And how to amplify that success
Now that your event is booked there are definitely measures to take to ensure that you and your brand get the optimum exposure from the event. There are some key points to follow to help you get the most of your sponsorship package.
Getting your message right is crucial. It obviously needs to resonate with your service offering and brand positioning but does it also strike the right tone with the event audience? At this stage, it's important that your sales team have had input into your messaging. Have they seen the delegate list and highlighted key accounts? Together, you can ensure that your messaging is going to reach the best targets to meet your criteria.
The beauty of social media is its timing. You can communicate in an instant, live from an event. But it does help to have a social media plan up your sleeve to help structure your feed and to ensure key messages that you plan to put out are shared. Have a few pre-prepared tweets ready and ensure that your hashtags are used consistently. It's also a good idea to carry out some LinkedIn research before the event; are there delegates attending that you aren't aware of? Are their profiles of interest?
Nothing can beat face to face conversation. A vital part of your presence and positioning at the event is your exposure to key delegates so make sure you can plan for how this should happen. Can the supplier offer you intro sessions? Is there space for 1-2-1 meetings? What about VIP lunch tables? If you intend to hold demos on your stand, how will this be publicised? Can you organise wrap around activity for special clients or prospects?
Despite ensuring you've aligned your brand with the right event and been organised with your preparation, there are still things you can do on the day to make your event run to your advantage.
• Arrive early, ensure your speaker adjusts presentation to take into account previous content. • Get speaker to encourage engagement – is there content available onsite? • Liaise with colleagues that are attending to ensure any meeting room / stand / booth is manned at all times for unplanned prospects that wish to meet you • For each scheduled meeting, prepare your own proposed agenda with questions to ask / latest news / case studies to share that will create value for them • During each meeting, make notes and agree post-event follow-up action (including timelines) with your customers & prospects. It can be useful to photo these notes and email to yourself at the end of each meeting to ensure you have a soft copy. • If you are unhappy, complain early – Give them a chance to fix the issue! (Or pre-event if possible.)
Now that your event has finished, there is some important follow-up activity that needs to be carried out to ensure you are still benefiting from your involvement.
1. Carry out an immediate de-brief to identify specific activities and ensure details are sent to the responsible account manager to follow up. 2. Have you organised and prepared your follow-up activity? Follow-up should commence within two days of the event - LinkedIn requests, personal follow-up by email or phone. 3. What did you learn from the event? Can it be packaged to engage other prospects? Post event whitepapers and briefs are useful here. 4. How can information be fed back internally to support service development, sales activity, future marketing activities and future presentations? 5. Remember to follow-up with supplier – consider either a call or a written event evaluation. 6. Leverage any event organiser post-event reporting Look at renewal or dropping the event next year based on performance, bearing in mind how objectives shift year on year…
What were the impressions on organisation, the logistics and how well it ran?
Was the agenda content engaging and did the format work?
How many delegates attended the event overall and what was your perception on their seniority?
How many meetings did you secure on the day (after any no-shows / drop-outs of walk ins?)
Did any meetings result in immediate follow-up appointments? / Do you have any pipeline forecasted as a result of any meetings?
Did you monitor perception shift of your brand's awareness awareness at this event?
Is this information shared internally?