While the role of digital marketing grows more prominent, in-person events continue to receive a significant portion of overall B2B marketing budgets. According to Forrester, trade shows still constitute the biggest line item on a B2B marketers budget, with nearly 20% of spend being committed to live events.
As a result, B2B marketers are turning to tools and metrics to help them track and analyze audience social and other behavior before, during and after events.
Tools such as DoubleDutch’s mobile/social solutions are designed with the intent of helping attendees get even more engaged while at an event, while also collecting information on what sessions they have attended, who they are interacting with and what they are saying about the event on social media.

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Digest...

Rather than call out the bad examples directly, I tried to condense my takeaways to a short set of “lessons” I took away from what I saw, lessons I will definitely apply to future event marketing efforts for Heinz as well as for our clients.  

 1. Don’t assume people will read it right away
Materials that told people to “stop by the booth” likely didn’t get noticed until it was too late.  And if that was your only call to action, what now?  Which brings us to the next point…

2. Don’t limit your call to action to only “at the show” offers
It doesn’t help if I’m looking through these materials back home and you’re inviting me to your booth.  If you want to promote at-show offers, great, but pair that with something I can respond to afterward.

3. Use a unique tracking code or phone number or something

4. Choose a different format than 8.5 x 11

5. Don’t just use something generic from your “catalog” of content

6. Limit the copy!
It’s bad enough when I come to your booth individually and get a double-sided flyer that has 1,000+ words jammed in.  I’m not very likely to read all of that.  Now multiply that two-pager times over an inch of similar flyers.

7. Use thick stock
Tactical but important. A thick stock costs more but feels better.  It implies confidence and authority.

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The thing a B2B trade show exhibitor can provide attendees that has the highest correlation with purchase intent is new learning.

Key excerpt...

According to a study sponsored by Skyline Exhibits and Marketech 360, the number one reason attendees visited exhibits was to ‘obtain product information.’

As shown in the graphic below, when combining the results of ‘obtaining product information’ (32%), ‘product demo’ (11%) and ‘seeing a rep’ (10%), 53% come to learn about what the exhibitor has that is new.

There’s a reason we’ve written blog posts about trade shows and published infographics on the subject over the past few months. Marketing automation is a great tool to complement your trade show efforts, and can help you before, during, and after the trade show occurs by giving you the ability to:

* set up landing pages to collect lead information
* segment your email communications based on geography, interests, and more — making it easier to send out targeted and relevant trade show invites
* prepare autoresponders that will send your leads helpful information as soon as they submit one of your trade show forms
* automate follow-up with your leads after the trade show has ended
* assign trade show leads to the appropriate sales reps for follow up.

Excerpt...

Marketing automation is a great tool to complement your trade show efforts, and can help you before, during, and after the trade show occurs by giving you the ability to:

• set up landing pages to collect lead information
• segment your email communications based on geography, interests, and more — making it easier to send out targeted and relevant trade show invites
• prepare autoresponders that will send your leads helpful information as soon as they submit one of your trade show forms
• automate follow-up with your leads after the trade show has ended
• assign trade show leads to the appropriate sales reps for follow up.

Learn how to assess whether you should shell out dough to attend or sponsor an industry event.

Summarized...

How to Evaluate Whether You Should Attend an Event

1) Evaluate the Content

Before you sign up for an event, check out the sessions and speaking topics available to attendees.

2) Research the Attendee Profile

One of the most valuable takeaways you can get from a live, in-person event that you cannot get from other remote forms of education is the opportunity to meet others who are in similar positions to you -- or heck, positions totally dissimilar to yours. Both scenarios are rife with learning potential, and personally, I think it's one of the most fulfilling parts of attending events.

3) Consider the Networking Opportunities

So maybe you're salivating over the attendee profile, but it's also important to consider whether the structure of the event actually provides opportunities to interact with other attendees. Some events focus on the content, some focus on the networking opportunities -- and the best ones focus on both

4) Research Potential for Brand Awareness

For some companies, branding -- and brand association -- is critical to breaking into new markets, connecting with their buyer personas, or just standing out among the competition. If you're that company, it might behoove you to have some employees in attendance, particularly if this event attracts a boat load of your target market.

How to Evaluate Whether You Should Sponsor an Event

1) Seek Out Speaking Opportunities

Before you sponsor an event, see if you can have an even more powerful presence at the event through a speaking engagement

2) Get to Know the Audience Profile

One of the most important factors to consider before sponsoring an event is the attendee profile we talked about earlier

3) Investigate the Other Sponsors

Before sponsoring an event, take a look at who else is sponsoring and/or speaking at the event. Surrounding yourself with reputable, relevant names should be central to your decision-making. Think of it this way -- with great sponsors also come great attendees who are definitely worth surrounding yourself with.

4) Establish the Media Presence

Many events attract journalists and other influencers. See if that's the case with any events you're considering sponsoring, and whether you'll be able to get some face time with anyone.