Social Media & Events Marketing Part II: Facebook

To follow up on the recent LinkedIn post, Facebook is a social networking tool to consider and evaluate in the Event Marketing arsenal. Honestly, while I am not fully sold on it as a B2B and events medium - it strikes me as a site that has gone through one continued “identity crisis” after another – given its size it is an avenue to evaluate in developing your social media marketing strategy.

Facebook provides three separate features to be utilized by Events Marketers to develop communities around events: Fan Pages, Groups, and Events. A synopsis and some examples [before proceeding - you need to have/be logged into Facebook to access most of the following links]:

 

Events:

 

Simply put, the Event app details an upcoming event, and affords individuals to indicate if they are attending – similar to the events area on LinkedIn. [Note – Events can be added from Groups and Pages – if your intent is to utilize all features, you don't need to create a stand-alone event] The similarity to LinkedIn ends with the basic setup, however; the Facebook Event app is more communal, offering areas for visitors to post links, video, and discussions. An example of an Events page is The Conference Board’s Organization Design Conference. Do note TCB’s use of a discount in association with Facebook – a method to track response through this page. In setting up an Event, some quick thoughts:

• Similar to LinkedIn, use it to gain business intelligence from individuals who both indicate they are planning to attend AND are not attending – this is invaluable knowledge.
• Use this area for pure event news and updates (and use Fan Pages and Groups for content delivery)

Regarding Groups and Fan Pages, one issue to note up front: there is an ongoing discussion and, frankly, confusion, regarding differences between the two and when to utilize each – Howard Greenstein covered this quite well in Mashable; I’d suggest giving it a read. In the end, my suggestion would be to them in conjunction with each other.

 

Groups:

 

Incisive Media uses both Facebook Groups and Fan Pages as SM channels to promote events. As Christian Georgeou, a Marketing Manager of Interactive Marketing at Incisive's Search Engine Watch explains, “social media remains a great way to simply communicate.”

Their Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo group page includes areas to post comments, videos and discussions, as ways for individuals interested in the topic to interact. As Georgeou notes, “Ahead of and after shows Facebook is a good way to let our audience share their experience... the good, bad and the ugly. Also they themselves become a great source for others who are interested in learning more.”

 

A specific advantage to establishing a Group is its email capability – the group administrator can email to up to 5000 members, which can be a key channel for marketing communications. (Fan Pages do not have this capability). A challenge with Groups, however, is that its structure is rigid in comparison to Fan Pages: there is not the capability to add other applications. As well, as Greenstein notes, a Group is linked to an individual – so communications and updates are linked to individual activity. Given this, my suggestion would be to:

• Have a Group administrator be a key, recognizable name –a key content provider/speaker – to enable messages to come from a known name (similar to “from” lines in email communications
• Establish Groups for key audience segments – Event Alumni, for example – to engage and interact with individuals who have a key, shared experience.
• Post content key to the sub-segment – do not just replicate what is on the Fan Page.

Fan Pages:

 

The Fan Page is the key feature designed to communicate event value to a larger audience. Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo series launched a Fan Page two weeks ago, and currently has almost 400 Fans. Georgeou notes the Fan Page “acts as a resource for people looking to learn more on Search Engine Marketing ... and includes daily/weekly tips and suggestions, and articles out to people hungry to learn more.” As noted, Fan Pages can add applications (i.e. this Fan Page has polling, lead generation through email collection, and a You Tube video box.)

 

The challenge is there is not outreach capability associated with Fan Pages – the intent is building and developing a Fan base (virally) by joining your Fan Page, ensuring your team joins as well – so their friends see and join, etc.

 

A big advantage (not in Groups) is that Fan Pages are indexed by external search engines, Groups are not. And, otherwise:

• Use a Fan Page to deliver solid content around the event – video, blog links, interactive polling, and discussions – all with an eye on building Fans (making the event more visible in Facebook search.)
• Of course, invite people to JOIN and become a fan!
• Link your event to the Event through the Fan Page (and Group).

In short, utilize Facebook for the three-tiered communication channel it offers: to communicate specifically about the Event, to develop and offer value to key audiences and Groups, and, in building a larger community, Fan Pages as a key vehicle for demonstrate the terrific experience and content your event will deliver on site.

 

Good luck!

 

John

 

PS - I'll be covering other SM areas for event marketing - do reach out to me directly if you have stories, tips, best practices, etc. to share (or things to avoid!)

Metrics, Metrics, Everywhere (Which one(s) do you use?)

I recently read a thread of marketing executives’ input regarding which metrics they utilize to measure the success of events – and was struck by the variety cited. Part of this is perspective: pending your involvement and responsibility – whether your role is as an Event Organizer (driving attendance & sponsorship sales), or Event Sponsor (driving marketing/booth activities), ‘a successful event’ can intuitively have different marketing metrics. My take is that the metrics for “success” should align across both marketing roles (event organizer and sponsor) and functionalities to ensure delivering an event with a high-quality value proposition for all involved.

In the above-noted thread, there was a consensus from Event Sponsors that lead generation is the top metric. Which is understandable – investment and participation as an Event Sponsor is a business development activity. From this agreement, however, thoughts deviated: Event Sponsors noted tracking leads/qualified leads, conversion, information requests, booth visits, revenue, and, ultimately, ROI as metrics. These are interrelated, yet separate ways to measure and evaluate success at an event. (It should be noted that the format of event – whether a trade show, seminar, or Webinar, for example, comes into play regarding the metric used.)

Interestingly, there was nominal mention from these Event Sponsor marketers referencing pure event volume. This is a disconnect: volume is a key metric for an Event Organizers’ marketing team from a revenue perspective. The drive to volume is augmented, in general, by the Event Organizers perception that their Event Sponsors want volume, volume, volume. From the comments I read, however, this is simply not the case. Event Sponsors are looking for volume only as a numbers game – the more attendees, the more opportunities for qualified leads.

A couple of marketers noted using revenue (and/or ROI) as a metric. This is the truest consistent metric for both Event Sponsors and Organizers – but it is also the one requiring the most coordination and alignment to establish. As one person noted, “There can't be finger pointing about marketing giving sales good leads they don't follow up, or sales saying the leads were really no good.” In other words, a strong sales and marketing relationship is essential. (An additional challenge is how to factor re-sign revenue – a traditional Event Organization metric for sponsor sales – within ROI calculations. The thought here is that while it is a KPI for the current year, the revenue would count toward next year’s ROI.)

There were and are other metrics noted in the discussion – reputational/press activity, site activity pre/post event, word-of-mouth activity and measurement being some. While fluctuations in these factors can be indicative of participation in an event, these are softer measures – and more challenging to develop.

In short, metrics for a successful event are more than a numbers game – it is an activity, from the Event Organizers’ side, of generating quality attendee volume (with re-sign and cross sell potential) and sponsor revenue (with renewal potential) – with the measure being ROI (either against the marketing spend or all costs). From the attendees generated, the Event Sponsors’ metric is more than lead gen and conversion numbers – it is the revenue generated from these leads measured against investment in the event. Again, this all requires alignment and coordinated interdependencies – but will ultimate deliver positive results for all parties.

Feel free to add your thoughts, best practices (and things to avoid!) in establishing and measuring your mertics - keep the dialogue going!

Good luck!

John

Social Media & Events Marketing Part I: LinkedIn

How do effective events marketing professionals use - and choose – from the myriad of social media sites available today? How Event Marketing leaders manage these channels effectively –and keep current on the latest offerings - is a growing responsibility. Upcoming posts of The Event Marketing Insider will explore Social Media and examples of its effective use, and the challenges faced, by events organizations. Update: Visit Part II of this series detailing utilization of Facebook here.

LinkedIn is the granddaddy of professional social media sites, because of this it’s the main one to include in your marketing communications arsenal. The Events team at Gartner, for example, has utilized LinkedIn over the past two years, using both the Groups feature and the Events module to build community, engage prospects, and communicate germane content and event information.

The key benefit to establishing and managing an events-related Group is that it provides a channel and a core community of prospects - individuals who are engaged in, aware of, and/or curious about your offering - for Marketing communications. Two examples of Groups Gartner has established, the Gartner Business Process Management (Xchange) (900+ members), and the Gartner Information Security Summit (250+ members), employ the full functionality of this feature, particularly focusing on Group Discussions and News Items. Group owners Tracy Runko (Gartner Information Security Summit) and Juan Fernandez (Gartner Business Process Management (Xchange)) have used Groups to post discussion questions, deliver germane Gartner content, link blog postings from Gartner analysts and deliver content from other group members. (Another option both are exploring is using LinkedIn Polls both to engage and generate discussion points for the group - or on-site at the event.)

Both Fernandez and Runko agree that a main difficulty they face is engaging members participation in discussions. While they and Gartner analysts actively post discussion topics and news items, generating responses to these threads has been a slow going. There may be a number of reasons behind this – from concerns regarding sharing competitive information to bandwidth to participate to an individual’s comfort level – the lesson to be learned is that even while ensuring posts are content-based, engaging, and invite response/discussion, generating ongoing conversation is a challenge.

Fernandez notes “where do we go from here” is another question he wrestles with. Having built a respectable community (as he notes, the Group appears on the first page of search results due to its size), engaging members on an ongoing basis is important to avoid having the Group perceived as a pure push promotional tool. To that end, an additional thought: in establishing a LinkedIn Group, take the time to gain cross-functional buy-in and agreement to submit content – as you will need a team to continually contribute content to the Group. (The last thing you want is a group with no activity!)

LinkedIn also offers an Events module which can be added on the right rail. This module maps the user to relevant events and their details, including dates, location, pricing, event Web site, and target audience. While very template, the Event pages are searchable and, importantly, lists keywords (so in using this feature do, think keyword usage through.)

From a user perspective, one can indicate whether or not they are attending a listed Event, or if they are “interested” in attending. This information, posted to the user’s profile, but is also key intelligence and information for the Event Marketer. You need to ensure proper follow-up mechanisms: that users who indicate they are attending your event are registered in your system (lest they think clicking “attending” on LinkedIn signs them up), and that “interested” people are followed up with. Individuals who indicate they are not attending can also provide marketing intelligence. As a point of reference, view Events sites for Gartner Information Security Summit and the Gartner Business Process Management Summit. Of interest/note: the Gartner Information Security Summit offers a discount to people who register utilizing a marketing code; the BPM Summit page notes early bird pricing discounts – additional tactics to be considered when setting up a page.

In short – LinkedIn has prime features and modules to engage and build community among prospects – but take the time to plan and think through how these groups are used: this is not a tactic to undertake a month before and event, it is an increasingly important part of an event marketing strategy. Continued content, discussions and interaction year round will build brand equity around your event and content – and add an important asset to your marketing arsenal.

Please do share your thoughts and experiences on using Social Media for your event ... may be fodder for a new LinkedIn Group!

Good luck!

John

Readers Comment on "Summer's Here!"

I want to update everyone with some comments that were posted in last week’s blog post, “Summer’s Here! (Now what?….)". I’d posted the article (as I do with all items) on relevant LinkedIn groups I belong to as a new item; one group in particular, the PM Forum Group, generated some insights and responses worth sharing.

In response to the post:

From David Gilroy, Sales &Marketing Director at Conscious Solutions:
“Does ANYONE run events over the summer? I made the mistake of running a drinks event at our offices in Bristol during the balloon fiesta last summer. We had more staff than guest turn up...and we only have 12 people based in our office ;-( Regs....David.”

This being the first response, it of course sent me into a panic (maybe I missed the boat??)…until Michelle Beynon, Business Development Manager at Irwin Mitchell replied:
“Hi David Tricky one....drinks receptions and seminar/conferences get pushed aside during July-August as attendance does drop during these months. However, we have held successful events during these months working with the summer theme. So for instance our rounders evening followed by a barbecue goes down a storm......you will be surprised at how much your contacts/guests will join in and it can also be promoted as a family affair should they wish to bring their partners and children. KR Michelle”

Steve Wright, Business Development Director at French Duncan LLP, added:
“Agree with Michelle's comments. Summer events to coincide with events like the World Cup always attract good numbers. The Lions are on tour at the moment so another opportunity to bring clients/potential clients into your offices to watch the games on a big screen. “

Nancy Schuman, Vice President Marketing at Lloyd Staffing wrote:
“We have held two successful movie days for 2 summers - a staff/family/client & client family event. We pick a family film premiering during the summer and get a local theater to give us a Sunday morning private showing. It becomes a Brunch-Red Carpet event and the parents & kids love it. Food/beverage costs are down (no liquor) and it's over early. If we have extra tickets we invite Big Brother/Big Sisters or another local charity. To attend, everyone must RSVP and get a ticket in advance and a tee shirt for every attendee - to be worn to the event. Be sure to get a big group photo. It's still business - but less formal and good relationships get built and solidified.”

The above all reference smaller events, but point to success (in most cases) for events that are thought through re: timing, location and amenities. Some of the above strategies could certainly be incorporated into larger content-based events (i.e. a scheduling an event in vacation location with a sponsored attendee/family/sponsor outing as a sponsor premium?) or in conjunction with other events. For example, Gartner ran a very successful event in Las Vegas immediately following the Super Bowl with premium incentives tied into the event – although this is a winter example, such could be applied to summer events).

In short, again, the point is the summer months are largely untapped territory for organizing events; I would again argue making an initial investment into holding events during these months. The window in which events can logistically be scheduled is challenging enough – taking action to try to open the window may be a valuable effort.

Good luck!


John

Is Testing Part of Your Email Campaigns? Survey Says "No"

In April I blogged about utilizing legacy marketing practices - particularly testing - in online marketing campaigns. This subject was recently highlighted in B2B Magazine’s online edition, which detailed a white paper published by Experian Marketing Services, A guide to effective email testing. In its introductory remarks, the paper cited research published by Forrester Research last October, Benchmark your Email Organization, noting that 20% of respondents surveyed for the report did not test email at all, and 55% reported limited or ad hoc testing.

Quick math: that leaves 25% of the organizations responding reporting a continued email testing program. And that’s across industries – I would venture to guess, unfortunately, that in the Events arena those numbers are lower. Given the constant churn of events and campaigns, event marketers historically overall have focused on developing and managing ongoing testing strategies. Which is a lost opportunity to gather some hard intelligence on your prospect base.

To that end, given the challenges the economy and the events industry is facing, I’m stressing to you, the reader, that you need to take the time to establish and execute a testing strategy for your upcoming email marketing efforts. This does not need to be a complex, multivariate test; gaining quick, actionable data on elements that can be rolled out across a portfolio of events should ultimately be the goal.

Suggestions in the Experian paper, and their applicability to the Events industry, include:

Timing Tests: There is always debate over what information prospects need and when – add to that optimal timing (and promotion) of early bird deadlines and this is an area ripe for testing. The reality is timing will vary pending segment – but gaining insight on when to best send each communication is a key piece of knowledge – the potential for increased view/clicks is invaluable. This test can be time of day, day of week, weeks from event – or a combinations of these (as long as a large enough sample exists.) You can also drill down into what list segments respond best at what times.

Subject Line Tests: These should be done across a spectrum of events and over time to gain aggregate results. There are a variety of elements that can be tested: Experian suggestions include personalized vs. non-personalized, offer vs. no offer, short vs. long and branded vs. non-branded. One important facet I would include is push vs. pull – an ‘announcing XYZ event’ vs. ‘learn about XYZ’ – logic would dictate the second would pull better – but you won’t know until you test!

Creative Tests: An opportunity to test different creative schemes – but also to test HTML vs. text/non-image HTML. As the world moves toward mobile devices, images are blocked, etc. you may find that plan text messaging is the most effective for either the audience overall or certain segments of the audience. (Note: The metric for creative testing is clicks, not opens.)

Offer Tests: Test Early Bird price points, group price tests, testing premiums, etc. – send offers with various price breaks – and some with no price breaks – and see if discounts have an impact – if the answer is ‘no’ think of the retained revenue!

And again, test one element at a time (or two – i.e. testing four datasets and testing subject line and creative) – beyond that you are in the arena of multivariate testing – not impossible, but not to be tried without input from a third party or colleague versed in statistics to validate this scheme.

So take the time, set up your tests – and become a better marketer with the results!

Good luck!

John Gibb

Summer's Here! (Now what?....)

We are moving into a traditionally slow period in the Events industry – the 3rd quarter summer months. With a flurry of events to wrap up the first half of the year, June rolls into July and August, and a verifiable no-fly-zone for events is upon us. The 'best practice' is to not to run events over these two months due largely to the plethora of business professionals on vacation. Which leads to a calendar jam-packed with events to drive 3rd quarter numbers.

Although I don’t have a hard set of number to substantiate this, I’ve long thought the industry is doing itself an injustice by at least not testing the running of events over these two months. To keep with the summer metaphor, it’s a huge pool (of time) nobody is dipping their toe in.

My thinking goes along three lines:

The vacation argument is legitimate. To a point. In reality, however, the entire world does not go on vacation for two months. Employees coordinate schedules, get coverage, and work gets done. In sort, there is a sustainable universe of executives within your marketing universe that are not going to be out of the office the particular week you plan an event in July and August.

Secondly – June and September are, of course, huge months for holding events – primarily due to the dead zone of summer. Which means competition is fierce for attendees and sponsors post-Labor Day. For argument’s sake, say you increase your marketable universe by 15% by holding an event in September vs. July/August. By waiting until September and gaining those additional prospects, you are competing against a slew of other events companies for share of wallet/time.

For example (and this is admittedly over-simplifying the situation) assume you have 100 executives who are planning to attend an event this year. Removing all other variables, taking the above 15% figure, you have an opportunity to attract 85 of them to your event if held in July/August. If the event is held in September, chances are good there are at least two other events with similar topic/functionality being held that same week. So while you have an unbeatable product, these 100 executives will decide between three options – and if all things are equal your chances of attracting them is 33.34%. Again, there are other variables involved, but in a pure numbers sense odds are as good if not better of attracting audience in the summer months.

Finally an intuitive question: if summer is a bad time to hold an event, what makes it a wonderful time to market these events? This is, however, what happens in a typical event promotional cycle. Outbound communications, prospect planning for 2nd half calendars, etc., happen over these months for many September and October events. For example, pending your promotional cycle, if you launch a communication channel 12 weeks before an event, that would mean launching in mid-July for a mid-October event. So, I'd have to argue, if summer is a bad time for an event, it’s also a bad time to market an event.

This is not to advocate going gung-ho into summer months, just that it is worth exploring the possibility. Obviously a ton of variables come into play – sponsor sensitivities, hotel and logistical questions. This is just to argue that it’s certainly time to test or explore expanding the schedule.

As always, let us know what you think.

Good luck!

John
http://www.johnsgibb.net

For All the Peeps: EventPeeps.com

While the intent of this blog is not to sell or push products by any stretch of the imagination, I've recently signed up and posted my profile on EventPeeps.com, a Red7 Media property. [In the interest of transparency, yes, a couple of former colleagues work for Red7 and no, this post is not connected to those relationships in any way...]. Having spent some time on the site, I would recommend taking the time to create a membership and participate in their online community.

I don't recommend this site as a specific resource for the Event Marketing professional - as its not. The one thing that surprises me slightly is the bredth of the membership on EventPeeps, given the marketing bent of some of the Red7 content, including The Event Marketing Institute and Event Marketer magazine. Instead, I would recommend the site as a strong cross-functional (and cross-organizational) community-based portal; I've cited the need for this type of collaboration in the industry. This site is a good source for this functionality specifically.

The setup is very similar to other social media networks - specifically a mix of LinkedIn and Facebook: a mix of contacts, groups, discussions, and profiles. The beauty of it, of course, is that it is targeted to the Events industry; with 6000+ members you don't need to sift through the enormity of a LinkedIn; EventPeeps groups are also much more targeted than those you find on LinkedIn, both in content and in membership. (EventPeeps also has a dediacated LinkedIn Group which, ironically enough, with over 8000 members is larger than the actual EventPeeps.com membership.) The site also offers discussion forums, blogs, apps, pictures, videos and a job board (which links to eventcareers.com.) In short, EventPeeps offers an array of features well worth participating in.

The one element lacking - at this point - is a robust membership base. Doing a quick search, I only found a half dozen people "peeps" from my last two jobs currently registered as members, and have found many more Events professionals from these companies on LinkedIn. This of course is not a reflection of EventPeeps itself; rather it indicates a need for the community to grow ... which it should over time.

A positive, again, is the bredth of the membership - from marketing agencies to internal events teams to AV companies, EventPeeps.com includes a great potential of people to learn from and share with.

So again I'd encourage all to explore and - if it fits your needs - join the EventPeeps.com community - not to replace LinkedIn, but to augement your network exposure and provide you a targeted community of peers.

Good luck!

John