Events are still a hugely important part of marketing strategy– 79% of marketers in the U.S. use event marketing to generate leads. But finding the right audience and getting actual quality leads from an event can feel like fumbling around in the dark.
Well, there’s a light at the end of that tunnel, and we bet it’s one you didn’t know about. Yep, we’re talking about intent signals. Here’s how you can leverage Intent to shine a light on event marketing opportunities.
The challenges with event marketing
Many “prospects” from in-person marketing events (if you can even call them that) aren’t currently in the market for what you sell. They might not even be interested in your product ever. They just wanted some cool socks with your company logo or to enter your drawing for an iPad. 36% of marketers named “low-value leads” as the main reason they were disappointed in trade shows…and only 6% feel that their business does extremely well converting trade show conversations into new customers.
And virtual events are only a little better. At least, they (usually) cost less. But who’s to say the attendees didn’t just sign up to have an excuse to zone out for an hour at work? We’ve all been there. Plus, only 40-50% of the people who sign up for a webinar will actually even attend.
Despite all of that, event marketing is still a core lead gen strategy. But it could be better, right?
Using intent data to connect with leads before an event
We recently had a webinar on buying signal secrets, and Bombora’s Sr. Director of Demand and Revenue Marketing Erin Scheller dropped a bombshell insight: intent data isn’t just for prioritizing prospects. “You can use it to find the right audience for your events,” Erin shared. “If you have a big event coming up and you want to know who’s interested, that’s a way to use Intent that people might not think about.”
Let’s get into it.
Say you’re planning a big event like a seminar or some other “in the field” event. Or maybe there’s a lot of relevant conferences going on, but your budget only allows for one, so you have to choose the one that’s most likely to drive your ROI. Well, Intent can help you go where the demand is instead of picking blindly.
Using an intent data provider (like Lusha), you can look up trending intent for your type of offering and figure out locations where that intent is hottest. For example, if you sell helpdesk ticketing software and there’s higher intent scores for topics related to that in Austin, TX than anywhere else. That would mean you have the best chance for high attendance and interest somewhere nearby. Prospects within a 20-mile radius are the most likely to attend an event, so sign up for a relevant conference in Austin or plan to host an event there.
This is great for prioritizing potential booth visitors, too. If you’re going to that Austin software conference, then take a look at the companies who are attending. Who’s showing the most intense interest in topics related to what you sell? Find some relevant contacts at those companies and reach out ahead of time to set up some meetings during the event. You can also use the extra insights from Intent to personalize your conversations – and focus your attention on the attendees who are currently in-market.
It works for virtual events, too. Use intent data to find which companies currently show intent for your event topic and send them personalized outreach emails. Leveraging intent for your webinar can lead to a 75% increase in registrations and a 25% increase in attendance.
Choose an intentional topic
It’s no fun talking to a bored, disinterested audience. Or dealing with low sign-up numbers in the first place due to a dud of a topic. You might just want to talk about how awesome your product is, but that probably won’t drive event sign-ups.
So how do you know what your audience actually wants to hear about? Tools like Google Trends are helpful, but they don’t really give much insight into your audience. You’re not planning an event for just anyone. You want to get the attention of a very specific set of people. You can make sure that your event covers a hot topic by using Intent.
Intent measures the breadcrumbs your audience leaves all over the internet that show they’re interested in something. It goes beyond just simple web searches – intent data is made up of an analysis of all kinds of behavioral data to show active, deep interest.
To use that to your advantage in event marketing, take a look at the companies in your audience. What relevant topics do they show surging intent for? Look for topics that are trending across most of your audience. Those are the things that are top-of-mind for them…which means they’re looking to learn more. That’s your golden opportunity to step in and offer an event that draws them in. With insights from Intent, your event topic can be the direct answer to all their questions. It’s almost too easy.
How Intent can strengthen your event follow-up
Intent data isn’t just useful before an event. Remember those “leads” we talked about and how most of them aren’t in-market? We’ve got a fix for that.
Say you had 2,000 booth visitors – sweet! Not all those leads deserve the same kind of attention from outbound sales, though. After all, only about 15% of your ideal buyers are actually in-market at any given time. Those are the ones you need to contact right away. You can add the rest to a nurture campaign to keep in touch and stay top of mind until they’re ready to buy. Intent data is the perfect way to sift out the active leads from the ones who can be put on the backburner for now.
Take that attendee list and take a look at their companies in Lusha. Which of those companies show high intent scores for your solution? Prioritize immediate, personalized outreach to those. And while you’re at it, take a moment to dive a bit deeper into those companies. The person who visited your booth might not even be the best contact – are they involved in the purchasing process? Use Lusha’s prospecting information to figure out who else in those interested companies could be decision-makers and reach out to them too. And use your insights from intent data to really personalize the messaging you use in those prioritized outreach messages to make the most of your potential ROI. After all, a generic follow-up isn’t going to close the deal. But intent makes sure that every step of your event is anything but generic.
Key takeaways
- Use intent data to find your right event audience and nail down the ideal geographic location.
- Plan an event topic that resonates with your prospects using Intent.
- Intent can help prioritize and personalize follow-up with engaged leads after your event.
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