Don't let warm leads go to waste

Event marketing

in B2B is team play. Event marketing B2B, it's easier than it looks.

But this may be why leads may be lost

The sales team struggles to generate new leads, but the team is motivated to do their part.

Fine, right?

The sales team thinks it's a great idea and there is the belief that an event will help create a fuller pipeline for the coming months.

You go for it as a marketer. You arrange everything to perfection and you spend EUR 15,000.

The big day is a few hours away and it soon becomes clear that the event is going to exceed expectations.

As a marketer, you finally gathered a list of 20 C-level executives who expressed genuine interest in your solution during the event.

You are then satisfied with the number of leads, and at the end of the day there is a (virtual) toast to the successful event.

Time flies with event marketing

You enthusiastically ask the sales team about leads, but the response is muted. You can guess the answer - they have not yet succeeded in connecting with prospects.

A few more days pass and again you ask your team about progress.

You find out that the sales team has barely been able to follow up and the leads are getting colder and colder.

The delusion of the day now reigns again and the statistics endorse this.

The team's disappointment is great. In the end, you realize that although the virtual event has succeeded, the harvesting cannot yet take place.

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A lot of time, effort, money and leads are wasted and these leads, unfortunately, are one step closer to the trash than they are one stage further in the forecast.

"But then what is the solution to good succession?", you wonder aloud.

Because regardless of the strength of the relationship, this is often the scenario:

"Can I call you back later?"

"Please send me some data."

"Please call me back tomorrow"

And then there was silence.

No, these are not necessarily the responses of prospects.

The fact is that nowadays we have to make a lot more effort to also speak to the people who know and trust us - And without credit from the relationship, it really becomes a lot harder.

Why it doesn't work.

Interest is generated with a nice marketing event, but enforcing something is difficult because prospects want to stay in touch with providers on their terms.

Being disruptive after an event is good, but in moderation. Something of a reaffirmation of the good feeling that was there on the day is actually needed, but how do you do that?

To recap.

• So the prospect is interested
• ...indicates that you can contact
• And yet the contact dilutes

Why?

In a word: EMOTION

Likewise for prospects, enthusiastic responses during the event give way to ratio after the marketing event is over

The goal, then, is first of all to recall the emotion as quickly as possible and thus keep the relationship from becoming cold ( not the lead...so impersonal).

Obviously, an interview is the ultimate form, but if this cannot take place within a few days, the opportunity is lost.

To avoid losing leads, some form of a-synchronous communication is an excellent strategy to strengthen the relationship. For example, with video you can recall emotions and give the prospect space. It will also make the chances of a follow-up appointment easier because reciprocity does its job.

Here are two event marketing examples with a valuable role for video marketing.

1 - A semi-personal follow-up

Send a generic video via an email drip or a separate journey. This can be a video of max 30 seconds and it can be made by the marketing department or by one or more salespeople.

2 - A personalized video follow-up

Another option is a short video follow-up immediately after the event with a personal message from the salesperson. In this case, the idea is that the salesperson who follows up with the lead ( and also spoke to this person) also makes the video.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset="vc_col-md-offset-1 vc_col-md-10″][ld_spacer height="25px" md_height="55px"][vc_column_text]

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Conclusion

The goal is still lead generation, but in order to make this happen, better insurance is needed so that leads are not lost than a commitment to "call me after the event.

An additional emotional investment from marketing and sales will strengthen the foundation to reap the benefits within a few weeks and reduce the chances of leads being lost.