Bringing the right people together can be powerful, which is one of the many reasons we see in-person events on the rise in 2018. Think of it: you have customers and potential buyers in one place. This is a great opportunity to learn all you can about what drives them, what they care about, and the pain points that cause them to lose sleep at night. The right event engagement app should help you identify and understand the data points to drive revenue and bring true value to your organization.
Live events as an outstanding marketing channel
You can get amazing, revenue-enhancing insights by capturing buyer intent and tracking data signals throughout your event. These can educate your sales, marketing and customer retention initiatives now and into the future. Did you know that you can act upon that knowledge in real time before, during and after the event?
Based on what you learn about your participants, you can communicate just the right message to advance them through the buyer journey in a timely way. Leads expire so quickly. You want to capitalize on buyer interest as soon as you can.
Many event hosts miss out on capturing and measuring the data signals, never mind translating those signals into action. As a result, they don’t realize the full business value that events represent. It’s crucial to make intelligent decisions about the investment you are making in this important marketing channel.
Data types
There are different kinds of data to consider here: declarative and behavioral data.
You’ll likely want to ask direct questions of your event participants in the form of a session survey or a general conference questionnaire; this is a good way to compile declarative data and can deliver valuable insights.
However, sometimes it’s what your participants do rather than what they say that’s more telling. Actions – or behavioral cues – show true interest and intent. Therefore, collecting behavioral data will give you richer information to create the actionable tasks that will lead to higher revenue.
The trick is to capture both types of data and to use them in a meaningful way in order to create more targeted marketing messages, help move the sales needle by delivering relevant information to prospects when they want it, and better serve your customers.
Behavioral cues for unparalleled understanding
When you consider pulling together the behavioral data, think about where your event participants are – where they really are. Not physically at the conference venue, but on their mobile devices. Be where your people are—on their phones. That’s where you’re going to pick up those behavioral cues. Mobile technology can capture insights you couldn’t get otherwise, and mobile event apps can deliver the insights directly from participants to you.
What if you could determine which participants downloaded which materials? Suppose a prospect downloads a PDF in the app on a certain topic. You see his interest and follow up with an additional content piece that acts as a sequel to the one he is already interested in. Or you suggest a relevant session he may enjoy attending. The right action at the right time.
Consider also a sturdy social platform in your mobile event app. With that, you can have your finger on the pulse of trending topics at the conference. You see who said what—all in one place. You see who posted what comment or topic for discussion; who asked what questions during a live poll speaker Q&A. This is incredibly valuable information to have.
Suppose a customer is asking a question on the discussion board that one of your account members can answer right away. That’s the kind of responsiveness that creates unforgettable customer attention and care.
You’ll also want great reporting and, even more compelling, integrations with your marketing automation system to drive the best outcomes. This is real-time intelligence that informs your next behaviors.
Full line of sight with customers and prospects
By tracking valuable behavioral signs, you’ll get a well-rounded, comprehensive look at your event participant. We call this “one view of the customer.” It’s a full picture you couldn’t get elsewhere.
And if you pull the lens back a bit, you’ll also see that all these data signals can be compiled to help segment your customer profiles or enrich your buyer personas.
Using data to advance sales, marketing and customer care will help you realize the full value and impact of live events.