Lessons from 3 Marketing Experts on Everything Virtual Events

Amy Barone, Sr. Director of Marketing Events & Engagement Programs at Tableau Software, shares her event marketing secrets in our A New Era in Event Marketing webinar with Harvard Business Review and AdAge. Below, she gives an inside look at how Tableau  grew and scaled a high-performance event program.

Not to sound dramatic or anything, but life as we know it has changed — and nothing will really be the same again. Stores are mostly empty, corporate employees are working from home offices (or kitchen tables), and in-person events are virtually non-existent for the time being. (Pun intended.)

But this doesn’t mean event marketing goals are canceled too. In reality, it’s even more important now to drive engagement, build communities of champions, and impact revenue goals.

I recently sat down with three event marketing experts to answer all of your questions about virtual events, so you can focus on meeting your goals. From adjusting event marketing plans to building attendee engagement, let’s take a peek into some of their successes and lessons learned.

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Ten years later, our annual conference attracts nearly 20,000 customers and partners, our company has grown to 4,000 people, and we have a first-class marketing team with dedicated event professionals who are the best in the biz. Events have been a crucial part of our brand and help us better connect with our community, evangelize our customers, and ultimately grow our company.

Here’s how we did it:

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Image: Conference Matters

Dana:

“There’s a lot that needs to be discovered before you start even having a discussion about what platform you should use or what format. Technology isn’t the solve here — it’s the augmentation. It’s the human designer behind this experience that matters most. 

You have to design your program first with empathy and intention. What are you trying to achieve? What experience do you want for your attendees? Are you looking to take some risks and infuse some ingenuity into your programming? Do you need interactivity in the sessions you’re building?

My point is there are so many questions you need to ask. Before you can possibly have the platform and format conversation, you’ve got to get aligned with your internal stakeholders and understand the value you’re bringing to your attendees.”

It’s one thing to blindly upload an attendee list from a large industry event and blast everyone (you know who you are), but it’s another to know exactly who visited your booth, who met with your sales team, attended your event — they’re the ones that are the most engaged with you and they’re the ones you should focus on the most.

Though brief, that simple interaction with with the chef took the night beyond just an excellent meal.

Image: Google Books

When it comes down to it, the goal of any event is to grow and nurture the relationship between your guests and your brand — whether you’re promoting a product, building community, or looking to increase brand awareness.

Tim:

“There are so many virtual platforms out there, and there are a lot of questions that go into discovering what will be the right fit for your program. Asking all of these questions may take you down a rabbit hole, which can be complicated. So high level, I like to start by looking at what I’m already working with and asking how I can potentially make my program work with what I already have.

But ultimately, we do want to dig in and discover the right fit. And while there may not be one answer to help you understand what it is that you need from a technical discovery standpoint, there are a lot of things available. And through that discovery, you’ll find what it is you’re looking for. 

The best advice I can give: actually consume webinars and virtual events as much as you can and get your team involved. Go engage, go see what the platforms are like, and pick out the things that you think are relevant and a fit for your audience.”

Neda:

“Right now, the most important thing is standing out from the crowd. How do you make your messages and emails engaging and eye-catching? It’s really important to think about the design, the simplicity of your message, and the relevance of your content. One of the things you can do is ask your community questions to see what they need, and be responsive to that.” 

Dana:
“As you start to think about your date selection, first ask yourself: Do I need to host this virtual event on the date that my in-person event was going to happen? And if so, why? But then, also look at how many other people are hosting a virtual event on the same date. Be thoughtful about your date selection and the eyeballs you’re competing for.

Something else to consider: You cannot think that you’re going to take your in-person program and shoehorn it into an online event. You need to be very selective about your content. What’s going to make for more engaging entertainment? Instead of just doing another slidedeck presentation, could you do this as a game show or cooking competition?”

Tim:
“Making things easy for your attendees will get them to show up. Put your attendee hat on and go through the experience yourself so you know how to simplify. You want to have as few clicks as possible for their experience.”

Dana:

“I was recently talking to an event producer who was saying it’s really hard to find inspiration these days. But this is really all around you. Your event doesn’t have to be super shiny. And in fact, if it’s overly manufactured and produced, that might even come across a little tone-deaf. People are just craving authenticity and connection.

Right now, you have an opportunity where you can take risks, experiment, and ask your audience to be part of your Petri dish as you explore what’s possible. There’s a window of forgiveness right now that you should be jumping on.”

Neda:

“Something that really pops for me is how much attendee data we have access to. If you took a little bit of extra time, what could you learn about them based on that data? Understand them as individuals, so you can tailor the content and experience.

For example, if I want to have a roundtable discussion with fewer than 10 executives and I know they have families, how can I engage them in a way that brings their families into the conversation? We can recognize there’s more going on in their lives so we can have real, meaningful conversations with people.”

Tim:

“I was at an event recently that used Slido. What was super interesting is it wasn’t just a poll. It was an interactive way of rewarding attendees for answering questions correctly and fast. The crowd went from being really spread out to engaged — just like a big mess of people who wanted to win.”

Dana:
“Pre-engagement is just as important as driving engagement during the program. I go back to a recent virtual conference I attended, where they had a Slack channel tied to each Zoom session. They had moderators for each channel, so anytime anyone made a comment or introduced themselves, there was a genuine interaction. The energy created before the event was quite remarkable. So when the event happened, it was like you were meeting an old friend back in the channel. It felt like — as much as it could — that you were bumping into somebody in the hallway.”

Neda:

“Before you come into a class, you’re expected to do a bit of homework. If you’re hosting an event and really trying to bring groups together to discuss a topic, you can ask them to do some pre-work. Tell them: These are the questions that I want you to come prepared with. Or this is information we’re looking to have deeper conversations about.”

Neda:

“What happens before, during, and after virtual events becomes something we have to consider as we’re strategizing and planning our programs out. Our follow-up should not be an afterthought. When we think about continuing the conversation, we have to think: What’s the next step? How is sales engaging with them? How do we give sales information on our attendees so they can do more personal follow-ups?

But if your buyers don’t have a budget to spend, how do you keep your pipeline warm? Part of that is making sure you’re providing forums and open opportunities for customers and prospects to engage in a natural way. Letting them know you’re there to help goes a long way, especially right now.”

Get more insights from these three event marketing experts by watching the on-demand webinar.

This is when having accurate event data readily available and synced between sales and marketing systems becomes crucial, so that executives, sales teams, and the marketing team are all on the same page. Event data is shared weekly or even every other day, so everyone has a clear understanding of things like RSVPs and check-ins, and can adjust their communications or follow-ups accordingly.

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This way, guests didn’t have to worry about memorizing each other’s names or drawing a blank when they turned to chat with the person next to them, and we also got to show off  our product in a natural way.

When the MediaMath team goes to determine the ROI of an event, they’re able to track and attribute opportunities and future deals to a prospect attending the event.

And from a budget perspective, they’re also able to look at data from all events over the course of a year and see which opportunities and deals are associated with people who attended. This helps them determine which events are working or what they should adjust, and where they should continue investing their marketing dollars.

Even if your event doesn’t require a full seating chart with assigned seats, think about how you want the flow of your event to go, and how you can create natural opportunities for meaningful connections.

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•   A sense of privacy: a completely private and closed off room for dinner proved to be an extremely crucial element. At one of the venues, an open section in the room allowed noise to disrupt the flow of conversation — making it feel less private and less special of a night compared to dinners that were completely closed off to the public.

At the end of the day, throwing events mean nothing if you’re not providing value to your customers.

At our conferences, we provide “Tableau Doctors” on-site that help customers or prospects with any questions about our product. Not only do these one-on-one appointments empower customers to engage with us in a meaningful way, they’ve also been the critical to driving event ROI.