtain, and analyze, visitor feedback

Always conduct a post-mortem after the event, using both qualitative and quantitive data. Ask yourself these questions: Did staff receive positive formal feedback during the event? Did visitors share their experience on social media? How many people attended? How many sign-ups or purchases did you get? Overall, did the event live up to your visitors’ expectations?

If you held a conference or B2B event, you could use brief follow-up surveys to encourage attendees to give formal feedback afterwards. Whatever your industry, remember that consumers want to be heard, so give them the chance to tell you what they really thought of your event.

Elisa Abbott is a freelancer whose passion lies in creative writing. She completed a degree in Computer Science and writes about ways to apply machine learning to deal with complex issues. Insights on education, helpful tools and valuable university experiences – she has got you covered ;)

6 reasons to make business events accountable

Making events an accountable part of the sales cycle and culture has always been an issue for businesses. Believing any opportunity to meet customers or partners face-to-face, or bring employees together at a corporate event has always ‘felt’ like the correct thing to do. Time and time again budget holders were left questioning and unable to answer what the return was. The set up, management, delivery and measurement so often fell short of being properly planned and integrated into wider internal and external customer sales and experience strategies. But that is all changing.

There is now a growing recognition and a desire amongst corporate event managers and other lines of business (sales, marketing, procurement, finance, HR teams etc.) to be much smarter in the way that events are run, and how they can prove accountability to the business. Here’s why:

1. Businesses need to differentiate to win. Real world face-to-face interactions (via your events) allow these points of differentiation to be delivered, experienced, captured and capitalised upon.

2. Events can contribute significantly to the overall experience and perception customers, partners and employees have of your brand. By being joined up with business and sales objectives events become an integral part of their company’s purpose and accelerate opportunity and belief.

3. Without a strategy you're committed to and a plan to deliver against it, you are vulnerable. Knowing why, how and when you need to run an event will ensure it provides and delivers value to all.

4. The customer is at the heart of everything. Successful events are not run by a siloed department. They are an integral part of the sales cycle and experience process. The face-to-face opportunity events provide has relevance to every part of your business.

5. First class experience is expected as default. Providing a personalised experience to each delegate individually from the very first communication is paramount. The more you can demonstrate you understand their needs and preferences, the more relevant you will be to them and the greater their desire to engage and attend. You can also serve them better too.

6. Technology is an enabler. The right event management platform will enable your business to set-up and deploy an event in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. Intuitive to use, aligning to your brand for a seamless look and feel and providing relevant data and insight to enable you to deliver a great delegate experience on any device, pre event, during the event and post event, should be the basic criteria.

By aligning to business strategy, applying good planning skills, integrating with other business activities and colleagues and using the right technology tools and applications, any event can now feed both the attendee and the business with richer and more valuable experiences and outcomes. All of which can be measured and reported more accurately and effectively than ever before.

Tool up to win

Event managers that have a good understanding of their organization’s purpose and strategy will be better placed to make lasting and valuable contributions to the sales and experience effort and ensure all future events are correctly funded and attended.

Choosing and using the right event management technology to bring it all together, attract the right delegates and remove the uncertainty of event accountability is time worth investing. A simple gap analysis of how you currently run events versus how you must plan and run events in the future is a critical first step. With that knowledge, there is only ever likely to be a limited number of event management platforms and applications capable of meeting your needs. We understand that and this is why we built Mitingu.