Conferences and trade shows are being cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
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Many B2B marketers depend on big conferences, trade shows and proprietary customer events to generate new leads, bring attention to new products and deepen relationships with partners and key customers. But because of precautionary measures being taken due to the global pandemic, these important marketing avenues have been closed.
Now may be the time to accelerate your company’s digital transformation. Here are three practical steps you can take to replace the lost impact you were expecting from physical events.
Embrace digital events – The information needs of business decision makers that led them to sign up for events didn’t go away because the industry conference was cancelled. Now may be the time to explore more strategic use of virtual events.
Dell Technologies is one company that has taken big strides in that direction. According to Liz Matthews, SVP of Brand and Experiential, “Our team is always adapting to help meet the needs of our customers and we are excited to be bringing Dell Technologies World to life through a virtual experience this year. We’re embracing and approaching our upcoming virtual events in the same way we would our in person events – with a drive to create memorable experiences that provide value to our customers and partners and that bring to life our brand purpose. Though there is no substitution for the value that in person events can bring, no matter the platform, we want our audiences to walk away from our events with a clear understanding of how Dell Technologies can help them achieve their goals and ultimately drive human progress.”
Matthews has some tips for helping make virtual events successful. She shares, “It goes without saying that technology is more important than ever right now – providing the infrastructure for online platforms and serving as the catalyst for virtual events across the globe. The right technology truly is critical to your event’s success. Additionally, meeting your audiences where they are and adapting to their behavior is a priority in today’s market. Audiences are online and their patterns of information consumption are different than they might be in person. Ensure you’re delivering value via content and experiences that are succinct, concise, and informative. Most importantly, remember your event is only as successful as your team behind it. Empower them, collaborate with them, and make sure they feel inspired to drive breakthrough ideas in new ways, every day.”
Master digital storytelling – Interacting with audiences live at events brings immediate feedback and the ability to react to participants’ responses. But preparing engaging digital content is different. Alicia Tillman, CMO of global technology company SAP, shares what her company is doing. “As a brand, SAP has always believed in the importance of connecting with customers where they are, so digital has long been a part of our storytelling DNA. But, given the current climate, we’re building on that foundation and dialing up our efforts. For example, when we made the tough decision to cancel our March events out of concern for the safety of our customers, prospects, employees and partners, the very next conversation was: how do we bring these staples of the SAP community to life digitally? In fact, SAP Ariba Live is currently up and running virtually – complete with panels, Q&As, keynotes and full audience participation. And SAP Concur, and several international events have already occurred! We’ve been training for this for a long time.”
Tillman adds, “I’m fortunate enough to have been invited to a number of conferences and events as a speaker – anyone who has done it before will tell you that there’s a natural energy and rapport that develops with an audience. It’s a hard thing to replicate without being able to ‘read the room.’ Therefore, we’re taking our cues from how people experience digital entertainment. You can’t raise your hand and ask a question of your favorite TV character, so it’s the program’s job to capture your attention and keep you engaged. We’re looking at how to infuse that perspective into our digital content over the next few months.”
A great resource to explore storytelling from a marketing perspective is David Aaker’s recent book, Creating Signature Stories: Strategic Messaging that Energizes, Persuades and Inspires. It is full of useful tips and familiar examples that may help you as you craft your engaging digital stories.
Accelerate ABM-based communications – One of the benefits of industry conferences and trade shows is the very focused audiences they attract. Similar, if not better, targeting is available through account-based marketing tools such as Demandbase, Terminus and Rollworks. By identifying your ideal customer profiles and using data to match those profiles to specific companies and personas within them, you can deliver very targeted messages across a broad digital ecosystem. And by connecting those systems with your website and your CRM systems like Salesforce, you can tailor those messages based on where companies are in their buying cycle and their previous interactions with your company. While you may not be able to look them in the eye, you can virtually “read their minds” based on this powerful behavioral data.
Progressive marketers are already marrying their ABM programs with their virtual event initiatives. According to Terminus CMO Derek Slayton, “We’ve seen a huge shift to digital mediums just in the past two weeks. Overall we’ve seen a 20+% surge in advertising reach. Our customers are building more segments and tightening up their creative to align to those more focused initiatives. They are also using ads as an integrated channel to drive virtual events. Where they used to focus ads on a piece of static content, they are now running ad programs tied to the email marketing around webinars. And they’re increasingly using the email signature banner as the link that ties the visual experience together.”
So while you are working from home and crafting the adjustments to your marketing plan, now may be the time to accelerate the digital transformation you’ve been wanting to embark upon.
