Are Corporate Events still viable as a fuel for growth?

There are many marketing channels out there to choose from, but post-COVID, none is more controversial than events and tradeshows. Is that still a viable option for most companies?

Traditionally, events can have several formats, including summits, awards dinners, tradeshows, seminars, networking events, client appreciation events, and sponsorship promotions.

These can be quite pricey, depending upon the intent, the brand, the size and purpose and sector of the company and its customers, and so forth. With a corporate focus on attribution in marketing, connecting the dots between every dollar spent and a closable, revenue generating lead, events can be a tough sell to senior management looking to show direct results in a quarter or two.

Events can set the stage for brand-building programs, however, and in that role they are incredibly effective. They show attention to customers and prospects and their pain points, show off all the best brand attributes in a single venue, and can drive lead gen if prospects are included, at a much higher conversion rate than other methods.

The top of the attribution pack for events is tradeshow activity. If you exhibit at a series of industry shows, with the goal of generating viable, scoreable leads, tradeshows are unrivaled in scope and scale for this purpose. Where else are you going to find a huge roomful of potential prospects, all within your target industry and with only a handful of titles and functions, including industry press, all speaking the same language with respect to industry, who are there with the intent to explore, understand and possibly buy?

Sales nirvana . . .

Yet CEAR statistics show that over 80% of leads generated at a tradeshow are not followed up on, ever. In order to take advantage of the leads you do source from this activity, the follow-up system needs to be crafted, written and supplied before anyone leaves the home office for the show. The most successful follow-up I’ve seen yet is one where I engaged with an exhibitor on the show floor, and after our conversation I headed down the aisle and before I get 50 feet, my phone pinged with a follow up e-mail and the materials and information I had requested in order to move closer to purchase. Fast, accurate, relevant . . . score one for that exhibitor, I ended up buying in a month.

If you’re going to engage in event related marketing activity, its going to require a unified effort by everyone on the team to pull it off, especially the CMO. If the leadership doesn’t have experience in this area, or doesn’t believe it’s effective, your chances of success are greatly diminished. If they are, you can expect some strong results and a solid base of brand-building and lead generation together.

A strong CMO will pull all the details together and make sure it’s linked to corporate strategy.

A fractional CMO will do the same, for less.

Hiring a Fractional CMO allows you to access top talent, senior people who have seen it all, for a small percentage of the typical cost, with no loss of productivity or results. Now that’s smart saving.

For more on Fractional CMO benefits, and how to hire me to take care of all your events and marketing needs, message me and we can get started on your growth plan.