It’s pretty cool that we’re on the same page as our clients when it comes to intentions while attending B2B events. Tradeshows and conferences rank in the top two lead generation sources for B2B companies (source: InsideSales). And believe it or not, nearly 70% of conference attendees are showing their faces to shop and learn about products and services (source: CEIR). What a coincidence!
With these facts in mind, and Convergence less than 24 hours away, we hope you’ve already thought about your marketing strategy for the week. How will you showcase your company and set the stage for winning prospects? Which contacts will you collect and who will view you as an important contact? What sessions will you attend and who will attend your sessions? What is your expo floor strategy? Which vendors do you need to avoid? Which parties will you attend? When will you find time to eat?!
Last, but certainly not least, have you thought about a strategy for your peeps–your people? Your contacts, customers, and future customers. And even your competitors’ customers…
Putting Power Behind Your People
Obviously, it’s important to have a people strategy for an event like Convergence. You should have already outlined a process for capturing leads. As you spend the week meeting and greeting (and schmoozing, dodging, selling, and being sold), how should you, as a marketer, approach your people strategy? The Aberdeen Group points out that while the industry average for lead to conversion ratio is a staggering143:1, best-in-class companies have figured out how to par that number down to 68:1.
Part of the solution is implementing “customer data quality initiative” (source: Aberdeen). Ask yourself, “Does my lead capture strategy include everything I need to create relevant re-connections with my new contacts?”
Nerding Out on Lead Data
A critical piece of any event strategy is lead data accuracy. And the same goes for Convergence. As most marketers know, it’s imperative that scanned lead data equates to actual usable contact information. Over 70% of best in class respondents cite marketing database management (cleansing, de-duping, etc.) as a top contributor to an effective marketing lead process (source: Aberdeen).
>Ensuring that the best marketing contact data enters your database will not only improve your nurture campaigns and produce faster lead routing, but it will also develop a stronger, more qualified lead pool for your sales team. And isn’t that why you’re going to Convergence in the first place?
A lead enrichment solution will solve the data accuracy challenges often encountered at large events like Convergence. Enrichment tools ultimately compare scanned contact data with extensive databases that are teeming with triangulated data. The technology scours millions of financial records, leverages crowdsourcing techniques, and even uses people to double-check the accuracy of your data.
To boot, lead enrichment tools deliver completed data records directly into your existing Microsoft Dynamics CRM contact and account records. How cool is that?
Throwing Leads Over the Fence Doesn’t Work
As you’re marauding around the Convergence expo floor this week looking to pounce on both new and existing unsuspecting customers, make sure your people strategy and data enrichment solutions measure up. Incomplete and inaccurate lead data not only ruins your relationship with your sales counterparts, it also results in significant lead loss, lower pipeline value, and missed revenue opportunity.
Don’t be one of the 44% of B2B organizations that don’t verify the validity of their business leads before passing them to sales (Source: MarketingSherpa). It would be a shame to have wasted your event budget on what amounts to high-priced nerdfest tickets and a bunch of leads that simply cannot convert.
Some Helpful Convergence Tips
Download the Convergence 2014 app to take advantage the “Contact Exchange” networking feature that allows you to swiftly scan QR codes on attendee badges. Be sure you “opt-in” in for a “name badge QR code” or you may miss out on networking opportunities.
Check out the InsideView booth (#2713) while you’re strolling around–we may just have that lead enrichment solution you’re looking for.
