18 Event Best Practices for ISVs

Introduction:

Events are a huge investment of both time and money whether it’s virtual or in-person.

You want them to be successful and prove the ROI. I’m right there with you.

We all want to be the one that says….. yes, it was successful, let’s do it again.

With that said, here are 18 event best practices to help you make the most of those events you sponsor!

1. Know the dates and deadlines

Pay attention to all of the benefits and deadlines you purchased and take advantage of all of them.

2. Have a plan

Treat an event like a campaign, have a plan – create an engagement mechanism before, during, and after the event.

3. Tracking URLs

Create campaign tracking URLs to assist with ROI.

4. Email Series

Create a series of emails leading up to the event, and give them a reason to visit you at the booth - win a prize, swag, etc.

5. Schedule Meetings

Leverage the pre-event meeting schedule options with attendees. Make sure you've looked at the agenda to know when the breaks are and when it makes sense to schedule those meetings with partners or customers.

6. Be Prepared

Marketing should prepare sales/onsite staff with the event and logistic details – how are we capturing leads? What are the exhibit hours? Who is our onsite contact in case of questions? What is our action item for attendees?

7. Set Goals

Set specific goals for your sales team; i.e. each salesperson schedules 10 meetings with potential prospects. If they like to win prizes, say the first sales person to schedule 10 meetings gets a gift card or an extra PTO day. Make it fun for them too.

8. Get Social

Create social posts, and utilize polls on LinkedIn and Twitter before, during, and after the event.

Ask your audience what kind of swag they like? Provide tips to make the most of their time at the conference. Great creative and provide educational and informational content.

9. Booth Etiquette

1. Get your head out of your devices.

2. Stand up.

3. Offer an engagement activity – doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated.

4. People love free stuff – register for a grand prize.

5. Start conversations - ask questions, learn about why they are there.

In cased you missed it, here's the webinar recording!

10. Educate, Don't Sell

Provide educational benefits to customers, don’t lead with a sales message.

11. Success Stories

This is the perfect time to conduct interviews and get those Customer Success Stories - videos and quotes. Forget all the fancy equipment you can just use your phone to get those quick customer testimonials.

12. Get all the information

1. Use a lead retrieval to scan.

2. Customize the questions.

3. Document conversations.

13. Segmentation

Post-show - make sure you segment your lists - by ERP, by customer, by partner, and by product. So often I see everyone getting the same genenric email. Take the time, craft the right message, it's worth it in the end.

14. It's all about the follow-up

Distribute opps and leads for follow-up. Make them personal and customized, not standard and generic. Send them the info they requested. Answer the questions they had. This is why it's so important to get all the information from speaking with them at the booth.

15. Customize

Create customized emails for each segment. A partner emal is going to be difference from a lead or opportunity or someone just stopping by the booth.

16. Schedule & Invite

Schedule a webinar, invite them to a lunch and learn, or some educational event. Have the date and time already planned out before the event so you have the presenters lined up and ready to go.

17. Drip & Nurture

Put them in a drip campaign - provide educational, informational content on a consistent basis.They may not be ready to buy from you now so keep providing educational content to be top of mind when they are ready.

18. Always Spellcheck

Always send test emails, have someone else review it, and make sure your personalization works.

Sponsoring an event can be an effective way for ISVs to achieve their business goals. However, it's essential to take a strategic approach and implement best practices to make the most of the sponsorship. I hope these 18 event best practices will help.

Start your event checklist:

Here is a quick checklist to get you started with all of the best practices listed above. Want it in pdf form, I've got you covered. Click here to get it.

• Know the dates & deadlines

• Have a plan

• Tracking URLs

• Email Series

• Schedule Meetings

• Be Prepared

• Set Goals

• Get Social

• Booth Etiquette

• Educate, Don't Sell

• Success Stories

• Get ALL the Information

• Segmentation

• It's ALL about the follow-up

• Customize

• Schedule & Invite

• Drip & Nurture

• Always Spellcheck