Measurement Tip 24

Understanding the Value of Conferences

Is your conference an expense or an investment?

Many organizations regard their conference as a necessary expense, one that serves to educate customers to be successful in using products or influences employees to do a better job.  Having evaluated and measured a variety of conferences, we found something different. In this tip, we explore how conferences deliver real, near-term profit improvement beyond the conference.  And, we look at how a great conference can influence other objectives such as organizational growth and customer retention.

The conferences that deliver the most value for the organizer or host have a common characteristic; they successfully provide value to all of the other players in the conference ecosystem.  Simply stated, organizers attract participants through valuable offerings and content.  Sponsors and exhibitors seek valuable access to targeted, high-value participants. Sponsors and exhibitors provide the organizer with valuable funding and support in return for access. The organizer perpetuates and grows the cycle.  All participants seek value in return for their contribution of time and money and smart organizers and hosts ensure that it is provided. 

In addition to profit improvement, the well-planned conference also serves the organizer’s overall mission and goals. For example, many associations seek membership growth, in part, by providing great value to their members through the conference experience.

For those of us with interest in exhibitions at conferences, numerous studies have shown that that exposure to content provided by sponsors and exhibitors is an integral part of conference participant value and satisfaction.  When the organizer and the sponsors and exhibitors are attuned to the strategic needs of the participants, the momentum builds quickly. Intra-event communications using digital and social media make it possible to learn from members as well as serve their needs between events.  

Increased revenue and expense reduction resulting from conference participation – after a successful conference participants may take actions that result in improved business results for the host.  Here are a few of the most likely results:

Increased Sales –

Participants will make upgrades to systems and products and purchase new offerings learned about at the conference.  Designers or integrators may incorporate more of your products into their designs and offerings.  Applicable measures: Conference related sales

Reduced Support Requirements –

• Participants will have less need for technical or customer support through knowledge gained at the conference.  Applicable measures: Changes and cost associated with levels of customer service access and requirements

Enhanced Loyalty, Customer and Revenue Retention –

• Retention of the participants’ existing level of business is ensured through enhanced affinity, familiarity with your company and product and reduced perceived risk. Applicable measures: Retention rates among conference participants vs. non-conference participants, Average revenue value of a customer, Cost of a lost account, Cost of a new or replacement customer.

Recurring or Repeat Revenue Growth –

• Participants experience personal and company success, leading to growth on the existing revenue stream. Many conference providers focus efforts to help their participants grow their own business, thereby increasing the demand for their own products.  Applicable measures:  Financial and growth performance of conference participants.  Associated sales volume.

Other Expense Reduction -

• Conference activities may produce cost savings in hundreds of ways.  Exploiting the time and place opportunity afforded by attendance at a conference allows a company to accomplish goals that would require additional time and expense to duplicate in the future and in different locales.  For example, teaching 3,000 customers at a conference the nuances of your upgraded product may be much more cost effective than sending field sales teams out to do the job on-site or relying on digital media.  Providing customers and prospects with access to your executives and experts may create an experience and exert influence that would not otherwise be possible or financially feasible. The possibilities are endless. 

Communications, Press and PR Value –

• Conferences can generate considerable press and PR exposure through conference related promotion, advertising and marketing campaigns.  The value of conference related promotion and earned media can be equivalent to several million dollars of advertising exposure for the host.  Inspiring the press to focus on your strategic initiatives, included in the conference content, is invaluable.

All of the above either impact the revenue or expense side of an organizer or host’s profitability or income. 

How can a conference help an organization to grow?

When participants and sponsors feel they derive great value, organizers may experience an increase in event participation and membership.

In my research I have learned some of what participants seek at conferences, related to their job:

Immediate Impact:

• The ability to make informed decisions
• The ability to make effective near-term changes and improvements
• To make connections with people and resources valuable in achieving improvements and goals
• To reduce personal and organizational risk (see what works!)

Future Results:

• To identify and consider influences that affect good planning

These may be regarded as “strategic needs” of the conferee.  Conferences that focus their content on these types of topics excel.  Exhibitors and sponsors who focus their messages and demonstrations for customers on these types of needs will be successful as well.  This provides a great basis for targeting the content of publications, and content delivered through education, digital, and social media on value for all concerned.  

As the word spreads of a conference’s value in meeting these needs, attendance will grow.  As it becomes apparent that a company or membership organization delivers a constant stream of strategic information, customers and memberships will grow too!


Ed Jones
President, Constellation Communication

To get started on your event marketing measurement program, contact us today at +1.770.391.0015 or edjones@constellationcc.com

 

 

 

 

Measurement Tip 19

What are the Best Event Marketing Strategies for a Tepid Economy?

...How Events Can Help Solve Problems and How You Might Increase Your Own Value to the Company in the Process

2013 will bring with it many unanswered questions and by most accounts a tepid economic forecast (see the table at the bottom of this article). Most likely you are now working on aligning your event marketing activities to cover as many bets as possible, in many cases with lower budgets. Several event and trade show marketing questions are raised:

• “What event marketing goals are most important for our company to achieve at this time?” 
• “What changes can we make that will at least maintain, if not increase, our results?”
• “Are we in the right events for the circumstances?”
• "Where and how do we make cuts if necessary?"

Smart event marketing managers are making recommendations for program changes that will protect their companies.  For example, customer relationship management and revenue retention activities are of highest priority right now. Just ask your CFO! Are you prepared to make the right recommendations for your company for 2013?

We usually think of event marketing in terms of market share, new leads and revenue for the company.  When the economy is sluggish and new business is harder to find, several factors come into play.  First, we know cost control becomes a major issue.  “New revenue" from new customers often comes at a high cost, not only to sell but to fulfill. 

For many companies, existing customers are the greatest source of profit because they are the easiest and least expensive to serve and are the most likely to be sold in the future.  So, when things are tight, smart companies cling even more to their existing business. CFO’s in survival mode know that expensive sales and marketing campaigns to attract business might not be profitable right away, especially under under restricted budgets. Keeping existing customers is essential. 

How Events Can Provide Solutions 

Events provide a way to reach large numbers of people at once, for a variety of reasons, at a relatively low cost. Remember, the purpose of an event is to motivate people to act in a way that benefits the host. Here are a few ideas to consider organized generally by the main elements of marketing event value.

Revenue Retention and Customer Relationship Management

Providing your customers, prospects and others with access to your executives is a sure fire way to protect business and cement deals for new business. The savings from putting fifty or more customers and prospects in front of your executives in just a few days could reach hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings per event.

• You should strongly consider aiming events at existing customers to protect and grow their business. Customer meetings at trade shows, and user and customer conferences produce results in near term sales and reduce service costs for companies that know how to plan and run them correctly.

See the Case Study "What is Your Conference Worth to Your Company”

                   http://constellationcc.com/case_studies.htm

• Executive level customer conferences can create a platform where the top executives from your best accounts come together with your executives to collaborate on mutually beneficial solutions for dealing with an economic downturn. Executive to executive interaction is the most effective way to cement a business relationship.  These meetings may also be hosted in a trade show conference room.

Revenue Generation   
     
Few companies want to totally stop their pursuit of new business and new market share. When economics dictate a reduction in sales force or sales expense, your events can provide a cost alternative for reaching large numbers of potential buyers. 

• Be sure your exhibit experience results in qualified people experiencing the equivalent of a full sales call.

• Private events, i.e. those you host yourself, can be staged in locations close to your targeted accounts.  These events may be perceived by customers and prospects as an opportunity to find specific solutions for dealing with their needs.

•  A good multi-city road show can reduce field sales cost and be the marketing equivalent of a tent revival.

Public events often suffer from lower attendance during an economic downturn. In some cases, the absences are among lower level, less important participants who are not required to be there. As a result the remaining audience may be richer in targets and less expensive to reach.

Cost Reduction, Saving the Company Money

Events can save your company money when it is most needed. Face-to-face meetings reduce the cost of field sales because the prospects and customers have paid their own way to meet with you. 

Broaden your idea of who may be a "target" to include suppliers and alliances. Interactions with these targets reduce the cost of materials or logistics and contribute directly to the survival of the business.

• Host (see) fewer, more valuable people at a lower cost.  Change your pre-event target marketing strategy to focus on “high probability” and “high value” contacts.  Focus your resources on fewer people to whom your company can most likely sell the most profitable offerings.  In many cases, they might be existing customers. 

• Use the reduction in expected visitors to cut your space and resources.  A small private event may be more efficient than a large public one.  Meeting rooms in the exhibit or off the show floor may be your best investment.

• Handle your existing business volume with fewer people by holding customer conferences, training sessions and support activities conference style perhaps in association with large public events such as an industry tradeshow.  Customer education is a great sales strategy.

• Hold internal meetings around marketing events.  Put executives, product experts, sales management and sales team, even channels, from various geographies together for meetings that reduce future travel and meeting cost.  This can amount to a huge cost savings for the company. Utilize presentations, demonstrations and conference facilities to maximum benefit. For example, hold product training for the sales team using the presentation or demos in the exhibit during off hours.

Promotion Value

Many events provide fertile press opportunities and communications resources such as press briefing facilities, scheduled access to press, distribution of press materials, media and communication technology and more. 

• Use a major industry event to launch a new offering using the event press facilities and resources in place of hiring your own in another place.

• Events with a rich incidence of targeted individuals present may offer a more cost effective opportunity than does advertising in trade publications to introduce a new offer or position products.

• Plan to generate “free press” at every event where by proactively managing the opportunity.

Tighten Up Your Approach

How you approach marketing events should be different compared to how your company normally conducts business at trade shows:

• It is even more essential to identify, by company and title, if not name, everyone at an upcoming event who can improve your results.  These include not only customers and prospects, but suppliers, partners, channels, influencers, regulators, etc.

• Next, contact and arrange pre-scheduled, face- to- face meetings with those targeted individuals to discuss mutually beneficial approaches to dealing with a slow economy.

• Attract and consistently "brief" targeted individuals who visit your stand. If you are able to accomplish the equivalent of an important sales call with targeted individuals in your booth, you will reduce your cost of sale.

• You must have a specific outcome (one of the most important steps in the sales funnel) in mind for these targets, and you must get them to commit to participate.  The step must be valuable for them and focus on improvement of their business results.

• This approach fills the sales funnel with prospects committed to a step in the sales process, ones that may not be coming from a reduced sales force and may help to lower the cost of doing business.

Selecting the Right Events and “Right-Sizing” Investments  

Another clear source of cost efficiency is tailoring the investments you make in each event to the associated sales opportunity.  Even in good times we consistently find about 30% of event marketing expenditures should be reapplied to more productive investments.  Also, your legacy schedule of shows and events may not be the best mix for these economic times.  And even for events that are on target, your tactics might need to be changed.  

If your company revises the sales forecast in terms of products or geographies, the event schedule should be reconsidered as well.

Comparing events against a performance standard such as a payback ratio and “cost per” indexes (e.g. cost per visitor, cost per engaged visitor or lead and cost per square foot), will allow you to rank events from best to worst.  This will tell you a great deal about which events should be scrutinized for budget reductions.

A Real World Example

Due to market conditions a major client preemptively implemented a 40% reduction on the cost of their largest and most important show. We applied considerable effort to revise facilities design, devise a new visitor management plan and develop specific staff skills to deal with a very different approach. Thanks to a successful targeted invitation process, accomplishments in attendance, meetings, documented impact on relationship management, business development and virtually all other key measures were comparable to those obtained previously. This company was cited in industry press and among their peers for having figured out in advance how to make the most of the unfavorable market conditions. Similar changes have been applied across their entire show schedule for the remainder of this show cycle.

What to Do Right Now 

Talk to your sales and customer support executives about how carefully chosen events could help your company deal with the restraints associated with the current economic climate.  Get them on board.

Frame your planning opportunities in terms of impact on company profitability, i.e. Revenue Retention, Revenue Growth, Cost Reductions and Communications or Promotion Value.  Change your plans accordingly.

Evaluate, compare and rank your current shows and events. “Right-size" your investments in budget, staff, exhibit size, properties and other expenditures for the circumstances for each event.  Target changes in event marketing activities that will pay off.  Make the adjustments now.

Your importance to the company is about to rise rapidly.

Ed Jones

If you need assistance with your event marketing measurement program, please give me a call at +1.770.391.0015 or email me edjones@constellationcc.com

Or Click here to make a request for contact!

The High Potential Trade Show Marketer

Key Note Address for the Certified Trade Show Marketer Awards Dinner at Exhibitor Show, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV, March 4th, 2012

Given by Ed Jones, President, Constellation Communication Corp.


CTSM Graduates,

Congratulations! I am honored to address you and those in this room who care about you tonight.

There are those of you who are receiving bronze, silver and gold levels of achievement tonight upon your CTSM certification and I congratulate you. And with your indulgence and support, I want to address my remarks tonight to the newest to join your ranks, the new CTSM graduates.

You have learned more than the average brain can accommodate. Your cup runneth over. You know how to do much more than one person can possibly demonstrate. You have earned the right to an opinion that deserves to be heard. You have assumed your rightful place among the few who will determine the future of face- to- face marketing.

You have done this all while riding a bucking bronco of a full time job, on the rodeo circuit of your company’s marketing events, most often without any accommodations on deadlines or resources.

You are now certified, grade A, blue ribbon, 100% CTSM, Certified Trade Show Marketer. Join us in giving yourselves a hand!

You now join a very elite group, 349 graduates, over 20 years of CTSM ,who have propelled and maintained our industry as the number one B2B marketing spend in support of sales, beating out specialty publications, internet, promotions and PR respectively (according to a recent Market Reality Survey).

Now that you have achieved this distinction, you must figure out how to activate the power of knowledge combined with the experience you achieved through your CTSM program for the benefit of yourself, your company, your peers, colleagues and family.

That is what I want to talk with you about tonight: achieving the maximum degree of success from the extraordinary amount of work you have put into this. Because, as you are successful, you will also accomplish the goals of supporting and satisfying others who are important to you.

I have worked in this industry for over 30 years. I know I don’t look old enough, but it’s true! During that time, I have observed little consistency in the career potential of trade show and event managers. It is seemingly dichotomous.

The job of trade show manager, director (or whatever you may be called) can be a highly respected and important position. One where unheard of levels of decision making authority and budget responsibility are exercised daily, the likes of which cannot be found in any other job at a similar pay grade.

Executives seek this manager’s advice, sales teams comply with his or her suggestions, and are grateful for the opportunities created through his/her efforts. This manager’s events are seen as accelerating the buying process and lowering the cost of doing business. This manager is called upon to take on additional roles and responsibilities.

This event manager’s career potential would best be described as “High.”

Yet, in another company, immediately across the aisle at the same show, a marketing events manager gets little, if any respect. They have a hard time gaining control of the staff and receive unfocused criticism at every turn. This manager is controlled by the budget rather than exercising budget control and suffers at the hands of managers from other departments. Budgets and deadlines are dominating measures of satisfactory performance. Note, I said “satisfactory” not “excellent” performance.

A bright spot is that this manager is seen as indispensable to the success of the next event.

This event manager’s career potential must be described as “low.”

I have not made an estimate of which is more prevalent, high potential, low potential or something in between. I have noted some of the common characteristics and qualities of the high potential managers. My goal for you tonight is to share what those things are.

A few secret herbs and spices, if you will, to add to all those ingredients you gathered from the CTSM commissary for your recipe for success.

Truthfully, one of the most important characteristics may be the hardest to effect. High potential event managers almost always have strong interpersonal skills. Why? Because almost everything they and you do requires the help and approval of other people. There is simply no substitute for understanding what other people need, what makes them happy or nervous, and what they regard as success.

The fundamental elements in productive interpersonal skills are listening, observing, thoughtfully considering that which you have heard and seen, and then tailoring your approach for maximum productivity. These steps must be combined with a genuine, measured concern for the well being of others, in concert with your own goals. Do whatever you must to improve upon your interpersonal power, and seek whatever feedback you can get from the perspective of others.

Of equal importance, and, an important element of the first quality, is the ability to communicate effectively. Good verbal and written communication skills are essential, not only to interpersonal success (we are talking persuasion here), but to successful management of any project and for gaining recognition for your ideas and accomplishments.

Effective communication is also an essential element for event marketing success. You must know what constitutes effective communication to know if your events are communicating productively. If you have not studied and developed these skills adequately, do so immediately! Find outlets to speak regularly. Seek opportunities for your presentation skills to be evaluated.

What should you speak about? Your ideas, of course, for making your company more successful through event marketing!

The third characteristic is a heavy reliance upon collaboration with a wide range of supporting individuals, other departments, organizations and suppliers. Getting people and organizations involved in the success of your program depends upon two things. One, how clear it is to them what personal value they will realize by contributing their time and resources and two, how well they understand what needs to be done and can visualize their role in making it happen.

CTSM notwithstanding, you will not succeed without accessing the knowledge and support of those who run sales, communications, product management, PR or any of a host of other functions in your organization. When people are properly activated and motivated they will help you succeed, because through your success, they succeed.

While I am on the topic of teamwork, the most successful managers have carefully picked their suppliers and made them an integral part of their team. Engage support from suppliers who can deliver expertise and capabilities that are complimentary to your own. Then, go overboard in communicating strategy and sharing information with them, so they can activate their own expertise and resources to help you achieve remarkable results. You should choose suppliers who understand how to translate face-to-face interaction into business results.

The fourth characteristic is discipline in planning, managing and measuring projects. I know for certain that you learned these things in your curriculum (I was there!) and you are well prepared to demonstrate them.

The fifth characteristic is the tendency for these managers to share what they know and to take joy in activating the capabilities of others. Take a minute and think back through the numerous faces of those who shared their knowledge and expertise with you through this program. Those are pleasant thoughts, aren’t they? Because those people shared their secrets with you to make you successful. I would bet that you can remember an "Ah Ha" moment quite vividly! Virtually none of those people were paid to do it.

Now think about a time when a CTSM teacher was personally excited for you when you had a success in your job through the application of knowledge and skills they conferred upon you. I know it always makes me really happy when a student calls me or stops me in the hall at Exhibitor Show to tell me of their success.

And that brings me to the last one, a perspective and discipline that will make your CTSM skills pay off in career advancement. This one is probably the most powerful as a career tool. The main focus of most high potential managers is on the success of the company and those around them, not on the success of the next event.

Not to be misunderstood, success in every event is a virtual requirement. However, if you limit yourself to this scope, you will fall short of being recognized for the full depth of your capabilities and contributions. For example, when you report saving thousands on recent events, by refurbishing an exhibit. Of course, that is a very good thing! Your boss will be pleased, but executives may not notice. Why? Because that level of detail is not on their radar screen and while the amount saved may seem quite large to you, it is not material at higher levels of management. You may demonstrate that you can do more with less and that sometimes is what you will get in return.

A much more important message may be that customers you already have, attending the upcoming show, represent $100 million dollars of your company’s most profitable revenue. And through your astute market awareness, you know what your competitors are planning to do to steal them away and more importantly, how to combat it. Executives (and everyone else) are interested in that message!

So how do you do this?

You must become a consultant to the business and focus your efforts on improving the profitability of the company. Make recommendations that will improve earnings. Build collaboration with managers in other functional elements of the business. Show them how they can benefit from a well thought out trade show or event opportunity. Frame your discussions around the elements of the profit equation, increasing and protecting revenue and decreasing expense, i.e. the cost of doing business, through smart event activity.

I have a client in a very large defense technology company who exemplifies the characteristics and qualities I share with you tonight. The chairman of the board of that company mentioned the trade show program on several of the recent earnings calls. Earnings calls are between the top level executives of the company and the most influential people on the planet relative to their financial well being.

The reason? That trade show manager has elevated the perception of accomplishments at marketing events to that of a profitable business equation, one that is important, even to the chairman. That manager is focused on managing his overall program and its impact on the company. Event success is essential to his overall goal.

I was privileged to teach most of you. So with what may be my last opportunity in that regard, I want to challenge you with some questions to consider about your future! With the superior knowledge and abilities you have gained through your CTSM accomplishment, what will you achieve?

• Will you be recognized for making a significant impact upon the success of your organization?
• Will customers thank you for the clarity, value and the overall excellence of their experience at your events?
• Will you show others how to achieve their goals through your programs?
• Will you teach the new recruits how to do the job and accomplish remarkable results?
• Will you give back to the CTSM program your experience and expertise?

If so, it is a certainty that you will be called upon to accept more important responsibilities and you will see your earnings and job satisfaction increase beyond those of your colleagues.

Tonight, you have shown you have what it takes to accomplish these things. You will be the ones that take this industry to the next level.

The next five years will bring more change than the last twenty. Some of what you learned is already obsolete. Digital and social media, interactive demonstrations and visitor management technology are your new tools, making it possible for you to do things we could have only imagined a couple of years ago. These tools are not only new, they are evolving at a dizzy pace. You cannot stop your learning tonight, just as those who will receive higher awards tonight have continued on.

Do something great! Dare to do something unique!

Wow your visitors and your company.

Wow all of us!

Be the “high potential” manager.

I raise a glass to your accomplishments and your future success!

Congratulations and my best wishes to all of you.

Ed Jones



Constellation Communication Corp.
Trade Show and Event Marketing Evaluation, Measurement, Planning and Return on Investment
+1.770.391.0015
inquiry@constellationcc.com