Event Marketing Tips to Moving Attendees Through the Sales Funnel

High Conversion Event Marketing Checklist

• Step 1: You’ve attracted qualified leads to your event using event attractors.
• Step 2: You’ve converted attendees to leads by using data collection tools (identifiers) to collect your attendees’ information, interests and how they can be reached.

Since high conversion event marketing is about maximizing your ROI, this means converting as many leads as possible. Now that you have your attendees in front of you, you need to engage them in order to move them through the sales funnel.

This is where enticers, the third key element of our Crash Course: How To Improve Your Event Marketing and Trade Show ROI, come in.

What Is An Enticer?

We use the term enticers to describe the elements of your event space designed to engage, entertain, inform or persuade attendees to fall in love with your product. Their purpose is to convey the value of your product/service, enhance attendee experience, and move your attendees through the sales funnel so they’re more likely to buy.

Because your event attractor successfully brought qualified leads to your event, enticers are designed to help you improve the number of warm and hot leads you convert.

Examples

Enticers can include:

• Posters
• Videos
• Signage
• Pamphlets
• Demos
• Interactions

Remember when we discussed keeping your event attractor product-focused? The same goes for enticers. This element of high conversion event marketing has the strongest focus on informing trade show or event attendees about your product or service, and convincing them why they should love it.

Four Tips For Creating High Performing Event Enticers

1. Don’t forget about the middle of the sales funnel
2. Repurpose existing content
3. Be CURVEY-y
4. Place your enticers strategically

#1: Don’t Forget About the Middle of the Sales Funnel

For a minute, let’s forget about the unqualified leads or the hot leads at your event and focus on the kind of attendee that requires the most nurturing – the one living in the middle of the sales funnel.

Since they’re potentially already interested in your product category and shopping around, chances are they are checking out your competitors too. Still weighing their options, these people often experience the buy or walk away problem: not yet ready to buy, they feel they must leave your event space in order to avoid being pressured into making a purchase.

Most event marketers use these two types of enticers at their events:

• Top of the funnel enticers: Broad messaging (displays, signage, etc.) that conveys messages about product value or experience.
• Bottom of the funnel enticers: Product-based information and takeaways that offer qualified buyers with purchase information (sell sheets, brochures etc.)

Is there a way to persuade middle of the funnel attendees to stay, and convert them into warm leads?

There is. Middle of the funnel enticers offer marketers the chance for lead nurturing. This means minimizing the buy or walk away problem by adding value to the brand experience and offering valuable interactions for attendees not yet ready to make the decision to purchase. The more interactive and engaging enticers you have, the more comfortable these people will feel to stay, participate in activities and learn about your product.

Middle of the funnel enticers include:

• Videos or tutorials
• Educational content
• Multimedia interactions
• Product-related games
• Online content downloads (guides, videos, blogs or email subscriptions)

#2: Repurpose Existing Content

With the continued growth of content marketing, chances are your digital marketing team has already created content, videos and other offerings to support their online efforts. Use your events as an opportunity to repurpose this content instead of creating a slew of new enticers.

Examples

• Display online videos or tutorials on booth TV screens
• Promote easy links and downloads of your most popular online content
• Promote social media channels or email subscriptions as an additional option at your initial conversion point

#3: Be CURVE-y

CURVE is an acronym we use for the components involved in the most engaging content and stories.

Think about the best ads, commercials, videos or articles you’ve seen lately. Why did they appeal to you? What made them stand out?

Chances are they were successful because they fit into the following categories:

• Compelling
• Unique
• Relevant/Relatable
• Visual
• Emotional

Apply these to your enticers and offer unique, visually appealing and relevant content to your target audience. Use it to elicit the types of emotions you want them to feel when they use your product.

#4: Place Your Enticers Strategically

Take advantage of these three opportunities you have to enhance attendee experience:

On the Outskirts of Your Event Space

Start by engaging people in a non-invasive way, on the outskirts of your event space as they’re walking by. Create a strong-call to action that entices people to enter or engage with your brand online or through social media. Having something that’s eye catching or entertaining outside of your event space could be the difference in someone walking into your booth or walking right past it.

Where People Are Waiting In Line

Attendees may be waiting in line at your event space for a variety of reasons. They may be waiting to participating in an attractor, to speak to a sales person, fill out a survey or try a product demo. Think about their surroundings while they’re waiting in a line. Use this idle time as a chance to offer shareable facts, videos, interactive media, games, trivia or other enticers. Giving attendees the most out of the time they’ve committed to interacting with your brand will give them a more positive experience and assist you in converting them into customers.

Post-Show

After the show, use the data collected about your attendees to provide them with valuable post-show enticers via email marketing or social media. Emails should be designed to nurture leads in each stage of the buyer funnel and offer CURVE-y content. Leverage information about your attendees’ product interests to send them targeted follow ups specific to their interests.

Conclusion

Once your event wraps up, avoid feeling like you could have done more to engage attendees and convert as many leads as possible. To reap the most benefits from your trade show or event, we suggest you take advantage of each opportunity you have to persuade attendees by offering them engaging, informative and entertaining enticers. This lets your product and service speak to attendees in various stages of the sales funnel, by offering content that is designed with their needs and interests in mind.

Up Next: Trade Show Marketing: Could You Be Converting More Leads to Sales?