Wednesday,July 15th, 2009
Many conference producers (and corporations around the world) are scratching their collective heads and trying to understand what all this marketing change is about. Actually it is quite simple, and something you are doing everyday:
We are moving towards a “search centric” world where buyers and sellers are connecting more and more online.
We are being conditioned to put any request for research into a little box on our computer or phone. We respond to the organic search results that are delivered. This shift has caused marketers around the world to react by proliferating the web with content and noise (articles, PR, thought leadership, video, user-generated content, etc) all in an attempt to increase the chance that their product, company, (or conference in our world) will come up in the first few organic results in a search engine.
At the same time, companies are recognizing more and more that snail-mail is too expensive, and too negative on our corporate carbon footprint. This is causing them to promote more online through email, clogging an already clogged system. Open rates decline, results are diluted, and if you don’t find a way around this mess, your product, service or event will be lost in the noise.
These elements are all coming together to create a perfect storm in marketing (sorry for the over used phrase, but it fits). A major shift is happening in marketing as a result. This is why you are seeing services such as Twitter, and Linkedin and other b2b social media sites used more and more to bring buyers and sellers together. This trend is creating a “pull” marketing channel versus the traditional “push” process. Most organizations are not set up yet to take advantage of this shift, but with the right knowledge, you can use it to your advantage and thrive.
As a conference producer, this is BIG. If your email isn’t getting through, mail is too expensive, and your budget is under pressure, how can you grow your events? Simple, embrace the shift in order to create and follow the conversation online.
In order to stay laser focused, and provide you with tactical action items that you can leave e4 2009 with, my focus will be mainly on using LinkedIn to create community, establish gravity for your event, find prospects, and generate great (free) buzz that will absolutely attract new attendees and exhibitors for your event. I will try to weave this into other tools, but LinkedIn will be my focus.
I look forward to meeting you in DC. In the meantime, I’d love to create a discussion in this blog post with our peers in the event industry. What are your thoughts on this “shift”? Are you using the new tools in your marketing efforts? Are they successful, or is the jury still out?
Let your peers know by commenting on this post!
RD Whitney
www.linkedin.com/in/rdwhitney
CEO, Tarsus Online Media
Tarsus Group plc
www.Tarsus.com
Email: rwhitney@tarsus.com
RD,
Great post – what an accurate depiction of the current event industry state of technology changes.
I would add that even the services like Twitter, LinkedIn and other b2b social media sites still add to the noise. The next set of tools that will sit on top of the social media platform will include the filters and analytics that will help us focus and measure the most relevant information.
I also think that conference producers and show organizers must not just FOLLOW the online conversation, but they must also PARTICIPATE.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this shift as I suspect many of our peers will also.
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