On 28 July, London’s event professionals community met at the Google Campus in Shoreditch, one of the most famous startup hubs in the heart of London’s Tech City, to discuss best practices in digital marketing for the events industry. A panel of experts specialising in the strategic use of digital marketing techniques and technologies for B2B conferences discussed best practice in getting the most out of your promotional efforts.
Graham Jones, a Digital Marketing Manager responsible for implementing online promotion strategy across all of Incisive Media’s brands, said that his role didn’t exist in the company 18 months ago. Graham commented on the event: “The panel session was extremely insightful. It was great to engage with a number of event professionals who not only see the value in digital with regards to the industry, but are keen to push the boundaries of what can be done with the plethora of new technologies we have available to us.”
Other panelists including Lorna Charlish, Marketing Account Director at Digital Radish, Irina Trofimovskaya, Founder and Publisher at The MICE Blog, and Kerry Lenihan, Marketing Manager for IQPC’s Gaming and Defence Divisions, discussed how event professionals can make sense of this abundance of digital marketing solutions. Is there a single most effective tool that would help promote the event to the target audience, generate and convert leads, engage attendees? According to the panelists, there isn’t a magic recipe, but the success of your event marketing efforts rely on integrating every channel and bringing all elements of your promotional campaign together.
One of the expert panel speakers was Kate Shepherd, Marketing Manager for the global meetings and events expo, EIBTM at leading global event organiser Reed Exhibitions. Experienced in delivering digital and social media marketing strategies and campaigns across large scale international exhibitions and conferences, she emphasised that an event organiser’s job is always a balancing act between keeping both attendees and exhibitors happy. The panel agreed that is important to target your marketing communication to each customer group, focusing on creating value and satisfying their needs.
The panel discussion moderator Kevin Jackson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at George P Johnson, talked about the importance of keeping your marketing communication personal. An event marketing manager should be driven by the idea that behind the data used in promotional campaigns there is a real person. Kevin explained the big picture behind the buzz of the latest event marketing technology: “There is lots of excitement, innovation and expectation about tech and social in the event space, and of course we are always pushing the boundaries. However, we need to ensure that continue to refer back to the clients’ objectives, so that we can deliver meaningful engagement, not just gimmickry.”
London Professionals Network events are organised by Pickevent, the world’s first event community software, and sponsored by DoubleDutch, a global leader in the event mobile app space. The next networking event and panel discussion will take on 28 August at the Google Campus, Shoreditch, focusing on “Building communities around your events”. Additional information and registration is available at: http://pickevent.com/e/eventcommunities
