vickioneill

From this episode:

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The number of conferences, trade events, corporate and industry events is on the rise. With so many options, attending any of these events needs to be flawless.  A step in the wrong direction can hurt your bottom line - and your brand. This alone is the most important reason why your marketing and sales efforts need to be aligned. 

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When marketing is involved throughout the process – and so is sales – there’s so much more that’s gained from events. Attending annual industry events, for example, are very expensive for the company to invest in. From the booth, booth space to travel, hotels and meals plus any entertaining and not to mention the opportunity cost of not being in the field or in the office. It can sometimes costs 10’s of 1,000s of dollars for companies to attend bigger events – and even for the monthly recurring event, if it’s free you still have the travel cost or opportunity cost of not doing something else.

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If you’re going to spend time and money, it’s best to make the MOST of the event. And having marketing AND sales involved from the beginning just makes sense financially. It also sets the entire team up for a win in regards to reaching and communicating with new and existing prospects, show specials, details and pricing as well as collaborating on the collateral and give aways. It also helps facilitate the follow-up process to make sure nothing – and no one - falls through the cracks.

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Marketing AND Sales should be involved in the entire event process - pre, during and post. Here are the 7 ways I discuss how Marketing and Sales can align on Events:

1. Establish goals of the events

2. Identify target audience and plan according to attendees

3. Maximize time and ROI by planning mini events

4. Think like each other - marketing and sales

5. Create engagement after the event

6. Plan next steps based on post-event engagement trends

7. Internal post-event review
    

The post-event process is JUST AS important as the planning and attending. Do you agree? Leave a rating and comment on iTunes and let me know what you think!​

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3 take aways from this episode:

1. Work together on aligning goals and create strategies that support each goal​

2. Define what the show success is

   • Imagine the conversation AFTER the event and someone, most likely a stakeholder or your boss asks "So, was the show a success?", you need to know what "success" means and to answer accordingly

3. Maximize team together and ROI​

   • You have a team of A-players together - determine how else you can utilize your time to brainstorm ideas, create a mini event for prospects and customers so you can get to know them better, have a LIVE stream on a particular topic, have guest speakers within your company as well as customers or partners

   • The more quality time you can spend on building the brand, growing the customer base and growing the business, the more likely you'll have more opportunities to do more of these types of events

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Final thought:

If you've attended events, created events, planned events or had some role in an event, this episode will benefit you. The key to a successful event - regardless of how you define success for your particular event - is collaboration, communication and alignment amongst all involved in the planning, attending and post-event follow-ups. Make the most of the investment - of your company, of your time and of your goals. 

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The difference between marketing and sales lies in how each person on the team can positively influence the customer journey and buying experience. How are you impacting the overall experience with your company? 

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Just remember that a well-thought out marketing and sales plan will effectively create the experience your target audience wants and deserves AND drives the sales YOU want and deserve.

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If you need help with your customer journey strategy, creating persona or planning your next event, send me a message or click the LIVE chat button and let's get you moving in the direction that you want to go.