A simple strategy for creating
B2B customer events
What makes a
great event?
Face to face engagement is the most
powerful engagement tool when
building real, meaningful relationships,
but with the proliferation of social
media channels, how can physical
meetings retain and add value?
Here, we look at a simple strategy for
creating memorable customer events
that will achieve ROI and your
business objectives.
Why go to all the trouble?
Successful brands invest in face to face events for one simple reason. Bringing together
high-value customers and prospects builds loyalty, advocacy and trust in your customers to
discover and stimulate new revenue opportunities.
How do I get people to come?
An event is a product like any other. Sell the customer the benefits and develop a USP:
• “Be the first to hear future strategies and technologies”
• “Get one-on-one time with senior leaders and experts”
• “Thought leadership – independent insight from leading industry authorities”
• “Networking – an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences with peers”
(Something that will be immeasurably valuable to them and you are the catalyst of.)
What's in it for you?
•
Quality face to face time with your high-value customers and prospects in one place
• Aid the development of future strategies through intelligence and knowledge sharing
• Fast track the sales funnel and qualify leads
• Build and nurture lasting customer relationships.
Think carefully on timing
Timing can be everything. Some points to consider:
• Does it clash with any other big industry events or school holidays?
• Do you want to kick start the year or focus people for the final push?
• How long should the event be? If people are travelling far for the event, two nights
and two days would be a good starting point to get the most out of it.
Style and tone
Whilst you may have brand guidelines, do they reflect your brand values?
The location of the event; the way it is run; dress code; invitations and even the tone of
voice of the event should live the brand values.
Consider your commercial proposition
Some companies focus their customer events on recognition and relationship-building;
an event that is as much about a ‘thank you’ as it is about the business. In this instance
you need to fully fund the event and hold it somewhere that lives up to the billing.
Some companies make their customer events about adding value. They ensure that it is
as valuable for the customers as it is for the host. Attendance fees, sponsorship and
charging exhibitors will help in making this more formal business approach cost-neutral.
Involve third parties to add value
Bringing in relevant third parties can add value to the event both in terms of content and
financial benefits. Content generation from other parties increases audience exposure.
In addition, sponsorship from key supply chain partners or event exhibition space sold to
distributor channels can increase revenue and offset your costs.
Don’t try to do too much in year one
Start small. ROI won’t necessarily be seen in the first year’s event. It will be about
starting conversations and nurturing them on to future events
• Focus on quality not quantity – long term thinking will yield better ROI
• Be realistic about costs
• Measure the outputs and refine for the years ahead.
•
Finally…
Be creative, make it fun and engaging
Don’t hold presentation after presentation – look to create an agenda that blends
information delivery and participatory involvement to keep the audience engaged
• Be creative – crowdsourcing ideas from your customers via brainstorming sessions
or mini-workshops involves them with the business planning process and creates
better products or services that meets their needs
• Keep an open dialogue. Two-way communication is the key!
•