The fairy tale of lead generation in MICE sales

Welcome to issue 17 of?#SupplierPost(s) ?? - the biweekly newsletter with information and thoughts for MICE marketing and sales in a changed market.?

Yours Peter

"How many leads do you generate for me at the MICEboard event?" is one of the most frequently asked MICE sales questions we hear, and certainly all other providers of MICE trade fairs and MICE sales events of any kind.?

The question is surprising. Not because it is not justified, but it is surprising who is asking it, namely MICE sales department, although lead generation has long since ceased to be its task, but the task of the marketing department.?

What is lead generation?

Lead generation describes the marketing process of generating awareness or interest in a product or service with the aim of developing the sales pipeline.

Lead generation in the MICE industry involves (and should involve!) the use of digital channels, as the process of lead generation has changed significantly in recent years due to new online and social media techniques. This is partly because there is a wealth of information available that an event planner can best access online. Especially if he needs information and inspiration from other - far away - destinations and her MICE suppliers.

And secondly, it is due to the rise of the buyer to a "self-determined buyer", leading to new online marketing practices for developing and qualifying potential leads before passing them on to sales. Put simply: online first in person second. Lead generation results from a supplier's information-based online marketing efforts and the service providers it uses to do so. These are, for example, the MICE media or communities such as the MICEboard community.?

In other words: if there is no online-based communication about the services and offers (information, products, brands) on the part of the supplier itself and on the part of the organiser of MICE trade fairs and MICE sales events, no qualified leads can be generated at this trade fairs and sales events.?

Why is lead generation important?

The buying process has changed a lot in recent years. Marketers (Not MICE sales!) need to find new ways to reach buyers and get heard in the general noise. Instead of seeking out customers with mass advertising and email campaigns, marketers today need to focus on being found by buyers and building long-term relationships with customers. In summary: from PUSH to PULL marketing! The MICE supplier has to do a lot to be found by the "self-determined buyer". For this, maximum online awareness is essential, because whoever or whatever is not found online does not exist. And if you don't gain the awareness of the buyer, you won't be considered for business.?

Information abundance and the economy of awareness

With the growth of the internet, the world has moved away from information scarcity and towards information abundance. The problem is that information abundance also means a lack of attention. The awareness of the recipients is increasingly diminishing. The phenomenon can be observed very well in various social networks. This development has completely transformed the buying process. Buyers are overwhelmed by the omnipresent noise: They increasingly learn to ignore the messages they don't want to hear and to research what they want to know themselves.?

The new buying process

In the old world of information scarcity, the concept of "lead generation" meant that the marketing department tracked down the names of potential buyers and passed them on to sales. Buyers expected to have to talk to sales, and sales expected to have to talk to uninformed early-stage buyers who might not yet be qualified. This is the pattern that all MICE trade shows and MICE sales events are currently still based on - the only exception being the MICEboard trade events, which have understood how the new buying process of an event planner works.

This process has changed. Today, buyers can do their own research online. Through search engines, social media and other online channels, they can find a variety of informative resources. Content resources now provide buyers with comprehensive information about a product or service before they have even spoken to a sales representative.?So companies need to expand their digital presence at all costs. Buyers of the younger generations (under 45 years) attend trade shows and sales events with a specific need to talk, which has been created by their online research. They only go to a trade fair stand when the supplier is basically eligible and not - as it used to be - because they just want to "have a look and walk around the trade fair to discover something new" Both decision-makers and contributors today try to find MICE suppliers instead of being found by them.?

Buyers today - according to a study by Forrester - usually have two thirds to 90% of the customer journey behind them before they even (want to) reach the supplier in person! This is happening more and more because buyers today have much more access to information: They can delay a conversation with MICE sales until they have become experts themselves.

Therefore, a lead generation strategy is important to build trust and get buyers interested before they are ready to contact MICE sales. We offer such a solid and successful strategy with MICEboard - basically for all suppliers of the MICE industry and specifically integrated in the participation fees for all MICEboard trade events. Therefore, the question of MICE Sales: "How many leads do you guarantee me at a MICEboard event?" is wrong.

It should read: "How much awareness can you give me as an organiser for my participation in your MICEboard event? Awareness that can generate serious leads who will either come to the event in person or who will contact us directly?"

?Attention vs. actually earned attention

Attention scarcity is causing a shift from "rented awareness" to "earned awareness". Historically, most marketing activities have been based on rented awareness built up by others. An example of this is buying an ad in a MICE magazine or renting an exhibition stand. But in the noisy, crowded marketplace in which MICE suppliers operate today, rented awareness is becoming increasingly less effective as awareness in general becomes more scarce. Of course, this is not an either-or position: ideally, MICE suppliers would use a mix of rented and earned awareness for lead generation to be effective.

But how can MICE suppliers build awareness??

By becoming a trusted advisor for potential customers, by developing high-quality content and innovative concepts and publishing them online. Given the new buying habits, it is important that marketing activities do not end as soon as a new prospect enters the system - this is called TOFU marketing (Top of the Funnel).?Many MICE suppliers successfully generate leads here (even if it's only through the free beer at the exhibition stand). The problem, however, is that most new leads are not yet ready to buy. And if a sales representative subsequently makes contact but the prospect doesn't want to talk to him, this underlines the fact that such leads don't bring much. So leads are lost, ignored or snatched away by the competition.

To prevent this, we invest in lead-nurturing and other middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) techniques for our clients (international suppliers to the MICE industry) to build relationships and trust with the MICEboard community - and thus mediate a match between genuinely interested event planners (from Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and eligible suppliers from the MICEboard community, so that they can do business with each other as soon as these buyers are actually ready to buy. Therefore, we act online for our MICEboard suppliers with text, video and audio content. We are dedicated to cultivating the MICEboard community of German-speaking event planners who regularly organise events abroad.?

Creativity and innovation in lead generation

Suppliers to the MICE industry today need to find increasingly creative ways to get noticed by buyers above the general noise.

Lead generation can be broken down into two main categories: Inbound and Outbound. Online marketing strategies for nurturing and retaining customers should be considered as part of a holistic strategy

Inbound marketing means helping potential customers in the process of finding the MICE supplier - often before they even want to make a purchase.?In order to transform brand perception into brand preference and ultimately into leads and sales. This is what we specialise in as a communications agency for the MICE market.

The days when MICE sales and marketing could only rely on outbound strategies such as trade fairs, sales events, cold calls, sales calls and advertisements are long gone. Today, the customer - the buyer - has a firm grip on the reins. According to one study, buyers look for three different pieces of content about one supplier for every one piece of promotional material sent by MICE marketing or MICE sales.?As customers inform themselves, the task of MICE marketing today is to make itself heard above the general noise and find new ways through which the supplier of leads can be found. To be successful in the modern world and to positively influence lead generation, you need solid industry knowledge, knowledge of the target group's (buyer's) wants and needs, access to a target group community and sound knowledge of MICE inbound marketing.

How does it all work??

MICE suppliers need to create interest - with a relevant mix of informative and stimulating content that builds an informed relationship with the target audience. And MICE suppliers need to distribute relevant online content through the right channels where buyers spend time.?

Content is the foundation of inbound marketing. The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as "a marketing technique in which relevant, high-quality content is created and distributed to attract, engage, and interact with a clearly defined and extensively researched audience - with the goal of generating profitable customer behaviour".?

Content is the fuel of all marketing campaigns - from email to social. Content must be relevant to the target audience and encourage sharing. By developing quality content, suppliers gain the trust of event planners and get their voices heard in the long term. Quality over quantity.

Social media channels make it easy for buyers to research and learn about supplier products and services, supported by influencer content and content from other users.?Social media channels themselves have undergone a transformation. Although they are still important for branding and building interest, lead generation is becoming increasingly important. By being where the customers are - namely on Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, XING, Twitch, TikTok, YouTube and on podcast channels - social media channels are used to build trust.

Outbound marketing and inbound marketing in a clever mix

A balanced marketing mix that includes both inbound and outbound strategies makes sense.... For broad-based lead generation, inbound marketing is ideal, but outbound can support inbound activities and be targeted at very specific business opportunities.?

But what exactly is outbound marketing? It uses outbound channels to deliver your message and content to potential customers. This means that messages and content are generally not made available on your own channels. Instead, it is provided as we offer it: on the MICEboard community pages and in the MICEboard networks in the social media.

Using MICE trade events and sales events correctly

MICE suppliers participating in trade fairs and sales events should always thoroughly question what inbound and outbound marketing measures the organiser is taking to attract qualified leads for each exhibitor (supplier) in advance??

This should be done - if you want to have serious buyers - with the content of the participating suppliers and of course before (!) the event or fair. Buyer acquisition with the content and offers of the participating suppliers/exhibitors! Creative content that achieves meaningful awareness for each individual participating supplier so that it arouses the buyer's interest and encourages him to participate. The offers of the suppliers (exhibitors) always determine the demand (participating buyers). This is not the task of the organiser alone. The organiser can only support this if the suppliers understand this in principle.?

Unfortunately, this is not always the case, which is why there are still numerous MICE industry sales events that exclusively advertise with fancy destinations and great 5-star hotels - in Ibiza, Punta Cana, Cascais, Lisbon or the UAE - to event planners for a free participation and not with the content of the participating suppliers of these sales events. Not even the names of the suppliers are known at the time when attendees fill the registration form.?

But someone will always be found for a free weekend trip to Ibiza, Portugal or the Dominican Republic. However, this usually has nothing to do with a qualified lead generating.?It is a fairy tale to be able to generate qualified leads in this way.

#SupplierPost(s) ??

This newsletter is aimed at suppliers from the MICE industry. It aims to stimulate, criticize and confront. It does not want to embarrass anyone, but to encourage out-of-the-box thinking. To have the courage to critically question the existing and to question methods of MICE marketing and sales.

It is not about right or wrong. It's about securing the future of an industry. If you are a MICE supplier, we would be very happy to hear your opinion on the topics.