Companies are spending more than ever on events, with most organizations spending more than 25% of their marketing budget on events, and 64% of event professionals reporting an increase in their event spend in 2022, so maximizing event ROI is top-of-mind.
Your website is a great way to engage prospects before, during and after you attend a trade show to increase interest and convert more attendees into customers, and using a tool like Lead Forensics to identify your website visitors unlocks even greater potential. Here are just a few ways you can maximize event ROI…
Before the event
Upload your wish list of people to talk to
Ahead of the event, do some research and upload a list of event attendees to the Lead Forensics portal that you’d like to speak to while you’re on site. If anyone from that business visits your website in the lead-up to the event, you’ll get an alert in real-time, along with contact details so you can reach out and invite them to your stand or schedule a meeting at the event.
Lead Forensics also shows you what pages and they looked at on your website so you can see what products or services they’re interested in, allowing you to personalize your approach and really impress them.
Invite website visitors to attend the event
In the run up to the event, keep an eye out for visitors to your website who are local to the event or who’s job role or industry is relevant to the event. Reach out, invite them to the show and arrange a meeting.
If you can get in front of your prospects in-person they’re much more likely to convert to a customer. Exhibition leads on average will close a deal 20% faster than the average sales lead, so getting that face-to-face contact makes a huge difference and will have a big impact on maximizing event ROI.
Attract Qualified Booth Visitors
Marketers spend a huge amount of money preparing their booths with the perfect lighting, setup and location to attract visitors. But what do you do when visitors enter the show with their booths of choice in mind?
To attract qualified attendees, get ahead of the competition and schedule appointments with predetermined time slots before the event starts.
Self-schedule appointments
Let your attendees self-schedule appointments before the event, use a tool like Calendly to create a shareable link for your event marketing and eliminate the need for an intermediary.
This lets attendees choose the time that’s best for them and cuts down on a lengthy back-and-forth trying to find a time that works for both of you. Attendees will likely be planning their day around talks and panels they want to see, so they’ll appreciate the opportunity to decide when they want to meet with you. You can also use appointment scheduling tools to create and edit meetings on another’s behalf.
Monitor social media click-throughs to maximize event ROI
Use UTM tracking to monitor visitors who click through to your site from social media posts about the event, including existing customers, lapsed customers and prospects who are already in your pipeline. Arranging to see them at the event can be a perfect opportunity to upsell, win back or finally close a deal with a contact.
During the event
Drive traffic to your site
While the event is taking place, your focus will be on talking to the event attendees, but you should also be linking all your collateral back to your website and driving traffic where possible. For example, QR codes that give attendees more information on what you offer, or lead them to a landing page where they can enter a giveaway – the more traffic you drive to your site, the easier it will be to track and maximize event ROI
Capture Leads Instantly
Collecting and managing leads on the day is crucial for your event ROI. Empower your sales representatives at the trade show to instantly capture and manage leads right from the floor. It will allow them to check-in attendees, view meetings, take notes, qualify leads and share e-literature then and there.
Track everything to monitor event ROI
Don’t forget to add UTM tracking codes to your links – the better you can track who comes to your website during the event, the easier it will be to track and follow up with them after the event using Lead Forensics.
After the event
Find out who’s visiting your website in the follow-up period
During the all-important follow-up period after the event, being able to see who is visiting your website is invaluable information. With Lead Forensics you can upload your list of contacts from the event and set up alerts to let you know when someone you spoke to at the show visits your website. You can also cross-reference the exhibitor list to help identify prospects.
This helps you measure the success of your follow-up campaign, measure event ROI and see what tactics are working and which ones aren’t, so you can improve and refine your strategy in future.
The real-time nature of Lead Forensics’ alerts also means you know the exact moment a prospect is thinking about your business, giving you the opportunity to pick up the phone and catch them at the right time.
See what topics prospects are interested in
You’ll likely have some great conversations during the event that give you very valuable insights into what a prospect is after and which of your products or services are the best fit for them, but seeing what pages they look at when they visit your site can also be very valuable information. They might have had a bright idea about a whole other way your services could help their business, so pay close attention to where they’re looking!
This information allows you to tailor your approach to the content they’ve been looking at, impress them and ensure you’re keeping the conversation relevant and not wasting their time.
Actionable insights
Once you’re ready to present your event ROI to your stakeholders, you’ll need to have all qualifying information to answer questions like: Why was a certain meeting important? What was the attendee interested in? Why should they be moved to the next phase in the pipeline? Lead Forensics can help you answer these questions, showing where traffic has come from and the journey the prospect has taken.
With Lead Forensics you can…
- Identify and win more new business
- Take action on unconverted enquiries, and put them into a marketing automation flow so they stay nurtured
- Transform lapsed customers into new business
- Give your target accounts a VIP experience and tailor the conversation
- Boost your event ROI by being able to track your leads
- Receive real-time multi-channel alerts on the accounts you have flagged in your portal
Want to boost event ROI and make the most out of your web traffic? Book a demo of Lead Forensics today.
