Partner column
The pandemic came out of nowhere like a 100fthigh iceberg and did its best to grind our industry to a juddering halt . Of course , Covid has caused more than just superficial damage . But together the exhibition industry has boldly continued to navigate its way forward to calmer waters .
At the coal face have been event marketers and sales teams showing their uncanny knack of being able to handle the heat and the multiple facets of their job , often without a showfloor in sight .
The goal for many event organisers was , and still is survival . But for other event organisers , the pandemic has provided an opportunity to launch new shows in different sectors and to become more dynamic by joining up their marketing and sales approach through their event websites .
There has of course been the temptation to use other costly event tech gadgets , apps and gizmos away from the show website , but the fact remains , a good event website is a year-round SEO generating shop window for
Is it time for a titanic sea-change in event marketing ?
ASP ’ s MD Jon Benjamin explains how it ’ s time for event marketers to go back to basics , focus on SEO and to funnel all their key marketing through their event website all year round
an event , where marketers are able to funnel their full show campaigns for free . Prior to the pandemic , focus was on providing exhibitors and visitors value at the event . The rest of the year were for buildup , break down and rebook .
For the last 18 months we have been using our UX and event marketing expertise to work with organisers to keep their numerous fee-paying exhibitors happy and potential visitors interested in their event by finding ways to provide real ROI and content away from the show floor and beyond the show cycle .
In effect , by channelling their marketing funnel purely through their event website , we have witnessed a titanic sea-change in the results some of our clients are achieving , with cleaner organiser-owned data , far greater SEO which has led to bigger audiences and additional event website marketing revenue , with some even making over £ 100,000 .
Through exhibitor showcasing tools like Limelight and Gateway , exhibitors are waking up to the opportunity of utilising a website ’ s 365 shop window to promote themselves and are happy to pay extra for the privilege . Meanwhile , visitors have got used to logging on for content beyond the usual finding out when the show takes place etc .
But how do you get these potential new visitors to find your website when advertising budgets have been slashed ? In short , the answer is you go back to basics . Marketers are refocusing on SEO , as according to Google , 56 % of online ads go unseen .
Content will forever be king , and sales and marketing teams are reaping the reward of using event website tools to encourage exhibitors to upload product details and articles . This content creates hundreds if not thousands of pages , which provides free SEO , i . e targeted promotion , bundles of data and articles of interest for visitors .
And the good news doesn ’ t stop there . Exhibitors who are using event website marketing tools are now seeing the results of year-round marketing through event websites , which is making the rebook quite a bit easier too .
Want help making your website an SEO and revenue generating machine ? Get in touch at hello @ asp . events
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