Go from Meh to Yah! 10 Success Secrets for More Effective Events

Heidi BullockSenior Director of Marketing, Marketohbullock@marketo.com

PRESENTED BY:

Go from Meh to Yah! 10 Success Secrets for More Effective Events

Hi, I’m Heidi Bullockmore on: blog.marketo.com

@heidibullock

1. Traveled to Montana every summer – I can fish, pitch a tent, and carve neat things from wood.

2. Am a molecular biologist by training – yes, I can clone.

3. Am a proud owner of twins, therefore I have real sense of humor.

About Marketo1. Advanced customer engagement

platform2. Modern relationship marketing3. >3,000 customers in the Marketing

Nation4. For marketers, by marketers!

Why Events

The Consumer has Changed…

In-person engagement matters!

1. Brand and awareness

2. Generating leads

3. Engaging with your

customers

95% of business professionals confirm that face-to-face meetings are essential for the development and retention of long-term business relationships. Additionally, they note that 28% of their current business would be lost without face-to-face meetings.

--- Harvard Business Review

4. Education – most people attend events for networking or education

Image Credit: 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends–North America: Content Marketing Institute / MarketingProfs

Challenges

CEO

Event Plan Discussion

You

Keeping your events isolated from other channels

retargeting

Don’t we just show up and good stuff happens?

Follow through – it matters.

You think the event was a success, but it’s challenging to show the ROI

10 Success Secrets

Success Secret 1: Set Goals Upfront

The best event programs incorporate

intentional measurement strategies

in advance.

Pre-Event: Engagement# downloads on your asset

Jan Feb Feb Apr May Jun

During Event:# booth visits,

# demos, # attended talk

Post-Event:# downloads on slides - on

follow up email

Leads -> Opportunities

15

3 closed deals

Success Secret 2: Design Programs to be Measureable

AttendedVisited boothWatched demoAttended multiple

tradeshowsAttended speaking

session

Easy Results – Progression Status

New to our database

Total successes (engaged + visited booth)

Where people are at in your program

Success Secret 3: Have a Plan

Don’t go into an event blind…

1. Create a schedule

2. Staff for success

3. Mitigate risk – Have plan B, C, and D!

Event Strategy Worksheet

Heidi’s Book End Plan

Pre - Event During - Event Post - Event

Pre-Event Promotion

webinar infographic contest

Facebook

Twitter

Ongoing Promotion

Post-Event

• All sessions posted to website

• Slides made available • Videos made available• eBook created from

Keynote session• Blog post• Follow ups – of

course!

Email follow-up with slides

Blog post

Success Secret 4: Integrate the Event Experience

1. Mobile

2. Website

3. Social Referral

• 280 participants shared (15%)

• 15 qualified for sweepstakes

• 144 incremental registrations

• 7.4% increase in registrations

Example: JumpStart Tour Referral Results

Success Secret 5: Stand Out

People are busy - why are you interesting?

Success Secret 6: Multi-Touch PromotionPromotion:

Series Invite + Press Release + ongoing socialT-2 weeks inviteT-1 weeks invite v2T-2 days invite

Confirmation:Confirmation EmailReminder 2 days prior – Email and BoxpilotReminder 1 hour prior + push notifications (if mobile)

Follow-up:Send slides/recording same dayPhone call (Leads)

3rd email drives the most registrations – ramp cadence

closer to event

Success Secret 7: Strong Follow-Up

1. Personalize your emails

2. Follow up in a timely manner

3. Include a compelling offer

4. Use pre-show intelligence to determine your post-show follow-ups.

5. A/B test

Success Secret 8: Make it scalable

Clone Complete Programs

Track Costs and Tags for

Measurement

Use “Tokens” To

Parameterize

JUNEDATE:

Success Secret 9: Innovation

Success Secret 10: Be a Brand Ambassador

A good attitude goes a long way.

Event ROI – Quick Tips

PPC

Email

Sponsored Webinars

Paid Social

Strategic PR

Events

Organic Social

Inbound

SEO

Paid Unpaid

Great Content

We invest in a broad mix of programs

Page 50 © 2014 Marketo, Inc. #mktgnation14

Know what works and what doesn’t

Should I increase the events budget? Prove it to me.

Agree on definitions

1. How do you define event success?

2. What do you need to see -- versus C-level?

3. What is the agreed upon time period to measure?

Example

Names from a tradeshow? Attended demo, right demographics?

Pipeline

Key questions to ask

1.What is the goal of your event?

2.What is your investment/lead for an event?

3.What type of event is the best for your business?

4.Are there events would you cut?

Program Analysis

Evaluate programs against metrics that matter – Amount of pipeline generated compared to program spend – Number of first touch and multi-touch opportunities created– Investment per qualified new lead

Look at programs at different time points– Immediately – did it have the response I expected?

• New names? % New names? • If it didn’t do what you expect, correct

– 2-4 months later – did it generate opportunities? – Periodic reassessment – how does the program do over

time?

Example: Measure to Prove ROIG

ood

Best

Pipeline Measurements

Event ROI

Establish Goals and ROI Estimates

Up-FrontDesign Programs to Be Measurable

Focus on the Decisions that Improve ROI

Tweetable Takeaways

1. Set goals upfront and make sure stakeholders are on the same page!

2. Design your events to be measureable and scalable.

3. Use Heidi’s ‘book end approach’ and think about pre and post event campaigns.

4. Integrate your event with other channels like mobile and social.

5. Have a strong follow-up plan and do it fast.

6. Base measurement around proving your event ROI.

7. Innovate real-time and stay positive – you’ll stand out!

@heidibullock

Thanks!

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