Has the coronavirus pandemic forced you to change from an in-person event to a virtual one or cut a big event down to a smaller hybrid meeting? Follow these guidelines to generate leads, no matter your event’s size or format:
What was the goal of your in-person event? Was it identifying sales leads, meetings booked, a perception change, or something else? Decide if the goal is the same now that your event venue has shifted to online or hybrid, find the pain points of your potential customers, and identify the speakers or content that solves the problems they have today, not the ones they had pre-pandemic.
Scaled down means you know exactly when people are attending and which presentations they viewed. Build on that momentum. Take time to review your pipeline regularly. Make it a strategic activity for you and your staff to understand where your sales are coming from and who you should go after, based on their choices.
Shorter is always better. Bonus: quick content makes the creation process easier. Everyone in your company has a few minutes of unique expertise or insight that your prospects can learn from.
Serving up a white paper or infographic? Do you really have to repeatedly ask the same person for contact info to allow access? Instead, track what sessions your potential leads attended and their downloads, and then offer the next information in your customer journey or serve up content that will surprise them. Welcome leads as insiders rather than putting up barriers to your resources.
Sponsors are also deeply invested in finding and nurturing leads. This is a perfect opportunity to anticipate your sponsors’ needs and use your customer service skills to cement the relationships. Ask what they can offer in a virtual forum or how they can adapt to a smaller, more personalized event in order to form deeper connections with your leads.
Downsized event? That just means you need to upsize your ability to personally connect with your leads and potential future customers.