1. EVENT MARKETING:
Bring the Heat
James Grevas
PRINCIPAL, ACTIO MARKETING

2. The View
From Where
We Sit
 New Company, Seasoned Players
 Exclusively B2B Focused
 Primary Verticals- Tech and IT Channel, and
Owner/Operator/Distributor/Franchise
 Both Event and Non-Event Related
Marketing

3. Event
Marketing’s
Dirty Little
Secrets
 Every single piece of content or design is
event marketing
 It takes time OR money, and usually both
 The more personal it is, the more success
you will have
 This isn’t just about attendance – it’s about
engagement

4. EVENT MARKETING
BOOTCAMP
Stacey Ruth
PRINCIPAL, ACTIO MARKETINGPRINCIPAL, ACTIO MARKETING
WHAT’S WRONG HERE?
EVENTING MARKETING MISTAKES:

5. Top 6 Event
Marketing
Mistakes
Mistakes
1. Putting tactics before
strategy
2. Too much/too frequent
information
3. Not enough information
4. No metrics of success
5. No time
6. No budget
1. Start with who/where/
when & goals
2. Rule of three ideas
3. WIIFM
4. Measure what’s working
5. Urgency messages
6. $ value of an attendee
Fixes

6. A GOOD EXAMPLE
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE:

7. The Company:
 Vertical: Enterprise Software
 Revenues: 225m (2011)
 Approximate Customer Base: 2500

8. The Situation:
 Annual User Conference
 Engagement window
approximately 5 mo.
 Current attendance 633
 Goal- 30% 0f installed user base (833
attendees)

9. Current Strategy and Assumptions:
 Currently uses:
– event website
– company website link
– email announcements
– personal invitations from sales team
 Competes with 7 other industry user
conferences
 Holds conference in Vegas
 Gets great feedback from
attendees

10. The Approach:
 Perform a sample population survey
on both previous attendees and
non-attendees.
 Asks about:
– Awareness
– Location
– Content
– Format
– Business challenges
– Reasons for attending and
obstacles to attending

11. The Insights:
 Most non-attendees were unaware
of conference (75%)…(sales people
not communicating)
 …Or could not get their boss’
approval to attend a conference in
Las Vegas. (15%)
 Attendees liked networking, but
preferred different networking
formats
 Attendees did not want a focus on
a sales message, but did want time
to get hands-on experience with
the product

12. The Solution:
 A script and incentive contest was
developed to encourage sales team to
invite customers
 The event website was re-designed to
present “reasons to attend” and focused
on new, improved networking
opportunities, and hands-on learning
opportunities
 Event website included testimonials and
personal invitation from the president
 Event location was moved the following
year to Dallas
 Attendance went from~600 to ~900 in
first year

13. Takeaways:
 Question your assumptions, and
your audiences
 Do the due diligence, and do
something about what you learn
 Content is King.

14. /ActioMarketing
/JamesGrevas
@ActioMarketing