#001 - It’s all about understanding our audience

I’m thrilled to have you here, especially since this is our very first journey together (notice the #001 — it's my inaugural newsletter). Let’s make it memorable!

EEEVERYBODY (and I mean everybody) talks about “Personalized event experiences”.

Very few do it.

What I did for years and what many still do is:

? Send a weekly pre-event general information:

? Here are the Speakers

? Here is our matchmaking session

? Here are 2-3 sessions you don’t want to miss

? Blah blah blah

? Or even worst, organizations send a very long email with all this information once. And then silence.

Addressing emails by name is not personalization.

We forget ONE major thing:

Those people already registered. They were sold.

? Now let's make them eager to attend, make them want to open our emails:

1. Offer new information, not what they saw on the website when they registered.
2. Make them think about the event 1 month before, ask themselves questions, feel the anticipation.

Here is what event Personalization is:

• Ask attendees no more than 3 smart questions.
• Segment the attendees into at least 2 groups.
• Write authentic new-information content for the 2 groups.
• Offer incentives tackling the reason they registered (and no, it’s never the same reason for all)

This worked very well for me:

?3 questions to ask event registrants (must be personalized according with the event's theme):

1?? What are your primary goals for attending this event?

?? Networking with peers

?? Finding business partners

?? Seeking investment opportunities

?? Gaining insights into industry trends

2?? Which areas of expertise / interest are you looking to explore or offer?

?? Innovation and emerging technologies

?? Sustainability and environmental practices

?? Leadership and personal development

3?? How do you prefer to engage at the event?

?? One-on-one meetings

?? Roundtable discussions

?? Informal social mixers

?? Interactive workshops

? This is how I segment participants in an Excel document.

Some written instructions here .

Based on my event's data, these are the two main groups based on their motivations and engagement preferences:

?? Industry Innovators and Trendsetters

This group primarily attends the event with goals of gaining insights into industry trends. They are especially interested in areas like "Innovation and emerging technologies" and "Sustainability and environmental practices".

Engagement preferences:

• Prefer interactive workshops to dive deep into subjects.
• Enjoy roundtable discussions for exchanging ideas and best practices.

? Ideas to personalize emailing for them:

• Pre-event exclusive insights email: share an exclusive report or article on the latest trends in technology and sustainability. Highlight key speakers or thought leaders who will be discussing these topics at the event.
• Interactive workshops highlight: provide a sneak peek into some of the hands-on workshops planned, emphasizing how these sessions can help them stay ahead in their fields.
• Roundtable invitation: invite them to a pre-event virtual roundtable discussion with a key speaker to warm up the conversations expected at the event.

??Business Development Seekers

Attendees in this group are primarily focused on finding business partners and seeking investment opportunities. Their interest in "Leadership and personal development" indicates a drive to build influential networks and enhance their strategic thinking and leadership skills.

Engagement preferences:

• Favor one-on-one meetings to form meaningful business relationships.
• Participate in informal social mixers to casually connect with potential partners or investors.

? Ideas to personalize emailing for them:

• One-on-one meeting scheduler kickoff: launch a matchmaking session, implement a meeting scheduler feature, focused on ease of use to secure meetings with potential partners and investors.
• Leadership skills booster: offer a pre-event webinar or a series of articles featuring tips on enhancing leadership skills and personal development from renowned experts, exclusive to attendees.
• Informal social mixers preview: provide details about themed social mixers planned for the event, each designed to foster relaxed networking opportunities with a creative twist.

Clients, members, attendees, they are all customers of some service or product we provide.

We need to treat them as individuals, not as one big group.

??Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help:

??Check out my guide on Amazon: Business Matchmaking in Events . It's a step-by-step method to truly know your audience, turn data into actionable insights, and organize meaningful Matchmaking sessions.

??Let’s meet, really! Learn from each other in #Events and #Community: book a call here .