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best it can be . ( Goodwin ) SS : You must invest money to make money . Attendees and exhibitors notice when a show is being cheap . They do .
7 . Think about visitor personas and match them to onsite experience offerings . Market it that way . ( Heinold ). Goodwin concurred .
8 . Target buyer groups your exhibitors most want to see . Incentivise them to attend with free registration , hotel rooms , etc . ( Tyler )
9 . Corporate and user group conferences are coming back . ( Heinold )
10 . Exhibitors are looking at or producing their own events , so proving our events ’ value is important . ( Thornton )
All panelists agreed that proving an exhibition or event ’ s value is necessary going forward . It remained a theme throughout the conference .
After other sessions on retaining and recruiting talent and sustainability , the remainder of the first day consisted of operations , marketing , and business development tracks . While there ’ s not enough space in Exhibition World to share all highlights , here are a few
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worth sharing with your sales and marketing teams .
From the It ’ s Not Your 2019 Playbook : What Marketers Need to Know about the New Face-to-Face with Sarah Varner , Emerald , Sophie Fasano , Clarion Events , and Liz Irving , Clarion Events North America moderating : 1 . We must redefine the value proposition through the lens of attendees – and it ’ s not just one value proposition . ( Varner ) SS : It can ’ t be said enough : Value in attending any event is in the eye of the beholder , whether they are visitors , exhibitors , or sponsors .
2 . Pre-registration data is more valuable than ever . The challenge : people are registering later and later – which is not going to change anytime soon . ( Fasano )
3 . Marketers should help sales out by sharing true and transparent data on pre-registration , so sales may then communicate realistic expectations to the exhibitors . ( Fasano ) SS : It ’ s more common than one would expect for sales and marketing to communicate poorly . If that describes your organisation , now is the time to stop the damaging behaviour .
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Above : First night entertainment at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City
“ We wanted
to get our
heads out of
Covid and
stop talking ,
as much as
possible , about
our industry ’ s
recovery ”
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4 . Help exhibitors focus on their return on engagement and return on opportunities instead of the number of leads . Frame it as a chance to speak with clients and prospects face-to-face . ( Varner ) SS : Yes , yes , and yes again ! It ’ s NO LONGER ABOUT THE NUMBERS !
Price Methodologies : Registration , Exhibits , Sponsorships and Beyond featured RX Americas Fernando Fischer and Clarion Events North America ’ s Mike Carlucci who discussed value-based selling , and addressed one of the biggest challenges show organisers worldwide are encountering : convincing exhibitors to commit to their participation earlier rather than closer to the expo .
Suggestions for solving this problem included concentrating on selling new opportunities instead of solely booth space ( think experiences / activations / unique sponsorships ) as well as proving the value and benefits your show will deliver for companies contracting earlier rather than later .
Remember : It ’ s all about proving the value to your stakeholders .
Next year ’ s SISO Summer Conference takes place in Salt Lake City , Utah .
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www . exhibitionworld . co . uk |
Issue 5 2022 19 |