Live events are a powerful way to generate leads and prospects for your business, but they are not enough on their own. You need to follow up with your attendees and nurture them until they are ready to buy from you. How can you do that effectively? Here are some tips to help you.
Not all leads are created equal. Some may be more qualified, interested, and ready to buy than others. You need to segment your leads based on their behavior, preferences, and needs. For example, you can use your live event platform or tool to track how long they stayed, what questions they asked, what offers they clicked, and what feedback they gave. Then, you can create different groups of leads based on their level of engagement, interest, and urgency.
Go into each event with a plan. A week or so before hand look at the hashtags on social media surrounding the event. Follow interesting people using the event's hashtag(s). Connect and set up times to meet with them after the day is through at the event. Also go through the event schedule, connect with the speakers on LinkedIn and plan your day(s).
Keep your existing and potential customers informed, this is really crucial. Regular advertising of repeated events worked really well for me.
Once you have segmented your leads, you need to communicate with them in a way that is relevant, valuable, and personalized. You can use email, SMS, social media, or phone calls to stay in touch with them. The key is to tailor your messages to their specific needs, challenges, goals, and pain points. For example, you can send them a thank-you note, a recap of the event, a case study, a testimonial, a free trial, a discount, or a demo. You can also use their name, location, industry, or other details to make your communication more human and friendly.
Each event is different. Definitely be personal and personable when connecting people at the event. Set up a calendar for connecting with people during and after the event.
Nurturing your live event leads and prospects can be time-consuming and complex. You need to send the right message at the right time to the right person. You also need to monitor their responses and actions and adjust your strategy accordingly. That's why you need to automate your workflow as much as possible. You can use tools like email marketing software, CRM systems, chatbots, or webinars to create and deliver your messages automatically. You can also use triggers, rules, and workflows to segment your leads, schedule your communication, and move them along your sales funnel.
You've come away from a successful event. You have spreadsheets filled with contacts. Time for follow up. An email nurture workflow in your CRM will simplify the work of post-event nurture. I always send at least three emails. 1. Hope You Enjoyed the Show. This should capitalize on the energy that people have after an event. Call out something interesting that happened or reference something memorable about your booth/activation. 2. Thought Leadership or Event Recap: Share some useful information from the event. Maybe session notes or an analysis of meta-trends. Give people something valuable for free. 3. Product Offer LTO: They may not have expressed intent at the show, but this is a chance to squeeze out more lead gen.
One of the main goals of nurturing your live event leads and prospects is to build trust and credibility with them. You want to position yourself as an expert and a solution provider in your field. You also want to educate them on how your product or service can help them solve their problems or achieve their goals. To do that, you need to provide value and education in every communication. You can share useful tips, insights, resources, best practices, or case studies that show how you can help them. You can also invite them to join your community, blog, podcast, or newsletter where you can offer more value and education.
Clients can provide valuable insights and perspectives to your audience at your event. Additionally, it helps attendees build trust. By working with your organization, a client speaker can also build a positive brand image and show leads and prospects a sense of belonging.
Another goal of nurturing your live event leads and prospects is to motivate them to take action and buy from you. You want to create a sense of urgency and scarcity that makes them feel like they need to act now or miss out on a great opportunity. You can do that by using deadlines, countdowns, limited offers, bonuses, or guarantees that create a fear of missing out (FOMO) or a desire to avoid pain or loss. You can also use social proof, testimonials, reviews, or ratings that show how others have benefited from your product or service and how satisfied they are.
Finally, you need to track and measure your results to see how effective your nurturing strategy is. You need to use metrics and analytics to evaluate your performance and identify your strengths and weaknesses. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or your live event platform or tool to track your leads and prospects' behavior, actions, and conversions. You can also use surveys, feedback forms, or interviews to collect their opinions and suggestions. Then, you can use the data and insights to optimize your strategy and improve your results.
Every live event provides exhibitors with a valuable lead collection application or tool. It is paramount to thoroughly explore and familiarise oneself with this application well in advance of the event to harness its full potential. By doing so, you can optimise your utilisation of the app, ensuring that you efficiently capture and manage leads, engage with prospects, and track your performance throughout the event. This proactive approach not only streamlines your lead generation efforts but also enables you to measure and analyze your results effectively, allowing for data-driven decision-making and enhancing your overall event ROI.
When I go to an event, I like to figure out what my goals are from the event. Is it making new connections, find some business, learning. Go with a clear goal.