The Classic Chicken and Egg - Sales and Marketing

A fellow “EventPeeps.com" colleague asked this question - to paraphrase, I am tasked to sell but I think like a marketer and I know our leads are not high quality. Do I overlook my boss and concentrate on developing better marketing?

Here is the answer I sent her:

April,

Having been a sales person, sales manager, marketing manager, marketing consultant and now event marketing ROI consultant, I feel I may be able to shed some informed perspective on your delimma. What you describe is a situation that many of us are familiar with and the answer is probably a little different than you might expect.

First, there is no more important function in a company than sales, marketing included. The entire financial structure of a company begins and ends with the sales forecast and sales results. Therefore, most companies are unwilling to tolerate any slow down or redirection of focus from direct sales activity, even if the marketing needs work. The link between marketing and sales is a topic of discussion at every level. At worst it is perceived as a disconnect. At best, to build an effective marketing program where little or no good marketing exists is perceived to be a lengthy process. So your boss is coming from a perspective that he or she probably has little or no choice but to keep the pressure on direct sales effort. And, I agree to a point, that near term sales results come from a large number of contacts with prospects. If targeting is bad, the close ratio will be lower, so more contacts are needed. A classic catch 22.

Targeting is the key to effective marketing and sales. Effective marketing should result in placing well targeted individuals directly into an identifiable step in the sales funnel for your company. Prospects reached through your marketing must commit to a step (action) that your sales people will agree is a step in their process. If you do this, the proverbial gap between marketing and sales will be erased.

So what am I suggesting, 1) you must keep selling. 2) focus your marketing development activity on two things a) define and find the targets, b) interact with them in a fashion that commits them to a specific action that your sales team agrees with. Events are a good way to do this. On- line and direct marketing are as well. If you want more background on this my website has some case studies and papers in the Solutions Center section.

“http://constellationcc.com"

Good luck. I hope this was helpful. Drop me a line and let me know.

Ed Jones
President
Constellation Communication Corp.

“Goal Conversions” – A Parallel Concept from Web Marketing and Advertising for Event Marketing

Tie Your Face -to Face and On- Line Marketing Activity Together in New Ways . . .

Goals vs. objectives, an age old discussion, isn’t it? In the case of marketing events, the goal is to obtain a specific action, on the part of participants, that demonstrates transition from marketing contact to sales participation. I was reading a section on Google Analytics that deals with exactly this same concept, Goal Conversions:

“Goals Overview

What are Goals?
Goal conversions are the primary metric for measuring how well your site fulfills
business objectives. A goal is a website page which a visitor reaches once they have made a purchase or completed another desired action, such as a registration or download.

How can goals help me?
Once you have set your goals, you'll be able to see conversion rates and the monetary value of the traffic you receive. You can also define a "funnel path" for each goal. A funnel path is the path you want visitors to take to reach a goal. Defining a funnel path allows you to monitor how frequently visitors who begin a conversion process actually complete it.

Examples of goals include:
• "Thank you for registering" pages
• receipts
• flight itinerary confirmations
• "Download completed" page”

Source: http://www.google.com/analytics/reporting/goal_intro

The Google page also includes a link to additional material on how to set up funnel and goal pages that work together. In the course of an event, every activity or step, starting with direct marketing, presentations and demonstrations and ending with a commitment for follow-through, are funnel steps leading up to goals.

Goal activities are those that demonstrate specific participation in a sales step or have resulted in a sale. You may have many goals, perhaps differing by types of visitors or products. You may find multiple ways of demonstrating that a prospect has moved solidly into the sales cycle. This is a very useful concept for event strategy and may help you tie your on-line and face-to-face activity together in new ways.

Call us if you have questions or would like to discuss. +1.770.391.0015.

Managing Executive Perceptions - More on Visual Presentation of Data (Dashboard)

(You may click on the charts to review full size. Use the back arrow to return to this point.)

I often emphasize in event measurement lectures that keeping it simple is one of the keys to success. This is especially when you are presenting justification data for an event. One tactic that is working well is to simplify planning and measurement objectives down to seven or eight key accomplishments and present them in very simple, pictorial ways.

We call these simplified measurement plans “Dashboard” reports. I know the "dashboard" concept is verging on overuse these days, but there is a reason for popularity of the concept. It tells almost anyone in the organization, quickly and easily how well key planning objectives were met.

You will note in the example charts, most of the actual event results are shown compared to a "performance average" (baseline) developed over the previous plan year. We are finding that this approach simplifies the process, pinpoints accomplishments and generates a lot fewer questions on both ends - event planning and reporting.

Please call us if you have questions. +1.770.391.0015

"How Do I Get Started?" FAQs and Some Answers

Getting Started on A Structured Measurement Program

People ask me frequently, “What is the best way to start up an event or trade show measurement program?”

You can start your own program in a three ringed binder or a spreadsheet program such as Excel. Make a tab (or worksheet) for each of the four main categories of value; "Sales Impact," "Customer, Prospect and Partner Relationship Management," "Cost Savings/ Expense Avoidance," and "Promotion Value." Start to fill each tab with any examples of revenue increase or expense reduction you can document for that event. Market facing events usually produce value in all four categories. Internal events produce value in one or more of the four. A non-sales related internal event may not have a sales impact or customer relationship component for example, but it should have a cost reduction (profit improvement) component. Business profitability is simply, Revenue – Expense = Profit. (There is an interesting article on the behavioral aspect (employee behavior) of profit improvement focusing on the equation People x Process = Profit, The article is available at http://www.acpavlik.com/BizSol/Articles/profeq.pdf . This is a good read for understanding how to look for value in job performance and process improvement.)

Be creative in how you identify value. Get agreement from others within the organization such as your sales team, the PR folks or the advertising folks. Ask them to help you identify value derived from the event. You may discover that they are interested in protecting the event as well and have their own objectives for participation.

You can access a re-print of my article, “How to Measure the Value of a Trade Show Program", “Exhibitor Magazine”, March, 2005, for a much more in-depth look at how to assess and report value in these categories., “Exhibitor Magazine”, March, 2005, for a much more in-depth look at how to assess and report value in these categories.

Of course there are more sophisticated support tools and resources available if you find that, although you do not have the time available, you need to prove justification and identify improvement opportunities. In-depth measurement is easier than ever because web based surveys, event ROI modeling and database tools are available from capable providers. You can also employ these tools to compare events and decide in which ones to invest and how much to spend.

Don’t hesitate to start on your own measurement program. This is truly a “one step leads to the next” proposition. You may start small but the success you enjoy will make you a “manager of the business” in addition to a manager of events.

Do not hesitate to call with questions.



Another frequently asked question regards application of our evaluation services: “How does Constellation provide professional assessment on different levels of events. i.e. small ones vs. the largest events?”

We offer three basic levels of support for identifying and reporting value from events of differing sizes and scopes. Plus, we offer an internal review by staff and stakeholders involved with an event. Each of these evaluation levels result in your performance data being added into an event marketing performance database unique to your company:

1) Consultation (telephone) forecasting and review of actual results, including one hour before the event and one hour afterwards discussing last minute strategies and reviewing results.

2) One day, on-site evaluation where a consultant observes and reviews everything from your fit within the overall event, staff engagement skills, messaging, etc.

3) Two day, on- site evaluation with 50 random sample interviews with your guests who have completed their exhibit or event experience.

4) Three day, comprehensive review that includes 100 random sample exit interviews, assessment of your competitors effectiveness and level of expense and much more detail on your staff and messaging and demonstration effectiveness.

5) The Staff and Stakeholder Review determines how the people who funded and worked the event assess both the marketing opportunity afforded to your company and how well you worked that opportunity. Should you repeat this event next year, and if so, in a larger or smaller format? Ask your staff. You will be surprised how many times they are already aware that a change is needed.

All of these approaches are built upon the Constellation Event ROI performance model that builds a database of your results and provides the basis for quarterly and annual analysis and documented support of future planning.

If you are interested in a large scale, sophisticated approach then please contact us directly to determine your needs, and to provide a proposal, scope of work and budget for a program that will take your events to a profitable level.

Ed

“How to Rescue a Worthwhile Event” - (The time is right to review this need) - CASE STUDY

Daily we see signs that the current economic influences, high fuel costs and the rippling effects of the lending crisis are inhibiting decisions to move forward with big events, particularly high priced ones. In some cases, events have been cancelled. Unfortunately, events are often viewed as an easy target for cutting cost. Why, on reason may be that events are not seen as a direct influence on near-term business improvement or stated another way, there may be little fear that negative business impact will result from event reduction or cancellation. This may be affecting you right now. So, what can you do about it?

Protecting or rescuing an event depends upon identifying the payback streams flowing from your event. The number of streams and the amount of payback may surprise both you and the boss. When an event that you believe is a positive, productive influence on business is in jeopardy, it is time to identify the payback streams and make the case to continue or discontinue it based upon the impact on the bottom line.

You can read a case study on this very topic called “Cancelled, End of Discussion.” It is about a multi- million dollar sales incentive travel program that was cancelled by the chairman of a Fortune 50 sized company. His cancellation decree came mid- year, for exactly the same reasons we have cited, to cut cost. As the current program neared its’ final conclusion, a comprehensive event measurement program proved its’ worth and potential negative impact on the company if it were to be discontinued. The chairman, not known for changing his decisions, reinstated the program and increased its scope.
If this interests you read the case study found in the Solutions Center section of the Constellation website http://constellationcc.com or go directly to the document at http://constellationcc.com/cancelled.pdf .

So, what can you do if you have a good event that is in jeopardy? Mount a campaign to save it. Any event can be analyzed on a forecast basis (before the next occurrence), on a post-mortem basis (based upon the last run) or on an actual (current) event evaluation basis to determine its potential for value. This analysis will also provide prescriptive steps to increase value of an upcoming event to deliver more value to the bottom line. The output is a presentation to senior management that clearly delineates the business results associated with the event and the results that flow from it. Once the magnitude of the results is determined, the decision becomes an economic one, not an emotional one.

If you are a corporate event manager or director, consider mounting a campaign to save a productive event. If you are a provider, such as an event production agency or exhibit house, consider supporting your client in need with event measurement and ROI support. The result will be not only the potential salvation of a productive event, but a change in the way events are viewed internally by the company.

Call me at +1.770.391.0015 or email me with questions or to explore a rescue mission for an event you know is worth saving.

"No Leads Are Qualified If You Haven’t Talked to Sales" - Pre- and Post- Event Marketing, the Keys to Getting ROI on Your Event

Today I had lunch with the CEO and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for a leads development and management company called FirstWave. Naturally the conversation turned to the quality and results associated with leads produced through events and thoughts on how the two topics identified in the title of this post are inextricably linked.

In marketing, our job is to create sales opportunities and improve the probability of sale. Good sales opportunities are only those that involve the right people, i.e. those that can buy or those who are influential in the buying process. The truth is we waste a lot of time and money on the incidental visitors to an exhibit at a trade show or the disinterested participant at a festival event. Why, because we have always done it that way. Today, more than ever before, we have effective, inexpensive means of identifying and attracting those who are most qualified.

At lunch my friends from FirstWave told me something interesting. We all know how confounding it is when event organizers will not divulge detailed contact data on your targets. After all, we are paying for the event as sponsors and exhibitors! Guess what? (and you need to keep this among us) FirstWave routinely identifies email addresses with only a name, title and company. That level of information is often provided by event organizers. Now, last year’s list can become part of this year’s pre- event, direct marketing database. Why only part of the base?, because you will add you own updated contacts collected from all other marketing tactics. Why not identify and market to everyone who fits your target profile that could conceivably have an interest in the event, even if they will not attend. An event provides a reason for focused contextual contact, regardless of intent to attend. The post- show list becomes part of your post- event follow-up base. This is great stuff, if you are one of the smart event managers actively focused on pre and post event marketing work.

Back to the conversation with sales - if you don’t know what your sales team considers a qualified lead to be, you are doomed to have your leads disregarded, and perhaps your own lineage impugned. Worse, these leads are not going to produce any ROI.

According to Marketing Sherpa, only about half of marketers surveyed worked directly with sales to define a lead. If your sales management defines a qualified lead as a person who fits a particular profile (by company type, company size, functional responsibility, and title), who is committed to a specified step in their sales process and includes the necessary contact information, your job is considerably clarified and your planning refined. Your key measure becomes how many committed leads did you provide to sales. And, they can tell you the worth in eventual sales for those leads immediately upon receiving them, based upon historical close ratios and average value of sale. Voila! You can report that you contributed $XXX thousands (or millions) of dollars in sales opportunity, and the sales team will back you up!

So before your next event, consider a conference with the sales team and define two things, 1) Who do we need to see?, and 2) What do we want them to do during and after the event? Use those answers to design your event strategy and also to drive the creative brief. Why?, because you only need to show and tell your participants that which is necessary to gain their commitment to act. You can leave the kitchen sinks at home.

Dig deeply on these questions. Ask sales for a very detailed description of who they can sell most easily and or most profitably. What are the titles or departments in what type of companies where they are having the greatest success, etc?

Also, ask sales what you can accomplish at the event or trade show that will eliminate one or more sales calls in the field. After all, when you get the right person into your chair or in front of your demo at an event, you have already by-passed a considerable amount of effort required to simply to identify and make initial contact with that person.

Keep track of the leads you hand off to sales and keep track of those you have seen at events. You might be surprised how often you see the same people. This can be a good thing if the relationship is maturing in the process, or a bad thing if people are simply mooching on your hospitality. Using the types of leads maturation and development services we discussed with FirstWave at lunch, you can keep a lot tighter tabs on how your leads are progressing. Also, by tracking who visited you throughout the year, random sample research can tell you exactly how many of your leads converted to sales and for how much revenue.

Establishing a continuous post event communications stream and contact maturation program is considerably easier using electronic media, such as newsletters, on-line, interactive presentations, education, briefings, resources such as white papers, and tools such as configurators or evaluators.

Finally, Marketing Sherpa recently published the following survey data on inquiries and leads:

• 17% of inquiries are designated qualified leads
12% among best practices companies (yes less if more)
• 34% of qualified leads turn into prospects
40% among best practices companies
• 16% of prospects end up as closed sales
20% among best practices companies

If you do the math, on average, according to those marketing managers who responded, 9.25 sales result from every 1,000 inquiries, or from 170 qualified leads. That is approximately 1% (.925%) of inquiries or 5.4% of qualified leads. For best practices marketers, .96% of inquiries will close (about the same) but 8% of qualified leads result in sales. Quite an increase. Marketers who use target marketing techniques and have a tight definition of a qualified lead take fewer leads and close more sales. There is less clutter added to the pipeline and less work overall.

To sum up, there are three main ideas here regarding how to make money on leads generated from events:

1) You have to get the right people into your event, pre-identify, invite and attract them. If you don't you are holding some expensive open house parties.
2) You must have a tight definition of a qualified lead, one that is ordained by the sales team, and
3) You must work the "market" as much as you do the event logistics. Use the great new tools available to do your pre- and post-event marketing. Digital tools make prospecting, targeting, attraction, post- event lead re-qualification, and contact maturation and conversion a structured process that requires less effort to accomplish. (Lead re-qualification is a good topic for a future post!)

Thanks for lunch to FirstWave!

Call me if you have questions or would like to discuss this or anything about event measurement. 770-391-0015 or visit Constellation Communication Corp..

Pictorial Presentation of Results Drives Discussion, Change

Presenting performance data pictorially really clarifies improvement opportunities, especially when others in the organization must be convinced to change the status quo.

We have been working on a pictorial representation of what we call the Key Performance Indicators Baseline for our clients. The Baseline is developed from the measures on all evaluated events over the course of an entire year. These averages become management reference points and each event will show metrics that are above, on or below those averages. When a performance metric is below average, it warrants investigation or explanation as to why. In many cases a company may have chosen to spend more than an average spend to launch a product, support an association or hold an associated meeting.

I have included a couple of example charts here. Look for the highs and lows. Also, look for the difference between high and low performance on different measures. If you have questions call me. 770-391-0015.

Have Some Useful Fun - Take the Event Marketing Self- Assessment

I just updated this tool. We have put this to work for several exhibit and event houses and numerous companies. The tool is a self-diagnostic of how well you company does event marketing. At the end you get an instant report of "Best Practices" and "Opportunities for Improvement." (Seems I used to get a lot of those from my bosses in the old days.)

What have you got to lose - go ahead and take it.

http://constellationcc.com/assessment

This makes a great team builder too. Have every one on the extended team take this to determine where you guys agree and disagree about how well your company goes to market through events. Call us if you think that might make a great meeting or off-site topic.

Ed

770-391-0015

New! TS2 Seminar - "How to Manage Executive Perception of Trade Show Value!"

Mike Olson, Events Manager for Raytheon and Ed Jones will present a brand new case study on how to successfully manage executive perceptions of event value. The seminar will reveal how real world measurement can change how trade shows are perceived and re-define their role in the company. Get a peak at one of the most complete and effective measurement programs in industry today.

Join us at TS2 for this exciting seminar. Wednesday July 30, 4:30 - 5:30 PM.
Sign up now. See you at TS2!

Ed

Margit Weisgal to Head TSEA - A Good Move

Margit Weisgal was named the new Executive Director of TSEA last week.

This is a great move both for her and the organization. Margit is a true industry veteran. Margit worked with Ed Chapman at Sextant. Ed was a bit of an icon, having run all of the programs for AT&T when it was still among the world's largest companies. Ed wrote one of the definitive books on Trade Show Marketing and was a great influence on me. He asked me to contribute several pieces for the book. Ed died last year.

Margit is a "get-it done" kind of person. She knows her stuff, is firm and completely likable at the same time. I think she will be a great influence on TSEA. I plan to help Margit in anyway possible.

Ed

News Release - New Identity for CCC!

For Immediate Release

Constellation Introduces New Look, Information Resources

ATLANTA - Constellation Communication Corp. introduced a new corporate identity this week. The makeover included a re-designed website http://constellationcc.com, new blog http://constellationcc.blogspot.com and a quarterly email newsletter. All of these communication tools are designed to share useful ideas and updates with the events and marketing communities.

“We have a new look and feel to celebrate our 21^st anniversary in the event strategy, measurement, and ROI business,” said Ed Jones, president of Constellation. “Our goal is to make valuable information available at any time through the website, blog, and newsletters.”

The new logo preserves Constellation’s established identity and conveys the clean efficiency associated with measurement and improvement for events. The frequently asked questions (FAQ) section of the website is particularly useful in helping those who are new to event measurement understand how to get started and what to expect.

Constellation provides case studies, examples, articles and papers in the "Solutions" section of the new website.

“We feel we have more to share than ever before! We are glad to have all of you as readers,” said Jones.

Constellation is a leading event planning, measurement and ROI consulting firm serving the tradeshow and events industries worldwide.

For questions, please contact Kristen Towler at +1.770.391.0015.

Five Game Changing Ideas for Getting Payback on Events - Continued

Five exciting game changing ideas are playing a major role for our clients and those interested in improving payback on their events in 2008. These ideas have evolved from our research and evaluation of events to determine what factors most influence success or failure, and from collaboration with our clients on event planning and measurement.

What is exciting is how these ideas make a tremendous contribution to justification of event expenditures, play a significant role in changing the perception of events among wary, top tier executives, and simplify planning and reporting not only for the events you may manage but also for those members of your extended team who may be running smaller, remote events independently.

So what are they? Five game changers are introduced below. Some apply to market facing events and some apply to all types of events. We will write more on each of these concepts in our blog and in papers and articles in the coming year.

Game Changer #1 - Make one on one, face to face meetings with high value contacts a top tier objective for market facing events.

I have concluded, after twenty years of analysis, that there is no greater or more consistent influence on positive ROI than that gained from pre-arranged, face to face meetings with high value contacts during a marketing event. Why? These are the people that write checks to your organization, and the cost savings of meeting lots of customers, prospects and partners at one event, at one time can often off-set the entire event investment. If one of your main goals for event marketing activity is not a targeted number of pre-scheduled, face- to- face meetings between your executives and high value contacts, then reconsider your next plan immediately.

Game Changer #2 - The surprising value of event the related PR. Plan for “PRO Value” to justify you staff T&E, if not the entire event.

Most events, even internal ones, can generate PR, before, during and after the event. We refer to these PR outcomes simply as "PRO.” Tracking the PR hits and estimating their value has produced some surprising findings. For example, PRO is often large enough in value to cover the expense of all staff T&E, even for a large event. In some cases, PRO value may justify the entire event budget. Making PRO a top tier event objective has served to bring advertising, PR, corporate communications and events teams into much closer collaboration and focus on events as a communication opportunity. Highlighting PRO and the value associated with it has also resulted in enhanced perception of events among cost sensitive executives. One of our clients attributed $10 million dollars in media value to the PR associated with their annual conference.

Game Changer #3 - Use simplified reporting to simplify planning

We developed a "dashboard" approach to reporting event results last year. We think the more important result was the influence it had on simplifying event planning using the same structure. Our client identifies seven or eight key accomplishments applicable to most events. Smaller events may incorporate only three to five of the key objectives. The largest "diamond events" usually incorporate all of them. This helps define the “tiering” of events for the company. Each major objective is further defined by usually two subordinate objectives that demonstrate accomplishment of the key goal. The executive summary report (usually one page) shows a gauge for each measure, indicating our performance against the goal.

Using this simple structure for planning has given many event managers a really sharp tool with which to focus their internal clients on things that matter most. This has been particularly helpful for those who have little or no events background and are responsible for reporting results.

Game Changer #4 - Overhaul your communications, messages and signage to be persuasive

One of the greatest reasons for failure to deliver a return on investment on an event is ineffective communications. Meeting participants leave without a clear understanding of what is expected of them. Many times, trade show visitors can not determine what business a top tier exhibitor is in or how it might benefit them even through careful study of the exhibit. In either case, ROI is elusive if not impossible to obtain. Why, because no one is persuaded to act. Businesses invest in communication activity for only one reason, to influence behavior of targeted individuals. Business communications must therefore be “persuasive” by definition. This is the supreme test and the ultimate design criteria for all types of events. (I teach a new course on event communications that addresses this topic in complete detail.)

Game Changer #5 - Establish a performance baseline for managing and improving your events

Tracking the performance of most or all events over an entire year produces a performance baseline that you can use to great advantage. This set of totals and averages proclaim the aggregate accomplishments of your event program for an entire plan period and provide targets for comparison and improvement. For example, “we made 1,600,000 impressions among targeted individuals with our product and brand messages”, or “we produced 126,000 square feet of exhibition space at an average cost per square foot of $187.30.” Good stuff! These baseline numbers provide the best targets for managing and improving performance at future events.

Bonus Game Changer - Analyze the target market available for each event and implement a pre-event marketing program to attract high value individuals. Tailor your event communications to their interests and needs.

This is somewhat related to idea 1, in that in order to invite high value contacts to visit with you and your executives at events, you must know who is addressable through the event. This idea is not really new, but our observation is that too many companies are not doing this on a regular basis. This concept needs to be applied to internal events as well. A recent case study demonstrates how including too many lower level participants diminished an important leadership meeting. More to come on this topic!

For more details on these topics and more, visit our blog (constellationcc.blogspot.com or access the blog directly from our homepage.) Our website contains case studies and articles on these topics and more. Visit us at http://constellationcc.com and look in the “Solutions” section.

Lecture Update - Branding and Events

Subject – Course Updates “How to Create Event Communications that Attract and Sell Customers. . .”

(I am repeating this here because I believe these points have general value)

From: Ed Jones, Instructor

I hope you all are doing well.

Update and Clarification of a lecture point -

Brand, Sales and Events –

On the course evaluation a student appropriately questioned why I suggested that brand was somehow less important in sales of a product or service. He pointed out that brand is, in fact, a significant influence on sales and I completely agree. I misspoke, in an effort to emphasize a point.

My intent was to emphasize that marketing events should link directly to the sales process and require a mix of elements of all sorts, including, but not limited to brand. Brand is an essential element of content and design in all cases and is a top tier objective in most cases. In fact, on many client programs, brand building was the primary objective for certain events.

Brand guidelines should not interfere with effective event communications, but event communications should adhere to and reinforce the brand. Don't let the tail wag the dog when the objective is to directly create sales opportunity.

Information on branding and positioning were included in the final slides and your handout for just that reason. In those slides, branding is defined by Walter Landour and others and positioning is defined by Al Ries and others. These concepts are an important part of event communication strategy. You may want to do additional research independently on these topics.

I hope this course proves valuable for all of you. I heard back from several students who made immediate changes in their approach. One even called back to the office after the seminar and revised a work in progress! Good luck and call me if I can answer any questions for you.

Also, Some of you asked me or in your evaluation about how to go about setting up an on-site seminar or facilitated workshop for your extended team. If you have that need, please contact me directly. edjones@constellationcc.com, 770-391-0015.

Sincerely,

Ed Jones

Updates on Estimating and Valuing Impressions at Events

More on Estimating Impressions

This refresher was sent my students in the "How to Measure the Value of Tradeshows" courses at Exhibitor Show 2008. That course is a core requirement for Certified Trade Show Manager certification. I thought some of you may benefit from this information:

Clarification of a lecture point - How to Estimate Impressions and the Relationship Between Gross and Targeted Impressions –

Definitions -

• Gross Impressions are those that fall on the eyes and ears of anyone, target or not.

• Targeted Impressions are those that are seen or heard by those fitting one or more of your target marketing profiles. Therefore target impressions are more valuable, but gross impressions still have a value.

• Targeted individuals are generally a subset of overall event attendance (usually in the 30 – 50% of reported attendance range. This can be a much higher concentration in medical shows for example, where MDs are the participants. Any event with a registered base of attendees makes it a lot easier for you to identify who is target and who is not and to estimate the types and number of impressions.

If your company pays to advertise, then this value is real and is a contribution to the bottom line.

Estimating Impressions at an Event

Impressions are made in four main ways:

1) Direct marketing before and after an event (how many people in how many waves)

2) Media associate with an event such as website, video, magazines, show guides and dailies.

3) On-site promotion – such as your speakers at seminars and workshops, publicity for those workshops, sponsorships of various program elements, banners, billboards, bags, credential lanyards, etc., etc.

4) Exposure to your exhibit or space.

Most often advertising is funded in a separate budget. If not, then it falls in item 2 – media.

How do we estimate – we simply count, estimate or guess depending upon the circumstances. (Don’t freak out, event the best advertising and PR teams do the same for event related exposures and circulation hand-offs etc.)

Let’s consider one example for each of the four elements above.

Our case study event is attended by 40,000 people, of whom 50% meet one or more of our target profiles. (These are new examples not the examples used in the original course.)

1) Direct Marketing – before the event you sent 10,500 mailers to targeted individuals registered for the event. Gross impressions = 10,500, of which 10,500 were targeted.

2) Media – Your company was featured on a show website banner ad for three months leading up to the event. The estimated daily traffic was 3,000 individuals (usually given in hits). Your banner was so prominent as to not be missed. Your banner was seen approximately 25% of the time (1 in 4 rotation.) Gross impressions = 90 days x 3,000 individuals x 25% exposure for a total of 67,500 gross impressions. 33,750 of those impressions were targeted (50%).

3) You sponsored the on-site registration area at the event. It was utilized by approximately 50% of the 40,000 attendees. Your presence was so strong as to not be missed. Gross impressions = 2 to 3 impressions per individual (due to multiple graphic elements) x 20,000 individuals using the area (50% of attendance) for a total of 40- 60,000 gross impressions. 20 – 30,000 were targeted.

4) Exposure to the Exhibit or Space - Your exhibit was off to the right but near the front of the hall. You had superior height and neon backlit identity graphics. Your exhibit could be seen by everyone who entered the hall. Most of the 40,000 came by your exhibit, some not, but others did multiple times. An estimated 40,000 people saw your exhibit and brand and product messages. Due to the superior height and backlit presence, we would estimate another 40,000 exposures were gained (this is a pure SWAG “swinging wild- assed guess!” – but you can discuss it with your communications folks and use whatever they were comfortable with. Or your can utilize research and pin down statistically what your level of awareness and recall or share of voice was for the event.) Gross impressions therefore total = 80,000 (probably a low ball because of the multiple exposures that were likely), of which 40,000 were targeted.

These impressions have value. Get your communications folks to tell you what the cost of gross impressions and targeted impressions are for trade advertising in your business (if you are B2B) and through consumer advertising if you are in that market. B2B impressions are generally worth (i.e. cost) more. Use $240/1,000 (CPM) for gross impressions as a starting point, and $570/1,000 (CPM) for targeted impressions. These are averages I have noted among our clients in various B2B markets. Consumer impressions can be very low value/cost and sometimes have a lower average value of sale associated with them. Use $.05 to $.25 each for gross impressions ($50 - $200 CPM.) Targeted consumer impression values can be a little tricky as targeted impressions may equal gross impressions when almost anyone can buy your product, such as is the case for Home Depot for Ford.

You may want to do additional research independently on these topics and I strongly encourage you to talk with those who do the advertising and PR within your organization.

Thanks to the students who asked for more clarification, giving me the opportunity to clarify it with all of you.

I hope this course proves valuable for all of you. Good luck and call me if I can answer any questions for you.

Regards,

Ed Jones

770.391.0015

edjones@constellationcc.com

P.S. Some of you asked me or in your evaluation about how to go about setting up an on-site seminar or facilitated workshop for your extended team. If you have that need, please contact me directly. edjones@constellationcc.com, 770-391-0015.

Game Changers

2008, perhaps more than any year before it, comes with new and exciting topics that are changing the game with our clients. These new topics have elevated the results we are getting from our strategy and measurement activities. You are likely to find these subjects frequently discussed in this blog during the first half of 2008. Quickly here are the topics. I will deal with these in more detail in future posts.

1) Simplified Measurement using a "Dashboard" approach - typically eight major goals with two objectives for each goal. The big benefit, a considerable increase in executive understanding and acceptance, and a big improvement in planning clarity.

2) PR Outcomes (PRO as we have deemed it) emanating from events. This value is surprisingly large! and is a big part of cost justification for market facing events.

3) Staff and Stakeholder reviews after every event. Those who have the biggest stake, those who fund and those who participate in an event have extremely important, first hand feedback to share, and can identify most easily the improvement needs going forward.

4) The extraordinary value of pre-scheduled and ad- hoc 1:1 meetings as a major goal for all market facing events. After twenty years I have concluded there is little activity more valuable than 1:1 meetings with high value contacts, from customers, to prospects, partners, alliances, press, analysts, delegations and others who can affect your business by millions of dollars.

5) Improved communications. Another conclusion after twenty years of observation is weak, ineffective communication strategy is one of the major reasons for failure to attain a profitable outcome from events of all types.

So, if these topics interest you or may help you manage your efforts to make your company more successful tune in here, and share your reactions and ideas.

Ed

Team Blog for Constellation - News You Can Use Regarding Events

It is March 5. 2008 and we are happily joining the blogosphere!

With this Constellation team blog, we hope to capture at least a few of the thoughts and ideas we share daily among the team. Our intent is to pass along useful, creative ideas to anyone with an interest in creating and managing events that deliver big time impact.

(If you are new to Constellation, please visit http://constellationcc.com for background. We are a twenty year old consulting and research company devoted to helping our clients determine if they are making money from their events. If not, we help them identify and make the necessary changes to have a profitable impact on the company. Out goals are justification, growth and continuous improvement of events of all types, and elevation of the role and stature of those who create and manage events.)


Ed