With BlackHat right around the corner, I wanted to dive into the less glamorous - but equally important part of event planning - “The Follow-up Plan!" This topic came up at the cybersecurity marketing society virtual meet-up last week, and I thought it was an awesome opportunity to share pro tips around list segmentation, sales alignment, and the art of repurposing trade show content to boost Black Hat ROI.
Tip #1: Get Aligned with Sales Before the Event
How many of you have been part of a conversation like this?
"Hi Jim, it's Sally, we have 2000 leads coming in from ABC trade show tomorrow and I need your team to follow up with them this week."
"Ah, Sally, there's no way we can help. The BDRs are deep into a sales play, and we can only focus on pipeline building right now."
I've been both the receiver and (guiltily) the sender of this conversation. Here are some pro tips to ensure your Sales team is aligned, enabled, and ready to book meetings as soon as the show ends. I recommend starting this process about 6 weeks prior to an event. And don't worry if you haven't started yet - there's still time!
- Segment Your List: Prioritize high-intent contacts to boost meaningful conversations and engagement. (see Tip 2)
- Agree on Actions: Clearly define the actions both Marketing and Sales will take after the event.
- Set Follow-Up SLAs: Establish clear follow-up Service Level Agreements to hold each other accountable.
- Make sure to build a Hot Lead process that connects sellers with contacts right away!
- Try to do this while they are still at the show (no more than 48 hours after).
- Empower BDR Teams: Enable your Business Development Representatives with a well-defined plan, messaging, sequences, and offers. Set up or record a training with resources in SDFC, Quip or your intranet.
- Track Progress and Optimize: Continuously measure progress, gather feedback, and optimize your follow-up strategy for better results.
Tip #2: Create and Segment Your Event Audience
Effective list segmentation is critical for personalized and targeted follow-up. Aim to set up your CRM ahead of time, and add segment tags to your booth scanners. This will enable you to apply segments to your data list (before you download it) which speeds up imports and execution.
- Segment Your Event List: Consider dividing contacts into three segments - Low Intent, High Intent, and Hot leads.
- Define Segmentation Criteria: Use actions contacts engaged in at the event, predictive models (like 6sense), or a combination of both to define each segment at tag accordingly.
- Develop Personalized Journeys: Create tailored journeys for each segment, leveraging existing campaigns or build net new ones with repurposed event content. (see Tip 3 for ideas!)
Tip #3: Repurpose and Activate Event Content
Take one of your trade show themes and map out a content and tactic plan across each stage of the buyer's journey. This enables you to engage all of your trade show segments at the right, with the right content and offers to create, capture and accelerate demand. And, with the emergence of AI, building content is faster than ever. Taking this approach can extend the life and value of your trade show theme for a quarter or more.
- Top-of-the-Funnel (TOFU): Promote educational content via social media, email, and web to boost awareness to low-intent leads.
- Create a blog, infographic, and create social media content on hot event topics and statistics.
- Publish an event landing page to showcase your show assets and capture demand.
- Host a LinkedIn Live session to share key event learnings.
- Middle-of-the-Funnel (MOFU): Engage high-intent leads with content designed to create demand.
- Turn session presentations into eGuides, gated or un-gated by value and stage.
- Host webinars or round table events to engage your audience.
- Create snackable demos with a CTA to book personalized demos.
- Take the presentation on the road, via seminars or exclusive events in cities with clusters of high-intent accounts.
- Bottom-of-the-Funnel (BOFU): Hit up HOT leads with personalized sales offers to create opportunities.
- Promote a trial, offer a custom demo, or provide a complimentary assessment.
- Consider offering a proof of concept or a time-bound incentive for event attendees to make a purchase.
- Create a BDR sequence to accelerate booking meetings with prospects.
I hope these post-event planning tips sparked some new ideas and conversations on your team!
I wish you all the best at Black Hat.