Vaibhav is the CEO and Founder of the leading global virtual, in-person and hybrid event technology company Hubilo.
Events are valuable tools for marketers looking to generate leads for sales teams. When it comes to marketing qualified leads (MQLs), moving potential clients down the sales funnel requires keeping people at the center of your demand generation strategy. If you’re responsive to people’s needs, wants and actions, you can set your marketing program apart from your competitors.
Meeting Customers’ Needs
To capture leads in your funnel, you’ll have to deliver the right experiences to the right people, creating lasting relationships with (and between) your ideal customers. Virtual events can be a great source for top-of-the-funnel leads. Many customers desire flexibility, and virtual options for attending your event give them the ability to attend on their own terms.
Events are a great way to give prospects a view of your product that they can’t get anywhere else. Whether they’re in-person, hybrid or virtual, events can provide a meaningful way to connect with these ideal customers and give them an experience of your company. While many are excited about the return to in-person events and rushing to travel to the next trade show, others are still hesitant to join in a large-group setting. One Kaltura study found that 84% of attendees would always like to have the option to attend an event remotely. Giving customers the choice for themselves addresses this need.
When you’ve met your customers’ basic needs by allowing them to choose their own event adventure, they’ll likely be more ready to make connections.
Meeting Customers’ Wants
Once your customers have a choice about how they interact with your company and your product, you can cultivate meaningful connections between your brand and product and your target markets or between your event attendees. Providing ways for your ideal customer profile (ICP) to find value makes it more likely that they will move further down the funnel as a marketing qualified lead (MQL).
No matter your event format, your customers want to be engaged and immersed in what you have to offer. Keep them moving down the funnel by scheduling activities that get them to connect with their fellow event-goer. From scavenger hunts across your speakers or presentations to dedicated space for networking, your event should actively focus on creating connections.
No matter how you host your event, keep connection top of mind by encouraging attendees to participate. Keep comprehensive records of who registered and attended the event, and if a customer isn’t sure who it would be beneficial to talk to, make sure you provide intelligent recommendations for connections based on shared interests from the participation data you collect, like which small group breakout sessions they were in.
Measuring ROI
Every engagement and connection your leads make creates a more complete profile of each customer. After all, when you’re generating leads, events are just step one of building connections with your customers.
Make sure you are gathering knowledge about what your customers want and need so you can plan further interactions to build deeper relationships and brand awareness. Whether you use continued email blasts or additional webinars, hard data is a marketer’s best friend for additional touch points that work to move leads further down the funnel.
Ideally, you’ll have collected information about your attendee before and during the event. Make sure you know how long they attended, which sessions they attended, if they participated or reacted, and if they asked any questions. Nurture the leads you connect with by following up with emails, newsletters and additional events that may interest each segment of your audience.
Marketers should nurture their MQLs through each stage of the funnel. By planning events based on people’s real wants, needs and actions, you have a greater chance of moving the right customers in the right direction, which can ultimately end as sales for your organization.
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