Download Event Automation

THE
ESSENTIAL
EVENT
AUTOMATION
PRIMER
A Big Picture Look at Event Automation Software
for Data-Driven Marketers and Event Professionals
28%
of marketing budgets
are allocated to events
INTRODUCTION
Even in an increasingly digital world, in-person events play a key role in marketing today’s B2B
companies. According to a recent industry report, an average of 28% of marketing budgets are
allocated to events1. And for six years running, the annual B2B Content Marketing Trends study
has found that in-person events are the most effective tactic according to marketers’ feedback.2
It’s not just marketers who value events. Almost one-third of marketers reported that their senior
management viewed event marketing as “critical and essential.”3
In-person events are thriving. The question is, are they holding their own in an era where CEOs
demand credible ROI and customers expect highly customized and personal experiences?
WHAT IS EVENT AUTOMATION?
Event Automation is a category of technology that has evolved from traditional event management
software. It allows companies to automate, personalize, and measure event management and
marketing activities, so they can increase marketing leads, sales pipeline, and revenue generated
from events while also improving operational efficiency.
Event Automation is the culmination of a multi-decade evolution of event management software.
Logistics
Budgeting
Early 90s
Logistics
Budgeting
Event Registration
Sourcing
Mid 90s
Email
Marketing
Mobile
Logistics
Budgeting
Event Registration
Sourcing
Email
Marketing
Logistics
Mobile
Budgeting
Marketing Automation
Event
Registration Advanced Lead Scoring
Nurture Campaigns
Sourcing
Credible ROI
Early 2000s
2010
Event
Automation
TODAY
Event Automation technology provides functionality to help marketers optimize the impact of
their event spend. A best-in-class solution will automate critical event management tasks, offer
functionality to boost attendee engagement, capture rich attendee data, and provide insights to drive
sales and marketing activities. But the real difference maker is found in event ROI —proving it and
improving it. As events become more engaging to attendees and more efficiently-managed through
Event Automation, companies can quickly see a rise in their return on investment.
WHO USES EVENT AUTOMATION?
Users of Event Automation technology include individuals and teams responsible for marketing and
planning of events. We break down these users into three main categories: The events team, the
marketing team, and outside meeting management companies. Here’s a breakdown of how each
uses Event Automation to benefit the organization:
THE
MARKETING
TEAM
• To increase revenue and
leads from events
• To bring events into the
digital marketing
ecosystem, supporting
across channel campaigns
and lead scoring
• To strengthen the
enterprise brand
• To engage attendees and
personalize their experience
around the event
• To personalize the event
experience for attendees
• To capture deep attendee
insights in order to help
sales and marketing drive
revenue
THE
EVENTS
TEAM
CORPORATE
EVENT
MANAGEMENT
COMPANIES
• To facilitate event logistics
• To facilitate event logistics
• To deliver unique, branded
event experiences
• To deliver unique, branded
event experiences
• To engage attendees and
personalize their
experience around the event
• To engage attendees and
personalize their
experience around the event
• To increase event ROI
• To increase event ROI
• To capture deep attendee
insights in order to help
organizations drive revenue
EVENT MANAGEMENT VS EVENT AUTOMATION:
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
The emphasis of event management software tends to be directed to the activities required to plan,
coordinate, and promote events. Event Automation does all of that but then goes a step beyond,
putting events on the same playing field as other marketing activities by bringing data and insights
to bear on marketing, sales, and ROI.
Event Automation is different because it:
Captures and digitizes information about how
prospects and customers interact with events,
every step of the way.
Connects data to marketing automation systems
in the same way as digital marketing.
Enables marketers to measure and understand
the relative impact of events on revenue.
KEY BENEFITS OF EVENT AUTOMATION
Benefit #1:
Increase Revenue
While marketers instinctively know how to deliver
broad measures of success, such as net new leads
generated and registrations, actually tying revenue
back to events is far more difficult. According to the
State of B2B Event Marketing study, only 48% of
marketers say they have any sort of ROI measurement
in place for their events. And Aberdeen reports in a
recent survey that 69% of respondents said tracking
ROI for events is their primary challenge.
Through Event Automation, marketers can maintain sight of their prospects as attendees navigate
through the event—before, during, and after. This insight can be used to better understand
attendees and where they are in their buying process. Data captured throughout the event can be
used in lead scoring to drive targeted follow up campaigns. And attendee insights can be integrated
into omni-channel marketing campaigns to enrich the entire marketing program. Finally, the right
Event Automation technology will integrate with marketing automation and CRM systems to simplify
the measurement of ROI.
Grow sales pipeline
and accelerate the
sales cycle
Expected results:
Capture buying
signals to increase
conversions
Improve overall
marketing
performance
Inform future sales
and marketing
decisions
Get event leads to get
to the right salesperson
95% faster for a higher
success rate.
Benefit #2:
Engage Customers and Prospects
Customers and prospects want experiences that are tailored to their specific goals, needs, and
place in the buying cycle. With Event Automation, organizations can more easily design and deliver
personalized attendee experiences to increase brand loyalty and customer retention. Real-time data
can be put to use to effectively guide attendees through the event lifecycle. And event experiences
can be brought into the palm of the hand with built-in event mobile apps.
Expected results:
Attendees are more
engaged with the
event
Brand awareness
increase
The attendee
experience is more
satisfying
Brand loyalty and
customer retention
increase
Benefit #3:
Scale Your Events
Event Automation helps event professionals and marketers reduce redundant work, data entry,
spreadsheets, and manual lead follow up. Available features help make flawless events a reality and
frustrating manual tasks a thing of the past. With the right technology, users can clone past events to
make subsequent events that much easier to organize. And users can more easily view and analyze
event spend.
Expected results:
Increase operational
efficiencies
Save time, costs,
and labor
Scale and grow
the event program
across the enterprise
Eliminate
frustrating manual
processes
FEATURES IN EVENT
AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY
Event Intelligence
Buyer Engagement
Enterprise Scalability
• Marketing automation integration
• Engagement scoring
• Nurture campaigns
• Customized dashboards
• Effortless reporting
• Event ROI measurement
• Email marketing
• Event websites
• Event mobile apps
• Social engagement
• Session polling and Q&A
• Call for papers
• Personalized agendas
• Branding control
• Scheduled appointments
• Templates and cloning
• Online registration
• Payment processing
• Onsite check-in
• Attendee profiles
• Hotel and venue sourcing
• Session management
• Travel and accommodation
• Budgeting tools
HOW TO SUCCEED WITH EVENT AUTOMATION
BEFORE EVENT
Define Your Event
Deliver Your Message
Segmentation:
Email Marketing:
Use what you know to segment
your event invitees.
Invite your attendees with engaging
personalized content.
Partners
Existing
Customers
Service
Providers
Prospects
Leads
Marketing
Automation
VIPs
Event
Automation
Employees
Personalize event invitations, promotional
codes and ongoing email marketing based
on segmentation and responses.
BEFORE EVENT
DURING EVENT
Customize Registration
Collect Attendee Buying Signals
Registration:
Attendee Data Capture:
Capture attendee insights and interests.
Capture attendee behavioral data
and buying signals during the event.
Automatically prepopulate registration
forms with information
you have. Provide
personalized
registration pages for
each segment.
Then, use this
opportunity to learn
more about their
interests.
Start to make
recommendations
to enhance their
experience at the event.
New or updated information is pushed back
and updated in your MA or CRM system.
Check-in
1-to-1 appts.
Surveys
Booth visits
Sessions
And more!
Collect up to 300
data point types, including session attendance,
badge scans, etc.
Interaction points are pushed to your MA
system in real-time so you can take action.
DURING EVENT
Incorporate Event Data
Reach Out to Your Attendee
Data integration:
Lead Nurturing:
Push enhanced profile, behavioral, and
buying signal data into marketing automation.
Suggest next steps to your buyer
during and after the event.
Event
Automation
Data captured from
the entire lifecycle of
the event produces an
engagement score and
informs lead scoring.
Sales Acceptance
Marketing
Automation
Engagement Score
Lead
= 150
Add to List
Custom Mapping
Activities
Custom Data Objects
Sales
CRM
SQL
Profile and interaction data and scoring
is passed to your marketing automation
system.
Sales reps can
see exactly what
happened with each
lead so follow up can
be more targeted.
The lead is converted
to a contact and an
opportunity.
Bonus: You now have rich
information to improve your next
event or marketing campaign.
AFTER EVENT
Sell Your Stuff & Close That Deal
Analyze & Attribute Event Spend
Opportunity:
Credible ROI:
Move your prospect through the sales cycle
and acquire new customers.
Analyze the revenue cycle & attribute.
Wine ‘n dine
Follow-ups
Demos
Contract
Proposals
Purchase
Order
Event spend can be included in your attribution
model with other marketing activities.
You can demonstrate sales and deliver credible
ROI across ALL marketing channels.
CERTAIN EVENT AUTOMATION
Beyond event management software for data-driven marketers and event professionals.
Certain is the leading provider of enterprise Event Automation software to the Fortune 1000. Our
software helps data-driven marketers and event professionals capture and integrate rich buying
signals and attendee insights into omni-channel marketing campaigns to improve sales and
marketing results and deliver credible event ROI.
“Organizations that are looking to benefit
from a vendor’s ability to capture and
leverage data and event intelligence should
place Certain on their short list of vendors.”
—SiriusDecisions Inc. SiriusView:
Event Management Solutions 2015
CLIENTS
CERTAIN FEATURE COMPARISON
Far below
industry standards
Certain Event Automation Feature List
EVENT MARKETING & ROI
Marketing Automation Integrations
Advanced Lead Scoring
Nurture Campaigns
Customized Reporting
Event ROI
BUYER ENGAGEMENT
Mobile Experience
Branding Control
Personalized Agendas
Call for Papers
Session Recommendations
Scheduled Appointments
Session Polling and Q&A
EVENT PLANNING & REGISTRATION
Online Registration
Integrated Check-In
Session Management
Travel and Accommodation
Sourcing
Budgeting Tools
Industry
standards
Far above
industry standards
Rating Against Industry Standard
Certain delivers the leading enterprise Event Automation platform to personalize event experiences
and provide meaningful connections that accelerate business. Certain integrates with marketing
automation and CRM systems to help move prospects through the buying cycle faster; and the
Certain Event Success Hub™ includes industry partners that extend event management capabilities.
Our Lead Intelligence adds event-level interactions to not only track what attendees are doing,
but also understand their actual interests in order to drive more personalized lead nurturing and
effective sales follow-up.
The Certain platform enables attendee management, utilizes a mobile app to simplify and speedup event registration and management, provides event branding as well as social and mobile
participation, and facilitates 1-to-1 meetings that engage audiences and maximize event value for all
participants. Headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in North America, Europe and the Pacific
Rim, Certain is a strategic event partner to over 600 enterprise and event management companies.
©2016 Certain, Inc. All Rights Reserved
1
IPSOS OTX (Commissioned by Google), PCMA, PricewaterhouseCoopers (Economic Significance of Meetings to the US Economy, Feb 2011)
2016 B2B Content Marketing Trends, Content Marketing Institute/Marketing Profs
2
3
State of Event B2B Marketing, Regalix Research