Like inbound, event marketing has finally become a core rev gen channel in its own right. In many ways, this is the change many field marketers have been calling for — but it comes with a whole new set of responsibilities.
With ROI and ROE firmly at the forefront, the days of ‘host and hope’ events are officially over.
Today, field marketing is positioned at the center of any smart marketing strategy. Because when field marketers can effectively leverage the power of ABM, they become an unstoppable force for any fast-track growth team.
But if you really want to take your events beyond hand shaking and Zoom fatigue to actually arming sales teams with account-level insights that help close deals, you’ll need to know exactly what to measure and how.
Director of Global Events, Commercial at Medallia
Field marketing and demand gen teams have more pressure to prove their worth. And they have to do it (in part) by using online events.
I think more than anything, the past year has made event marketers rethink their strategies, and we've proved that virtual events can work if you know how to do them right. I was a live events professional for 10 years before COVID forced me to learn an entirely new skillset. I had no virtual event experience, not even webinars, and have spent more time thinking outside-the-box this year than I've had to in a long time. Moving forward, I think we're going to be required to keep up that mindset, even as in-person events come back. I think the days of renting out boxes at hockey games, slapping our logos on sponsor signage, and programming conferences with 10 hours of breakout sessions are mostly over. What I've learned most of all is people are really looking for connections and experiences. We have a huge opportunity now to really blow up everything we thought we knew about event marketing and make it exciting again.
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Start by mapping an event strategy that starts with your attribution model and ends with a clear and defined follow up strategy:
What attribution model will you use to measure your event and why?
How do we attribute that deal if they meet us at a conference, then download a piece of content? Attend a dinner a month later, and then sign?
Do you use first-touch (conference)? Last-touch (dinner)? Or multi-touch attribution and assign 33% of the ROI across each touchpoint?
What are the KPIs that support your chosen model?Which tools will you use to measure those KPIs?
What are the core post-event actions for your team to take?
What are the core post-event actions for the sales team to take?
What is the goal for each?
What is the timeframe for each?
What’s the priority level of each?
Here are some of the metrics to think about:
Number of qualified registrations*
Account level insights (prospects)
Account level insights (customers)
Net new pipeline from the event
Influenced pipeline from the event
Velocity through pipeline
Closed-won opportunities
Closed-won revenue
Cost per contact/attendee
Cost per lead/opportunity
Pipeline touched or generated from event
*Be sure to split your number of qualified registrations and actual attendees between New prospect/MQL/SQL/Customers based on whether you’re measuring a new or existing pipeline.
Average number of attendees by account
Average time spent in the event
Time spent in breakout rooms
Sessions attended for each attendee
Average time spent in each session
Content/resources downloaded during each session
Number of chat messages
Poll answers
Questions asked
Net-new leads generated
Demos/meetings held at or after event
Net-new qualified leads (or MQLs)
Pipeline generated from event
Newly generated qualified opportunities
Target accounts engaged
New leads from customer accounts
Renewal rate improvements
Number of prospects without an open opportunity
Number of prospects with an open opportunity
Number of existing customer with expansion opportunities
Funnel velocity/acceleration
Win rate improvements
Expansion/opportunities generated
Referral customers gained
NPS of those that attended vs. those that didn’t
Founder, The Vendry
We've moved to measurable event ROI and ROE vs. hosting events that we believe our guests want. We've started focusing more on the experience and the customer journey to effectively our events as a marketing and relationship building tool. We have affordable technology now that allows us to create immersive and trackable experiences.
Event: Predictability 2021 Summit
Audience: CISOs at enterprise companies
Divide attendee list into three categories: ‘attendees’, ‘demo attendees’ and ‘no shows’.
Send ‘Demo attendees’ short thank you email with on-demand recording of event sessions.
Send ‘Attendees’ same email but with Gartner’s Cool Vendor Report, a note about Axonious recently making the list, and info on how to set up a demo.
Send ‘No shows’ event recording, piece of content and CTA to reach out with any questions.
Marketing hands sales recap spreadsheet with sessions attended by each attendee, and resources downloaded.
Sales sends ‘demo attendees’ and ‘attendees’ customized emails using separate templates for each.
Sales customized first touches and 1:1s for top accounts and active prospects.
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