When qualifying a new business prospect, I’m sure you would never travel to that all important first meeting without at least an outline agenda for discussions and, most importantly, knowing who it is that you’re going to meet.
Yet how many companies make a significant business investment to exhibit or attend a conference without researching who else is attending? We’re not just talking about exhibitors, but also the delegates or speakers at the events you are planning to attend.
Many companies focus on promoting their presence at an exhibition to their existing contacts, targeting customers, outlook contacts and those already on their mailing database to meet with at the event. These are the people you are already aware of, but what about the people you don’t know?
So many companies miss the opportunity to understand who the registered delegates planning to attend the exhibition or conference are. Why not try prior to the event to confirm meetings with attendees who are the type of people you want to target?
Here are our top seven tips to help you get the most from delegate information at your next exhibition or conference.
Tip 1 : Liaise with the organisers at the time you’re booking your stand or meeting room to understand what your package contains regarding the availability of delegate data.
Does the event have a networking portal to which delegates can sign up and to which, as an exhibitor, you can have access as well? If yes – then understand when this portal will go live so that you’ll know how to plan your own marketing and lead generation activities, be it 1 month or two weeks ahead of the event.
Tip 2 : Don’t be put off if the delegate data available doesn’t include email addresses.
If you did have access to delegate email addresses, just adding these new delegates to your mass mailing list probably isn’t the most effective way of engaging with them anyway. Consider using B2B networking applications like LinkedIn – where personalised messaging is more likely to result in warm responses.
Tip 3 : If you use the portal’s integral messaging features to contact delegates – remember that this correspondence will be lost after the event once the portal closes.
Again using applications like LinkedIn will ensure that your conversations with new prospects remain in your control and available for reference for as long as you need.
Tip 4 : All is not lost if the organisers don’t offer a networking portal.
Many organisers will make available partial information on attending delegates – especially if you’ve had the forethought to negotiate this into your exhibitor package when you sign up. The level of detail available will vary from event to event.
Tip 5 : Exhibitors and speakers can also be valuable prospects.
By understanding who else is exhibiting or speaking at the event, you can quickly evaluate who is true competition versus companies who may prove to be possible end user prospects or channels.
Tip 6 : Check Social Media for information on delegates.
LinkedIn groups, Twitter posts and Google+ communities all provide information about attendees. New CRM systems such as Nimble, Intouch and Insightly can help gather this information.
Tip 7: Find a marketing or lead generation partner to support you at events.
Maximise your investment by working with partners who have a proven ability to help you analyse portal data quickly and efficiently so that you make the most of the data available. Look for companies who are able to present the data in easy to analyse spreadsheets, and match the delegate information to applications like LinkedIn, so that you can get a better understanding of the data and integrate it into your existing marketing systems.
Good luck with organising meetings at your next event – and bear in mind that the best results can be achieved with some research and analysis prior to the event to understand who is actually attending, not just those contacts you already know.
If you’d like to improve your lead generation results at the next conference or exhibition you’re attending, please call +44 1633 279 515 or email askboe@branchingouteurope.com – we’ll be happy to assist you further.
