Event-based marketing (EBM) is a popular tool for many businesses, but did you know… the majority of leads (up to 62%) are not followed-up by company representatives after an event? Unfortunately, a lack of organising for what comes next after your marketing event often results in the loss of potential leads.
EBM provides a more personalised form of marketing, allowing you to engage with new prospects, and form personal connections. Yet, without planning the follow-up to your event, you could be neglecting potential prospects, and therefore, wasting your hard-earned efforts.
Many businesses claim to contact new leads after an event, so perhaps the question is do they manage to do so efficiently? A lack of preparation for what comes after the event seems to be a common error and one we want to help iron out. To ensure you know how best to follow-up your event leads, we’ve put together some helpful tips…
Don’t wait till after your event to plan your follow-up procedure. By then it’s already too late!
Most leads gathered will be hot and need to be followed up within 3-4 days of the event, so you need to make your move sooner rather than later, which ideally means having a follow-up plan in place before your event.
For those of you who are especially organised, you may want to think about setting up an automated email message after capturing new data, thanking them for visiting your stand, and explaining that a dedicated sales representative will be in touch within your set timescale.
Making contact as soon as possible is crucial in transforming your prospects into paying customers. The longer it takes you to follow-up your leads, the most likely it’ll be that they get poached by a competitor, particularly when you consider that attendees will have signed up to numerous mailing lists during the event.
A fast response is also about providing your prospects with the right impression, teaching them of your proficiency and positively influencing them. All of which can be achieved by putting an effective follow-up plan in place. In order to do so, you’ll want to consider:
Bear in mind that there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to effective contact. While a blanket email will undoubtedly save you time, no two companies are the same so the best use of a follow-up campaign is to qualify leads by offering a range of options for further engagement.
Follow-up emails provide an ideal reminder to the prospect of details you provided at the event, just try not to overdo it by including reused or outdated content. Instead, ensure your email is intended to drive action with relevant white papers, case studies, infographics, demos or videos.
Consider tailoring your approach further by personalising each email with the name of the assigned sales representative for that prospect, and include their direct number and personal email at the end of the email.
Make sure your ‘call to action’ in each mailer is specific to its unique content, for example; ‘download our free white paper’, ‘request a demo’, or ‘watch our 3 minute video’. Any response (e.g. a white paper, download or demo request) will help to prioritise which leads merit being called first.
It’s important to map out your approach to make things clearer in your head. Start with your basic order of events and then fine-tune your follow-up sequence. A marketing automation platform can help you to achieve this.
The goal/s of your automated follow-up will vary depending on your business model, but ideally you’re aiming to deliver as much value as possible, educate your prospects and differentiate you from the competition.
Once you’ve put your event-based marketing strategy in place, it’s crucial that you continually analyse its success and making adjustments where necessary. By interpreting your data in regards to the effectiveness of it, you can eliminate speculation in the future, and further develop the most beneficial means of reaching your prospects.
Event-based marketing can improve brand recognition and drive ROI quickly and efficiently, however good marketing before, during and after your event can increase the reach, influence and conversion opportunities of your business, so why not get started on your event follow-up strategy today?
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