Getting conferences right: 7 lessons for sponsors
Big industry events always present a powerful opportunity for vendors, allowing them to connect with potential clients face to face and tell their stories through a variety of touchpoints – conversations, booths, presentations, signage, and more. They also represent, for many, a significant investment of time and money; to have even a small booth and sponsor a session requires a five-figure spend – and that’s before you add T&E for three, four or more people.
After attending over a dozen presentations, walking the exhibit hall floor many times, and talking at length to friends old and new, I walked away from a recent market research conference with some clear suggestions – ok, call them “do’s and don’ts” – for marketers trying to make the most of a conference setting. These are not intended as specific to this event, or even the insights industry, but should apply to pretty much any event where marketers are trying to tell their stories and connect with prospects.
1. Don’t assume this is “the same old event”
Marketers often invest in the same conferences repeatedly; there are only so many make-or-break events for any industry, and they can become “obligatory” in the eyes of CMOs and Sales teams. But however many times you have been to a given conference, try hard not to fall into familiar patterns – even though you may be seeing many of the same people, staying in the same hotel, and even using the same booth setup. The investment is still the investment, and getting the most out of it requires pushing out of your comfort zones. How can you respond to the conference theme? How can you be sure to meet as many new people as possible? Give this sustained and deliberate thought, in coordination with your Sales team and others who will attend.
2. Have a fresh story to tell
Never come to a conference with just your familiar pitches and taglines. Have a new story to tell – a headline that is widely shared and clearly fleshed out in a one- or two-paragraph story. Ideally, the content should have clear value to potential clients – an insight about industry trends that only you have discovered. But even if you are just highlighting a new methodology or product, it is better to have something fresh than nothing at all.
3. Walk a mile in your potential clients’ shoes
“Flipped” badges are familiar sight at industry events – a desperate attempt at anonymity by the brand execs who have bravely waded into a corporate Tinder come to life. Clients want to learn and interact, but they definitely do not want to be hassled or attacked. Of course, your company came to connect – spent hard-earned money to meet new prospects; but you will undermine all of that effort if you push too hard. Keep it light, be human, and consider it a victory just to break the ice – rather than trying to deliver your sales pitch within the first five minutes.
4. Remember what thought leadership is all about
Many sessions at today’s industry events are sponsored and feature a vendor and a client – or sometimes just one of the two – talking about a shared project or business relationship. In this context, I see many brands turning their presentations into extended self-congratulation sessions – which often leave attendees feeling unsatisfied and even ripped off. The vendor may feel they have hit a home run by getting the client to endorse their product at length on a major industry stage; but the effect of delivering little or no insight to an audience can actually be a net negative.
The concept of thought leadership is one that will not go out of fashion, because it reminds people that they need to deliver more than a sales pitch to sell themselves effectively. The people you want to impress at a given event have not come just to hear how wonderful your platform or technique is; if they walk away having taken no notes from your session, you have struck out and wasted your time – and theirs. Deliver value to your audience and you will have made the best sales pitch imaginable.
5. Don’t use shorter session times as a crutch
In today’s world, conferences that would once have been three days long are now just two, or even 1.5 — and individual sessions are often 15 or 20 minutes long. Whether you are presenting in a sponsored or “organic” session (do those still exist?), do not use your time limit as a crutch. The shorter your session, the harder you need to work, and the more quickly you need to get to the point. This does not mean cramming in messages and turning slides into cluttered mazes — but be sure you deliver an insight-rich punch in whatever time you have.
6. Be sure your brand house is in order
Please, please, please – when you are presenting at a major industry event, have a branded slide template and take the time to have a professional designer at least look at your deck. At this event, I was reminded more than once how terribly things can go wrong when companies clearly lack (or fail to enforce) brand guidelines and well-meaning presenters do their own graphics work. Maybe we do live in more casual times – but looking professional is essential to convincing someone they should trust you. Similarly, be sure that your collateral, booth, and anything else you have on-site is brand consistent.
7. Follow up!
It is a sad but familiar marketing tale — when much or all of the effort to connect with new people at an event is squandered by poor followup. It may seem obvious, but be sure you have a defined plan for adding conference contacts to your database and following up with emails, phone calls (when appropriate), and nurture campaigns.
After a conference, I would recommend following up not sooner than 24 hours after the conference is over — you don’t want to get lost in the inevitable post-conference catchup. Send an email, and if you don’t hear back, send a second and/or reach out on LinkedIn. Be persistent, but accept that not everyone is going to want to stay in touch.
This list of to-do’s could go on — and on, and on … In general, be thoughtful about your events, focus on delivering value, and make sure everyone is on the same page.
What are your conference to-do’s? Please share —
I’d love to hear!
David Stanton is a fractional CMO and CEO of The Marketing Solver. He wrote this article.