We know the feeling of the months leading up to a B2B marketing event.
A B2B event is both exciting and challenging, there are so many things that you can do to leverage your marketing efforts in order to form powerful personal connections with your client base and prospects.
Today we examine how you can leverage multiple channels for your upcoming event and ensure your event’s success!
The Preparation
Suppose you want to truly leverage multiple channels for your B2B event. It’s imperative that you start at the soonest possible time. Start the preparation a couple of months in advance with strategic pieces such as venue, speakers, and event marketing activities such as emails and phone calls already preplanned. A lot of things can go wrong in event planning so it pays to get everything sorted out at the soonest.
Social Channels
We’re not just talking about Facebook here, but a multi-channel approach on all the platforms that your prospects could be in. Whether it be LinkedIn or Twitter, you have to get the buzz out. It’s useful to note that you should start engaging the people who have already expressed their intention of attending on social media.
Try to hold mini-games, online contests or even distribute viral teaser videos of your event.
At the same time, the content that you are releasing has to be syndicated through your social media outlets as well. Do it on a schedule so that people won’t be overwhelmed with the amount of content you’re releasing.
If you have already engaged in one platform make sure you’re able to retarget on another one. This makes your social media strategy an omnichannel one.
Traditional Public Relations
The standard newspaper press release will help you out but it should not end there if you can secure a quick spot on the popular morning radio program, that will be even better. We tend to shy away from television advertising because it can get costly and might not reach our intended audience.
Do not underestimate the power of traditional media.
Invite the People That Matter!
Getting the right people involved can be difficult but months of prep time will allow you to connect with anyone. Make sure that the people who will be attending are aware of the presence of notable speakers.
If you find that you are having difficulty reaching a particular speaker, you can try to get to them using the current speakers that you have. This strategy works especially for people that you can’t seem to get ahold of.
Consider Regular Ad Placements
Magazine ad placements might be pricey but sometimes your target demographic still reads popular print media. If you have the ad budget for it, a B2B ad in a respected business journal would be great to boost your popularity, but sometimes even a magazine article is enough to get the word around without spending too many valuable resources.
Industry Connections
Do not think of your B2B sales as just an event for your prospects, this is also an opportunity for you to socialize with your other industry connections. Sometimes you will find that having, for example, your suppliers present will make a big difference in getting other people to commit.
Content Marketing Through Other Web Properties
The content that you will be releasing during the process should have already been prepared and your blog should be constantly updated. This content should be syndicated with your social media accounts as we’ve mentioned earlier.
Incorporating content syndication into your strategy is crucial for maximizing your audience reach and engagement. More than producing blog posts, make sure that your teaser videos, infographics, whitepapers, and other informative complementary content are imperatively syndicated. This will amplify your messaging and enable you to connect with your audience on multiple platforms effectively.
To scale your content more easily, outsourcing to an expert content syndication provider can help you manage and streamline this process, allowing you to focus on your core business functions and align your efforts with your main business goals.
Get Your Speakers to Help You Market (And Get the Right Ones)
Do not just concentrate on getting speakers on specific topics related to what you are offering, but get speakers with large followings that can contribute to the “big picture” sale. By doing this you can leverage their networks and create a more holistic event for all your participants.
Ask them if they can tweet about your event or help promote your other material through their online properties.
Get the Big Guys Talking
All of these efforts would have been in vain if the head honchos weren’t present. You have to be able to provide a unified front when it comes to event marketing because the spotlight will be on how the event represents the brand.
The C-suite can be extremely helpful in this case because it shows that everyone is involved. Plus, they might have connections that can greatly benefit the entire brand.
Event marketing is one of the most powerful tools that you have in your arsenal because it allows you to personally interact with your prospects and long-term customers. However, it can get costly and it is important that you are efficient with the channels and approaches that you choose to leverage.
