Decades of experience helping companies grow, tells us that going to industry events is a vitally important way to build awareness and get leads in B2B. As the specialist marketing agency for insights, we get a lot of clients asking us why they should go and how best to make the most of them. We also hear people wondering if it is worth the investment. Here is our step-by-step guide on how to make the most out of events and ensure you return with your inbox stuffed with opportunities – even if you are not on the stage (more on that in another post!).
Before the event
Agree responsibility: each member of the team should know what is expected of them before, during and after the event. You might want a “team leader” to be responsible for keeping the team on track and delivering key learnings and contacts at the end.
Agree your objectives – you are aiming to get contacts, not meetings or immediate sales – though these would be nice, the aim is to meet people, connect and network to raise your awareness and get emails (sales come later). Your objective should be to get to meet and garner the details of as many new people as you can, so you can nurture them for your pipeline, and to build on existing relationships by discussing the event content (not your pitch).
Set individual KPIs so you each have a target of companies or people you will meet.
Block your diary for the time you will be at the event so no other meetings go in. It is a total waste of time and money to be on a call at an event. If you need to be on a call or in a meeting which cannot be missed, send someone else in your place.
Join the event app, look at the attendee list and identify people you really want to meet. You can reach out to them on the app in advance but do not do a generic spammy note (“we do xx, I’d like to talk to you about it”), instead, make it specific to the client and preferably related to the content at the event. “I see you are talking about xxx, this is a topic close to our hearts as we’ve just done a pilot for a new way to do xxx”…and have some great examples of how to make it work. “I’d love to meet to listen to your experience and see how it fits with ours” or something like that. I am always amazed at how many generic and inappropriate emails I get from suppliers just because I attended an event – Keen as Mustard is not a research company and we do not need sample. Do your research, researchers!
Research the agenda (see above) and put in your diary the sessions you will attend in advance – select the sessions by clients you most want to meet or feel you have the most in common with. Divide and conquer, so if there are two of you, do not both go to the same session if you can avoid it.
Flag your attendance on LinkedIn in advance, at least twice, and tag key people such as the event organizers. Say in your post what you are looking forward to (tag the clients presenting) and why.
Use the event meeting system to organize direct 1-2-1 meetings in advance.
During the event
Attend all the sessions you have flagged/arranged to go to (it’s easy to get sucked in and miss them, again, don’t waste your opportunity by having a call instead).
Make notes/take photos during the sessions – key learnings are important (plus anyone sharing their email on slides) – have your camera at the ready to take good photos.
Share key points/learnings on LinkedIn as much as you can during the event, use decent photos and tag the client speaker and the organizers.
Ask a question of the client speaker (you can state your name and company briefly first), e.g. ‘I’m Jane from This Company. I was really interested in what you said about xxx, how do you think AI will impact that?”
If you do not or cannot ask a question (sometimes they are only on the event app but this is worth doing anyway), then go up to the speaker after the session and introduce yourself but specifically talk about the content of their talk, don’t go straight in with your pitch. “Hi, I’m Jane from This Company. Loved your talk. In particular, the bit about xxx which really resonated with me because we find our clients really struggle with that…” or something. Bring in other clients/experience so she knows you know what you are talking about.
If the convo goes well, ask to exchange details. (Events often have a badge ‘Klik’ thing which works well). You can say you have some thought leadership on the topic she was talking about (or a case study), that you’d like to share.
With clients that are not speaking, you need to network and meet as many people as possible. Good ways to do this are in the queue for coffee/lunch/snacks – you can just ask them about the event, what do they think of the content, what have they seen that resonated with them, why? During breaks take the chance to join someone at a table/bench if there is a space and have the above convo with them. If you are sitting next to a new person in the audience, shake their hand when you sit down and introduce yourself. The chances are that a lot of them will be other agencies, but you will definitely meet potential clients this way, just by chance.
Take advantage of all the social networking opportunities – parties, receptions, events etc. In my experience as many business connections are made at these than at the event itself.
After the event
Have a debrief meeting to discuss how it went, evaluate progress on KPIs and share contacts to get them into your database. Share what you learnt with those who were not able to attend.
Follow up with all the contacts you made. This should be a one-on-one email recalling the conversation you had and sharing something – preferably a piece of content that might help continue the conversation. After that it’s over to your sales team to nurture…and I guess you are involved as much or as little as you need to be. (And, if you need help creating content for this, speak to Keen as Mustard!)
Draft some bullet points or write a post about the highlights of the event, which you share on your website and on LI – and tag the appropriate people including all the client sessions you mention or viewed. E.g. What’s the most surprising thing I’ve learnt? What is the session I found most inspiring? What topics were most discussed and why? Any new trends? Any new friends? What can you expect to change in the industry based on what you’ve learnt?
Remember, you are more likely to get on the stage next time (even if you are paying for your slot) if you have built a good relationship with the organisers…so make sure you work with them to ensure each and every event is a success.