20 Ideas for Creating More Engaging Event Marketing Programs

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July 10-12, 2012 Hyatt McCormick Place, Chicago, IL

20 Ideas for Creating More

Engaging Event Marketing Programs

Richard Norby, VP of Creative Services and Director, Research & Development, Live Marketing

Bryan Pray, Creative Director and Executive Producer, Live Marketing

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Game-Changing Ideas By Themselves Are Not Enough!

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An Engagement Strategy To Boost Results 3 Objectives Target Audience Brand & Message Staffing Information Capture Next Steps

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1) Social Media Programs

Facebook,

LinkedIn,

Twitter……

Fa la la la la la la

la!

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What’s Right for You? §  Twitter

§  Facebook §  LinkedIn §  YouTube

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•  HAVE to have context

•  MUST have a call-to-action

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•  Can be treacherous waters for some companies

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2) Tweet-Ups

Anyplace,

Anytime!

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2) Tweet-Ups

Create spontaneous events §  Promote your twitter

handle in advance §  Establish and/or use

event hashtag

§  Provide information of value

§  Use hashtag to announce special events in booth or at other locations

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2) Tweet-Ups

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§  Cool/unexpected locations §  Opportunity for exclusivity §  Microblogging campaigns

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§  Control the environment you pick

§  Have valuable content or an attract

§  Promote your twitter handle in advance

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3) Live Video Stream to Facebook

You’re LIVE,

baby!!

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§  Promote in advance

§  Use a streaming platform such as Livestream

§  Get adequate AV equipment

§  Embed the stream player in Facebook page

§  If all this confuses you, get help!

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§  Built in multimedia asset building

§  Wider reach to those who can’t attend

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§  High disconnect/tune out ratio

§  Employ a variety of engagement tactics!

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4) Roving Reporter

Feet-On-The-Street

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Plan in advance:

§  Who will you interview? Attendees, customers, subject matter experts, key opinion leaders,

company executives, etc. §  How will you use the

materials post-event? Website, YouTube, sales tools, tradeshows,

executive presentations, etc.

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§  High level of credibility §  High level of viral

potential

§  Inexpensive and fast

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§  Do it right! Don’t cheap out on audio and video quality

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5) Pre-Event Webcast

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§  Simple do-it-yourself webinar

§  Partner with an association

§  Highly produced with video

§  Offer information of value to the audience §  Promote visit to

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§  Use that pre-event email list to generate interest! §  An attendee walks onto a

showfloor KNOWING who they want to visit

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§  Not speaking directly to their major pain points will work AGAINST you

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6) Training Microsite

Herd Cats with a

VIRTUAL Lasso!

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§  Eliminate coordinating training for booth staff §  Reduce or eliminate cost

of a pre-show meeting §  Avoid producing paper

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§  Booth staff training is

ESSENTIAL to an effective live program

§  Also hardest thing to get mindshare for

§  Good opportunity to engage your team spirit

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§  Don’t let them tune out §  Make it worth their while or

they’ll be playing Draw Something!

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7) Self-Guided Tour

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•  Attendees register at a

specific starting point—give them a tour card or

electronic check-in tool •  Create a fun or interesting

activity that makes them want to visit all the tour stops

•  Collect cards or electronic tool at final stop

•  Train staff on how to interact with attendees visiting their area on the tour

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§  Attendees move through at their own pace

§  THEY feel in control but YOU control the tour path and the info they’re

exposed to

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§  Don’t let them walk out of your booth and out of your lives forever!

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8) Experiential Product Demos

The world is

MEANT to be

experienced

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§  Know your audience. §  Create an experience

based on your audiences’ tastes, personality, and learning style

§  Make the experience the booth draw—something attendees will be highly interested in or excited about

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§  High buzz factor

§  Attendees will come back over and over

§  Chance to connect your brand with innovation and that elusive “cool factor”

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§  Don’t lose the connection to your message

§  Attendees may remember the experience but forget the company

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9) Virtual Booth Microsite

You’re officially

in The Matrix

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There’s more than one way to skin a virtual cat

§  Interactive website with the graphical look of your tradeshow booth

§  An interactive live-streaming site

§  A social media/online-community style site focused on the

tradeshow program §  High-end virtual event

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§  Connected online presence gives you 2X the coverage §  Wider reach to those who

can’t attend

§  Gives those who DO attend an easy place to go back to for further info

§  Connect it to an in booth contest or drawing!

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§  Don’t spend more money on your virtual booth than your real one!

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10) SMS/MMS Campaign

You know how

those kids like to

text!

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Use it for:

§  Making announcements §  Running a promotion

§  Enabling an activity such as a scavenger hunt

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§  Majority of the audience already knows how to participate

§  Almost all have a text-ready phone in their pocket

§  Familiarity with their own devices means a higher participation rate

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§  Beware text messaging charges!

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11) QR Codes / Digital Watermarks

Ghosts in the

machine!

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§  Make sure the QR codes take people to a mobile optimized experience! §  Use to offer enhanced

information

§  Be creative in their use— temporary tattoos?!

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§  Projects a high-tech image §  Cutting edge with ENDLESS

possibilities

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§  Few people know how to use it in an effective manner

§  There STILL isn’t one

universally recognized QR code reader app

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12) Google+ Hangouts

Because Google

doesn’t know

enough about

you ALREADY!

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Make sure you:

§  Have clear objectives §  Make it valuable for the

participants

§  Have it well organized and produced

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§  Join from anywhere

§  Google+ is hot right now, underutilized, and familiar to a younger demographic

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§  Make sure you can control the environment you pick §  Make sure you have valuable

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13) Guerilla Marketing

You just never

know WHERE

they’ll pop up!

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§  Engage attendees in unexpected places, in unexpected ways

§  Make it fun or cool §  Don’t be intrusive or

obnoxious

§  Have a plan “B” in case of problems

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§  Big points for creativity with context

§  Take it to the streets and hit hotel lobbies, sidewalks, or even coffee shops!

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§  Make sure you EXACTLY know the show rules

§  Don’t risk getting fined…but maybe push the boundaries a bit

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14) Professional Visualizers

Who doesn’t like

a good cartoon?

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14) Professional Visualizers Use to visualize §  Demonstrations §  KOL presentations §  Educational sessions §  Keynotes

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14) Professional Visualizers

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§  Really engages “visual thinkers”

§  Reinforces major points and promotes higher retention rate

§  Can add a fun element to a presentation

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§  Make sure it doesn’t draw more attention than the content!

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15) Applications

There’s ALWAYS

an app for that

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§  Native apps versus web apps

§  Have a good reason to do an app

§  Offer value to the user §  Consider your target

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§  Very hot right now

§  Multiple platforms means lots of reach

§  Your content literally LIVES in their pocket

§  Always accessible

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§  Few people leverage the full potential of a good app §  Design and approval can be

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16) Prezi

Prezi time!

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16) Prezi

§  Free/inexpensive tool §  Easy to use

§  Sophisticated designs take a designer and/or programmer

§  Take advantage of it’s unique capabilities to tell a story (not just fancy PowerPoint)

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16) Prezi

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§  Tell a huge complex story in an interesting, visual, non-linear way

§  Connects the whole story for the attendee

§  Really engaging interface

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§  Flash-based content means it doesn’t work so well on iOS

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17) Tablet Media and Activities

Who DOESN’T

have an iPad or

tablet, by now?

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§  iPads are still hot, but there are other tablets as well

§  Make sure you’re clear on your objectives

§  Be aware of both the

strengths and limitations of your tablet platform

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§  Attendees are crazy for dual touch interface media

§  Engaging, exciting visuals elevate any message to a new level

§  Opportunity for games and fun!

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§  Pick the right platform §  Know your technology §  The technology changes

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18) Motion-based Media (Kinect, Wii)

Gonna make you

sweat!

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§  Off-the-shelf games can be used if they fit your message and brand

§  Custom games/activities can make a more robust convention experience §  The game itself is the

attract—no need for a giveaway

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§  Shakes up the booth activity §  Gets people outside their

comfort zones and moving §  Draws a crowd and sticks

with them after they’re done

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§  Make sure your crowd will actually DO this. (HINT: Most doctors won’t.)

§  Don’t lose the message in the activity

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19) Augmented Reality

Too…many…

jokes…

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§  Simulate equipment to avoid bringing it to show floor

§  Create extremely cool MOA media

§  Demo difficult to show processes

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§  An underutilized technology §  Opens up a vast virtual

environment for attendees to explore

§  Get “behind the scenes” and “dig deeper” on their own or with a guide

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§  Technology to support it is not widely used, so you’re working against a learning curve

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20) Virtual Backpack

Who needs

ANOTHER

show-branded tote

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§  Attendees collect

literature electronically— it can go straight to their email or to a pickup site §  Attendees can use their

own mobile devices or you can provide devices or kiosks

§  Booth staff can integrate it into their interactions and lead capture

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§  Attendees pick and choose the info they want

§  Cool, easy-to-use interface combines some of the

coolest technology §  QR codes §  Augmented Reality §  PURLs §  Microsites

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§  Your staff needs to really “get” it!

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July 10-12, 2012 Hyatt McCormick Place, Chicago, IL