Top 10 Ways to Connect & Engage @ In-person Events

Attending an event (as a sponsor or attendee) can serve as a tremendous catalyst for your business growth, unlocking untapped potential and creating a buzz around your brand. However, to truly reap the benefits of events, you must invest time, effort, and money into ensuring a successful outcome. The key lies in executing a carefully strategized plan which includes these ten essential elements: fostering strong partnerships, selecting the right event, promoting your attendance effectively, aligning your brand with the event's theme/location, offering compelling incentives, utilizing social media, tracking your return on investment, engaging with attendees, maintaining a strong presence both pre and post-event, and most importantly, creating an unforgettable experience for all involved. By adhering to these tenets, not only will the event prove worth your investment, but it will also cement your business as an industry leader, propelling you to new heights.

1: Fostering Strong Partnerships

Building strong partnerships, both prior to and during an event, can significantly enhance the overall experience for everyone involved. Starting with collaboration within your internal team, you can gather valuable case study information that will enrich any roundtable discussions you may be presenting. The potential benefits of these partnerships don't end there; imagine joining forces with a channel partner or even a co-opetitor to co-host a dinner, effectively easing some of the burden on your expenses. Look for creative solutions, such as assembling a group of vendors – and perhaps a couple of clients – to share the cost of sponsoring a panel. Such cooperative efforts not only demonstrate a sense of camaraderie and shared goals but can also lead to valuable, long-lasting relationships in your professional network.

2: Selecting the right event

When selecting the right event to showcase your business, it's essential to consider several factors to ensure that you make the most of the opportunity. To begin with, evaluate whether you have case studies to share in intimate dialogues to demonstrate the real-life impact of your products or services. Furthermore, consider if you are keen on demonstrating your technology to event attendees, as this can be an excellent way to gain feedback and interest. Finally, reflect on your marketing strategy: do you prefer the shotgun approach, where you aim to engage a wide variety of potential customers, or the targeted approach, focusing on specific, high-value prospects? By examining these questions carefully, you can effectively determine the most suitable event that aligns with your business objectives and amplifies your success.

3: Promoting your attendance effectively

In today's digital age, ensuring a successful event outcome means maximizing your promotional efforts on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter and more. Don't rely solely on event organizers; take the initiative and actively engage in the promotion process. Start by reaching out to the conference organizers for a template, color scheme, and logo, which will enable you to effectively represent both their brand and your own. Whether you are a prominent speaker or an enthusiastic attendee, showcasing your involvement is essential to create buzz around your brand and foster valuable relationships. By rolling up your sleeves and getting hands-on with posts, you'll be making a significant impact and enhancing the overall success of your sponsorship or attendance endeavors.

4: Aligning your brand with the event's theme/location

In the realm of competitive marketing, aligning your brand with the event's theme and location serves as a powerful tool to evoke a deeper connection with your target market. Imagine attending a conference by the serene ocean waves, only to receive a branded sunscreen, visor, or beach ball, reflecting your brand's awareness about the significance of the venue. On the other end of the spectrum, a conference hosted in the heart of the bustling city is an opportune moment to offer a silent alarm as a useful and thoughtful giveaway. Similarly, a striking technique for an event centred around renewal is to incorporate objects that represent the theme – be it water bottles filled with purified water or embracing sustainability through the use of eco-friendly plates and cups. Moving beyond the run-of-the-mill pens with logos, such deliberate and meaningful branding initiatives can leave a long-lasting impression on the attendees, elevating the perception and recall value of your brand.

5: Offering compelling incentives

Offering enticing and unforgettable incentives can create a unique bond between you and potential clients, reminiscent of the powerful connections depicted in the iconic film, The Godfather. By treating prospects to luxurious experiences they may not typically indulge in, such as a stay at an opulent hotel or a lavish dinner, you are not only creating memorable moments, but also demonstrating your appreciation for their business. Even smaller gestures, like sharing an evening of live music at a local pub, can make a lasting impression. By tapping into your creativity, you can foster meaningful relationships and establish a sense of reciprocity with your clients without breaking the bank. Remember, it's not always about spending a fortune; it's about crafting memorable experiences that leave attendees feeling indebted to you, eager to repay the favor in the future.

6: Utilizing social media

Embracing social media as a vital tool in organizing and promoting your event can be a game-changer in making it a resounding success. Before the event, you can build the buzz by engaging your audience, sharing teasers and behind-the-scenes peeks, and creating a sense of anticipation. During the event itself, keeping the communication channels open on social media platforms helps you foster a lively and dynamic atmosphere. Sharing real-time updates, broadcasting live videos, and featuring user-generated content creates an inclusive and immersive experience for those attending and those following from afar. In addition, tagging participants and companies, and highlighting key takeaways ensures broader reach, strengthens connections and keeps you at the forefront of people's minds even after the event. Remember, the more effort you put into creating an engaging social media presence, the higher the return on your investment in terms of recognition, networking, and future opportunities.

7: Tracking your return on investment

Understanding the value of an event for your business is crucial in ensuring your time and resources are well-invested, and tracking your return on investment (ROI) is the key to gaining that understanding. The use of a customer relationship management (CRM) system can offer invaluable insights into measuring your event's impact. By tagging each individual with the event name and year within your CRM, you can effortlessly monitor their interaction, regardless if they are new contacts or existing ones. Every connection made at the event further propels a potential deal down the pipeline, allowing you to gauge the event's effectiveness in nurturing relationships and driving business opportunities. This holistic approach to tracking your event ROI empowers you to make better decisions to enhance your overall performance at subsequent events.

8: Engaging with attendees

It's quite common to witness colleagues from the same organization sticking together like glue at events and conferences. While spending time with work friends might be comfortable and convenient, it's crucial to remember the primary purpose of attending such gatherings – to forge new connections with potential clients, partners, and peers. Instead of remaining in your comfort zone, why not take a chance and embrace the opportunity to break bread with new acquaintances or rise early to engage in meaningful conversations with fresh faces? Some of the most fruitful business relationships stem from spontaneous encounters, providing you with invaluable growth opportunities which you never anticipated. So, take the initiative to branch out and embrace the unknown; the rewards might be well worth the effort.

9: Maintaining a strong presence both pre and post-event

It cannot be stressed enough how crucial it is to maintain a strong presence both before and after an event. Far too often, people tend to fall back into their usual routine once they return from an event, neglecting the connections they made and the impressions they left on others. To truly capitalize on those encounters, one must remember to continuously follow up and nurture those relationships. By sending emails, text messages, and even making phone calls, you can build upon the foundation you've already set by sharing information that holds value for the individuals you connected with. This not only allows you to strengthen your network, but it also demonstrates your attentiveness, emphasizing that you were not only present at the event, but also actively engaged in listening and understanding what resonates with your peers.

10: And most importantly, creating an unforgettable experience for all involved

The philosophy of "you get out what you put in" transcends multiple aspects of our lives, including work, relationships, health, and personal development. Indeed, it's about more than just signing a check and showing up. It emphasizes the importance of an active, genuine commitment to whatever goal or project we undertake. Engaging with our passions requires hard work, dedication, and consistency. To truly gain the most out of our experiences, we must learn to appreciate the journey as much as the destination itself. The act of continuously pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones and striving for the best will ultimately help us grow as individuals and leave a lasting impact on those around us. So, remember, the secret to reaping the rewards of success hinges on the effort, sincerity, and heart we pour into every aspect of our lives.