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Research Center >> Conference Sponsorship Trade
Shows + E-Newsletters Equal ROI When you can’t beat ’em, the key is to join ’em. That’s what the trade show gurus are finding out. Some of you may be wondering how in hell you can compete with blogs, wikis, Web sites, e-newsletters and all that’s out in cyberspace. Answer? Don’t. Instead, as the old AT&T ad went, “reach out, and touch someone” and let e-newsletters sell your event to your readers. Key to Attendee Build-Up So you want your attendees to keep coming back? What’s the secret? Stay in touch and do it often (just don’t overdo it). Too often attendees complain that exhibitors forget them once the event is over and there is no follow-through. Don’t be like the organizers who lose their customers, be the one who stands out and not only has their customers coming back but also the one who collects lost customers from others. How? Read on. Three out of four (78%) top marketing decision-makers are now leveraging e-newsletters to promote their trade show events and to keep in touch with their attendees, according to a new survey by media investment bank, The Jordan Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI), with Tradeshow Week and Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO). SISO is an association designed to meet the common needs of CEOs and senior management of for-profit show producers of more than 100 event organizers. Researchers say a high number of event producers (85%) rely heavily on advertising banners to reach out to their audience, while 36 percent use electronic lead follow-up services on their Web site. Not surprisingly, the survey also revealed that 67 percent of the respondents use online appointment setting for attendees and exhibitors. Event producers also noted that they most commonly link their event Web sites to their sponsor’s Web pages (76%), while more than half (63%) link to their association’s Web sites and 62 percent use magazines as a source. Mull Over These Numbers When asked how event producers attract attendees and market to exhibitors and sponsors, 77 percent said they used online advertising, such as banners, 75 percent used partnership marketing, such as linking to partner sites and more than half (58%) used online subscriptions, such as e-newsletters. Surprisingly only 37 percent of the respondents use paid search efforts such as Google and Yahoo as lead-generated vehicles and even fewer (26%) use paid search through industry-specific search engines. At the end of the day, there is still a HOWEVER or BUT, depending on how you look at it. Who is responsible for growing the relationship beyond the event? Forty-two percent of respondents say it’s the marketing department’s responsibility entirely; just under half the respondents (48%) believe the responsibility should be shared by other media platforms within the company. But all-in-all, in answer to the $64 million question, “How important do you feel it is to extend the relationship with your event attendees beyond the event itself?” A whopping 88 percent believes it is extremely important, while only 10 percent found it somewhat important and a meek one percent believes it is not important at all. Here’s how your peers are keeping in touch.
So, there you have it. Pick up that phone and reach out to your attendees, your e-newsletter team, your print magazine and your association partners. Now, more than ever, it is a must to get your foot into cyberspace and keep on trekking! |
