Maximize Opportunities Pre, During, and Post Event, with Jonathan Kazarian

WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:13.279 Conversations from the front lines and marketing. This is be to be growth. 2 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:21.239 Today I am joined by John Kazarian. He's the founder and CEO of Excel 3 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:24.839 Events. John, welcome to be to be growth. Thanks for having me 4 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:29.320 on. Excited a chat with you today to tap into your expertise and I'll 5 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:33.560 just tell our listeners up front what I want to drill down on and then 6 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:37.039 we'll get some of your story. I'm hoping today, and because I know 7 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:40.039 you have so much expertise in the area of events, that we can just 8 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:45.520 talk about leveraging data from those events. I know that's something that marketers are 9 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:49.880 trying to continuously get better at. Also want to talk about leveraging events as 10 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.079 this core piece of our marketing strategy. And then, finally, meant there's 11 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.759 so many ways we could really get personal with the data that we collect, 12 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.599 to maybe it's create forums for targeted groups or just these other ways of using 13 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.760 the data. So that's where we're going. But to get there, people 14 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:12.400 need to be know who you are a little bit, and so I want 15 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:15.200 to hit rewind. Maybe we jump into time machine for a second, go 16 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:19.319 back to two thousand and fifteen, because I, as I understand it, 17 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:25.000 this was kind of your gateway into excel events. Basically, you kind of 18 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:27.560 sad, but your cousin was diagnosed with cancer and you're going I've got to 19 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:30.719 make a difference, I want to hell hope in this situation. Tell us 20 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:34.719 a little bit of that story so we have some background on you, John. 21 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:38.000 Yeah, it's so. That was I was two thousand and fourteen that 22 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:41.879 happened. She was seventeen at the time and when I found that out, 23 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:44.319 it just thought about, you know, what can I do for her, 24 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:48.680 and ultimately concluded that if I hosted event, that was going to be how 25 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.480 I can raise the most money. And I had hosted a bunch of events 26 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:53.280 in the past, you know, generally like the one hundred to two hundred 27 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.079 person range, but this is the opportunity to go big. So I went 28 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.359 down to the aquarium in Boston, where I was living at the time, 29 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:02.439 put my credit card down. I was I was twenty four at the time. 30 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:06.640 I had to sell a hundred eighty five tickets to break even, basically 31 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:10.080 to be able to pay my credit card. Built and and did it in 32 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:13.719 and we went into that event, you know, again knowing we had to 33 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:15.919 sell one hundred and eighty five, but ended up getting eight hundred and forty 34 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:21.319 people to show up that first event and in the process we raise sixty five 35 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:24.360 thou dollars for Dana Farber cancerans to that's fantastic. One of the reasons we 36 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:29.919 were able to do so was the technology that we ultimately built in order to 37 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:32.360 help us raise money. I had looked around for solutions to help us run 38 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:37.520 the auction, the RAFFLE. There wasn't anything that was either affordable or easy 39 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:40.840 to use. We had already had enough trouble and frustration with a ticketing system 40 00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:45.719 that we were using, and this is one of the now publicly traded companies, 41 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:49.159 so you know, sort of would have thought it was best of breed. 42 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:53.560 But when you're hosting a large scale event, you've got enough frustration, 43 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:57.919 enough pain points, enough things to worry about. Technology doesn't need to be 44 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:01.280 another one on top of that. So I ended up building out the solution 45 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:05.479 for us and it worked really well. Again, we raised a bunch of 46 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:09.199 money and ultimately, after the event, realize that we should be offering this 47 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:15.080 other folks. We're doing the same thing. So watched a company and continue 48 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:19.639 to build that nights and weekends while working full time and another job. At 49 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:22.800 the time that was much more focused on the fundraising space, but as things 50 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:27.719 progressed we started to focus more heavily on for profit events, the festival's trade 51 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:30.840 shows, concerts, conferences and whatnot, and and continue to go down that 52 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:37.120 route until we ultimately came to the point where at today, which I want 53 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:39.800 to highlight one other part of that story, because the last three years hit 54 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:46.159 sort of Oh crap moment and you hit a like wow, we're really growing 55 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.800 at a quick pace. So just give people an idea of what that three 56 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:53.840 year journey has been like. Yes, so in two thousand and nineteen, 57 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:58.560 again I was, you know, still working full time at another company building 58 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:01.159 this nights and weekends and we had we ended up closing out that year. 59 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:06.039 Three hundred seventy five came revenant. So boos drap. Frankly, still very 60 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.560 small, but it was looking like we were going to be able to do 61 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:13.439 a million in revenue in two thousand and twenty. And then the world ship 62 00:04:13.479 --> 00:04:15.199 the bed. So in March to two thousand and twenty, with all the 63 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:21.120 canceled events, the refunded tickets, we ran out of money and fortunately I 64 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:26.519 was able to convince my father, would recently retired, to invest k out 65 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:29.639 of his retirement, basically at the bottom of the stock market in March of 66 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.480 one thousand and twenty, so that we'd have a chance to pivot and chance 67 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:34.720 to stay alive. And we knew what we were going to do because we 68 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:38.879 were talking to our customers nonstop. They were going through the same problems and 69 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:42.600 challenges that we were, essentially, so we knew what we were going to 70 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:46.279 do and and this this money, it gave us the second win, to 71 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:51.079 second chance, and we pivoted and we built a solution to facilitate faci take 72 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:56.600 conferences and trade shows for a number of different types of organizations, but at 73 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:00.560 the time primarily be to be businesses that just needed a way to stay top 74 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.040 of mine, stay in front of their customers, to be able to generate 75 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:08.040 leads and create opportunities for sales folks to get in front of potential buyers. 76 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:13.199 And it worked. Hmm, I love that. And it worked. I 77 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:15.680 mean you say it work, but it I think it went way beyond like 78 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:18.199 what you were imagining in your head, if you'd like you. I mean 79 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:23.120 you're hoping for a million and you've gone on and what you hit? Three 80 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:25.560 million. Is that right? Or you're on path? Yeah, a little 81 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.000 bit, a little bit beyond that, we did a little over three point 82 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:30.959 two and two thousand and twenty. Wow. Okay. So then that that 83 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:36.240 provides perfect context for where we want to go, because you're thinking about events, 84 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:41.160 you've been hosting events for years at this point and now you've built this 85 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:44.680 platform as well. So, with all of that sort of as backdrop, 86 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:48.519 I want to tap into the lessons you've learned and I want to start with 87 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:55.240 this. If you're thinking of most betb companies, they're allocating part of their 88 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:58.600 budget, may probably a significant portion of their budget, into some kind of 89 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.160 event. In if you're looking in from your vantage point, John and going 90 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:08.839 all right, this is why, if you're not prioritizing events, you should 91 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:13.439 or you should prioritize events more like make your case. What's your main talking 92 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:17.240 points? Yeah, I mean, historically twenty six percent of be to be 93 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:21.160 marketing budgets are events. So it is a massive segment. But as you 94 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:26.199 think about companies like generally sort of the series a, series B threshold, 95 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:30.439 they have really ventured to take the step yet, and it's actually very interesting 96 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:34.920 about the opportunity that virtual events provide is it's an opportunity to dip your toe 97 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:40.360 in the water at a much lower barrier to entry, a much lower price 98 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:44.120 point, much lower risk. And what we've seen is a number of organizations 99 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:46.120 that have done just that, you know, on part of timing over the 100 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:50.680 past couple of years, but today now they have this audience already ready to 101 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:55.800 go when it is time for them to host their in person events. So, 102 00:06:56.439 --> 00:06:59.040 yeah, as you're thinking about building that, it really comes down to 103 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:02.439 thinking about the programming and how you're going to engage your audience throughout the year, 104 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:08.319 how you're going to build opportunities to interact with those folks. And you 105 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:10.519 know, one of the you know, the hot topics these days is the 106 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:16.160 conversation around the dark funnel, and we're your audience is coming together your customers, 107 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:20.040 your potential customers, and having those conversations. That one of the things 108 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:26.160 that events do better than anything else is they provide an opportunity for your customers 109 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.800 to sell on your behalf. Take your best advocates, give them a voice 110 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:31.759 with in your event. It's going to deepen the relationship with them, but 111 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:35.839 it's also going to give them an opportunity to talk to those prospects in ways 112 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:42.759 that about your product and ways that they never considered before. HMM, okay, 113 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:46.040 so one more question on just events more broadly. What are some of 114 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:50.040 those main misconceptions you think people still have, like, what are people still 115 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:54.040 getting wrong, because I do a totally agree with you that in this time, 116 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.800 the last couple years, it's just shown a spotlight on the power of 117 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:00.600 a virtual event, but I still think there's, especially in be to be 118 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:05.000 some old ways of thinking about events for people that are like afraid to still 119 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:07.839 dip their toes in the water because they're going like a man. Maybe the 120 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:11.199 barrier to entry is really high, or the cost, like, what are 121 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:15.879 some of those misconceptions? Well, one of the misconceptions is the cost. 122 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:18.160 But regardless of the cost, the the investment, the time that you need 123 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:22.199 to put into creating that experience, whether it's virtual or in person, is 124 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:26.800 in many ways the same. You're just shifting where you're spending your time on, 125 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:30.680 because somebody's attention is obviously so limited in the virtual space. You need 126 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:33.960 to make sure that you're putting content together, that you're bringing great speakers, 127 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:37.879 you have an agenda that's going to really engage folks. The other part is, 128 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:43.519 whatever you're thinking about this event, this program of events, you need 129 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:48.279 to understand the purpose of it off the bat before you even start to think 130 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:50.879 about the programming. And that's one big gap that I see a lot of 131 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:56.519 a lot of folks face when they're starting to build event programming for the first 132 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:01.120 time. The other thing is to back up is Depp and look coalistically your 133 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:05.720 entire marketing stack, your marketing program the way that we do marketing has changed 134 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.519 quite a bit in the past year just because of well apples, war against 135 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:15.559 facebook and now Google tagging in with the the reduction third party cookie tracking, 136 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:22.159 the ways that ad platforms are changing. Tacks are going up. If you 137 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:28.360 think about what that means, it's a shift towards first party data and when 138 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:31.679 you're considering the different mechanisms for getting first party data. Yeah, you've got, 139 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:37.799 like you know, White Paper downloads and ebooks and other form fields, 140 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:43.080 sometimes even webinars, but all you're really capturing is a point in time, 141 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:46.879 single interaction that that person took, not really any more context than that. 142 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:52.080 But you think about the spectrum of an event, there are so many more 143 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:54.159 touch points that you're able to capture, and this applies both to in person 144 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:58.960 and virtual events, that you can then use to build personas and segment your 145 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.039 audience and create personalize follow up and messaging. That just goes vastly outside of 146 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:07.879 what you're going to be able to do when you just have that single point 147 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:11.600 of contact or information about somebody. Yep, it's exactly right. Okay, 148 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:16.200 so kind of jumping into action mode here, then let's let's just imagine for 149 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:22.679 a second a Welldone, ideal event here and let's go beforehand, during and 150 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:28.840 after. Will take this in three chunks to maximize that opportunity. What do 151 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:33.080 you see? Beforehand, during, in after? I'll let you kind of 152 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.960 just walk us through, if this is done well, what the connection to 153 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:39.919 those attending the event can look like for the company and how you can really 154 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:45.080 start to maximize this. Yeah, definitely, and again I'll stick in the 155 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:48.840 virtual event realm for this one. But Zappier, for example, zapp beer, 156 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:54.039 as a customer of hours. They hosted a huge product launch, annual 157 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.440 product launch event on the platform and there's a couple of things that they did 158 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:00.600 really well, and thinking about that. But one of them was the way 159 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:05.720 that they brought in evangelist speak on behalf and promote the event because, yes, 160 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:07.600 this is a product launch event, but they're also introducing a lot of 161 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:13.639 thought leadership and really resonating with the audience in in the way that they promoted 162 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:16.759 the event. So even if these folks don't attend, this is still an 163 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:18.360 opportunity for you to go out there and get your voice out there and get 164 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:22.519 your brand out there and promote yourself as a thought leader in the industry. 165 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:24.360 So it started with that. And now the other thing is, and again 166 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:30.159 this is given that it's a product launch event, but nobody ever posed a 167 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:33.080 screenshot of an email from a new feature that a company pleas on like lengthy 168 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:37.279 ender twitter. Right, whether it's in person or virtual, the number of 169 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:43.279 screenshots I see from folks who are or checking out an event and this product 170 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.480 that they use day and day out as launched this new feature that's going to 171 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:50.000 save them five hours a month, right. That's huge. That's life changing 172 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:54.720 for that allows them to focus that much time on something else. When you 173 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:56.879 bring a whole bunch of people together and create hype and noise at the same 174 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:01.480 time, and that's exactly what Zap you're did with this event. It create 175 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:05.200 an opportunity for this global audience to come together and rally behind this this new 176 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:11.440 feature that they released, and it really it just it took over linkedin for 177 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:15.080 a day, almost two days, which was just incredible to see. So 178 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:18.080 that was sort of during the event and then post event. What it enabled 179 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:22.480 them to do is because they not only had this sort of apple style keynote 180 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:26.480 address where they want this big feature, they also had breakout sessions where they 181 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:33.000 were addressing some additions or enhancements they made the existing functionality and as different attendees 182 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:37.519 went and checked out those different breakout sessions and when asked questions, they had 183 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.360 this really targeted list for follow ups. Their account managers in customer success team 184 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:46.360 knows exactly who to go and follow up with and they cross reference that with 185 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.559 up spot, their crm, so they can see, okay, well, 186 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:52.519 this person checked out this session for this feature that they're not currently using or 187 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:56.799 not currently subscribe to. So it tells them exactly what type of information the 188 00:12:56.919 --> 00:13:03.799 AM team should be using to up upsell their existing customer base. Way Hmm. 189 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:07.519 The back end of that is so interesting and again because you have that 190 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:11.159 information. Now, you have interests, you have actual content. You could 191 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:15.559 hit them with post follow up that you're actually adding, adding more value in 192 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:18.000 one sense, and then also on the back end, you know upsell value 193 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:22.480 is right there as well. Okay, so I guess to one thing in 194 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.519 that example that sticks out to me as far as like what would I push 195 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:30.600 back on, John Mon? Yeah, Zapp you're such a big company that 196 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:35.120 they have the ability at scale to jump into an event and and like just 197 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:39.039 have massive success. But when you think of companies that are like, Oh 198 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:43.960 hey, I don't know if we would have that critical mass of raving fans 199 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:46.960 to show up for an event like, especially a product launch, what would 200 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.440 be your pushback on my thinking? They're what would be like an maybe not 201 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:58.519 so global company, if that makes sense. Yeah, definitely Zapp here as 202 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.039 a larger organization, but we've seen companies of all sizes have success with this. 203 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:05.600 Yeah, and if you create an experience it's worth talking about, you're 204 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:09.639 going to do just that. We've seen some organizations that have a very hard 205 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:13.759 hyper targeted like the IP list of people that they want to get excited. 206 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.600 They've even gone as far as to ship out like a box to every everybody 207 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:20.679 who's going to be maybe it's an audience of two hundred folks, and ship 208 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:24.559 out a box to all of those people. Get inside of that box is 209 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:28.600 a bunch of envelopes and every half an hour and they're labeled with the person's 210 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:33.000 local time zone. Everybody who's attending and participating in that event gets the opportunity 211 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:37.799 to share an experience. So maybe to you know, chocolate tasting at thirty 212 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:41.519 in the morning, and the next one is whatever, a candle that everybody 213 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:45.200 gets to light together, something like that. We're creating that shared experience. 214 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:50.279 Is another way that you can just get everybody rallied behind something together and create 215 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:54.799 that excitement that's going to lead to them promoting and posting about your event, 216 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.919 even if it's not just because of the sheer mass number of folks that are 217 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:01.759 there. This is a huge point because I love how you said that experience 218 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:07.639 worth talking about and be to be we have a tendency to just slap event 219 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:13.679 over the word Webinar and call it good and you wonder why you weren't aren't 220 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:16.480 creating a room of raving fans, why you aren't able to like really capitalize 221 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:20.000 on these, because there's so much at an event can do for you, 222 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:24.279 both in the connection that you have to potential customers, to current customers, 223 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:28.279 and as a content strategy post if you did it correctly. There's limitless potential 224 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:33.799 here. But to make it an experience worth talking about. That's really to 225 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:37.240 me. That's like spend all your time there, know your why and then 226 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:43.000 create an experience we're talking about, and you will elevate yourself above so much 227 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:46.639 of what's happening right now in be to be marketing in events and, to 228 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:50.440 your point, know your why. This is why it needs to begin with. 229 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:54.240 What is it that you're trying to get out of that event experience? 230 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:56.639 Is he getting people to talk about it and post on social media, or 231 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:03.279 is it we're more focused on figuring out what breakout sessions are people going to, 232 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:06.039 because maybe they're not using a product that we offer. We think there's 233 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:10.159 an upsetlf potential in whatever it might be. It's really understanding what's the goal 234 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.080 of this, and you can't have multiple goals, but make sure that you 235 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:17.720 structure everything in accordance with whatever set of goals that you determine. Okay, 236 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:21.840 let's dive more into the post, the follow up there a little bit, 237 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:26.559 and how you're seeing companies leverage that data in what you would just call like 238 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:30.159 this is an excellent way to do this. And and what I would even 239 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:34.720 say, what's the how, like what's the practical actionable step you'd tell people 240 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:40.120 to take for their next event to really get that data collection correct and use 241 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:45.360 it to its fullest? Yeah, before I tackle that, like I'm almost 242 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.519 triggered I get, have to address the most frustrating thing I see, which 243 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:51.519 is what's here about a call to action. Yeah, and if you don't 244 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:56.200 have a like explicit call to action, then your call to action should be 245 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:59.279 get people to sign up for your next event, do so when they're already 246 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:02.879 hyped up and pointing about it. This works even better within person experiences. 247 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:04.960 And if it's like an annual event, then you, and even if you 248 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:08.880 offer like a seventy five percent discount, you've now built this this set of 249 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.680 fans, these advocates, were going to sell on your behalf and get others 250 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:15.480 to attempting it back. So I had to go down that path, called 251 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.079 action, no matter what. I made a note that exact what was already 252 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:23.960 called action. Okay, in terms of follow up. So in another area 253 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:27.960 where there's a gap is that it's not just the post event follow up, 254 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:32.839 but it's actually preparing your fall up to take place during the event experience. 255 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:37.759 So prebuild the segments based on activity that people are taking in advance, bookmarking 256 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.440 sessions, sessions they've attended, assume that there's going to be follow up and 257 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:45.079 have campaigns built out. So Bid Yard, another customer of hours, did 258 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:48.960 a great job of this, passing the data to Marquetto in real time so 259 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:52.680 that they can have campaigns ready to go so that if, you know, 260 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:56.519 somebody shows a lot of interest in a session that's taking place in the afternoon 261 00:17:56.599 --> 00:18:00.480 because they really like the speaker and they visited their bio three times, but 262 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:04.200 that person dropped off after the first session. Well, we know they dropped 263 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.440 off. Let's send them a campaign to reengage and get them back into that 264 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:11.440 experience. So using the data in real time is, you know, equally 265 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:15.720 as important is it is using it post of that, but from a post 266 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:19.359 event perspective. One of the other opportunities that we're seeing companies take, and 267 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:23.839 this is in the world of virtual but also in person, is creating just 268 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:27.599 smaller, more targeted to vs. so maybe it's a localized meet up, 269 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:33.400 maybe it's an event covering a very specific topic, but because of the barrier 270 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:38.359 to entry can be lower, you can afford to do more customized experiences and 271 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:44.400 with the information at hand of your past event or past series of events, 272 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:48.440 you can figure out exactly what type of content and information to be putting forward, 273 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.960 but also how to appropriate a message it. Who are the speakers that 274 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:55.200 make that the most engaging, most exciting, that you want to bring in 275 00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:00.279 for that experience, and who are those speakers whose content was most engaging that 276 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:03.559 you want to repurpose both to promote that event but also to promote your brand 277 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:07.200 and thought leadership? Yeah, there's so much there that. I mean like 278 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:12.039 you could just do clearly a whole episode where we just focus on different strategies 279 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:15.039 for the post follow, but I wanted to make sure we give some broad 280 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:18.000 over because there's people that are probably trying to share up all different portions. 281 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:22.799 Right. How do we do pre how do we make the actual event itself 282 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:27.079 experience worth talking about? And then that post to me, people dropping off 283 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:30.279 in the post fall up, which I think you hit on a really important 284 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:33.279 piece of this which is that called action? You wonder why, if you 285 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:36.960 don't have a clear called action, you're going to see people trail off. 286 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:41.720 But also if you're not leveraging the data collection that you actually have, making 287 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:45.000 it a more personalized experience so that they actually know why they would be interested 288 00:19:45.079 --> 00:19:48.480 in you moving forward, you're just missing an opportunity there. So I think 289 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:53.279 we're giving people some really practical stuff there. We've kind of talked around something 290 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:57.599 that is I know has come up often as I talked to CMOS directors of 291 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:03.359 marketing, which is in the pandemic hyper focus on virtual events, because that's 292 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:07.440 what it was like. That's our only option. You also saw some live 293 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.640 events that just went on hiatus or they trailed off and who knows if they 294 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:17.359 come back. What do you see as the future like? Is it virtual 295 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:22.240 events leading to live events, or what would you be advocating for? Yeah, 296 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:26.000 I'm laughing as I'm thinking about a couple of recent conversations that had with 297 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:32.720 that Director Demand Gen. folks at companies who have spoken to their CMOS and 298 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:37.640 there's their CMOS are looking at them like hey, we're expecting you to bring 299 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:42.000 back the same level in person events that we had pre pandemic. But, 300 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:47.559 by the way, virtual events are easy, right, so you should do 301 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:51.599 those two. Just add the mode of the play. They cut half of 302 00:20:51.640 --> 00:20:55.119 the event team in half during the pandemic. Never rebuilt that. So, 303 00:20:55.240 --> 00:21:00.039 like the workload is doubled for event professionals. The data expectations, because of 304 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:07.599 date is available, have also increased significantly and it's a lot to tackle. 305 00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.440 So, to answer your question, it's it's bringing you back to the program 306 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:17.480 how do events fit into our entire marketing stack, entire marketing program and that's 307 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:19.319 the first part of the question that needs to be addressed. From there you 308 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:22.759 can start to think about what's the right mix of experiences. And it's going 309 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.880 to be different for every company, right. I mean, if you look 310 00:21:26.920 --> 00:21:30.759 at what's going on right now, travel costs are incredibly high. So with, 311 00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:33.799 you know, a lot of companies having layoffs, corporate budgets are shrinking, 312 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:37.039 that does make it harder to get people to attend in person events, 313 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:40.480 especially if that to travel. It's a case for doing more localized meetups, 314 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:44.720 especially in your target cities, but supplement that with the virtual event series. 315 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:48.759 That's going to be a really good barometer for you to understand the level of 316 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:52.240 attendance that you're going to get at those events, be it your annual flagship 317 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:56.160 events or any of your localized meetups and in different regions. So you have 318 00:21:56.279 --> 00:22:00.599 to think about the entire program and it's you know, it's one of those 319 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:04.200 things where just try it, like you can dip your toe in the water, 320 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:08.559 you can keep it fairly inexpensive, focus on getting great content, great 321 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:14.920 speakers, positioning yourselves as a thought leader in the industry and you're going to 322 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:18.000 make it work. Yep, Yep. Have a clear call to action, 323 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:22.799 I think if that was the main thing from John's side for this episode. 324 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:26.440 Have a clear call to action and experiences we're talking about that's worth it. 325 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:30.599 And then all, we're always talking about sharing up your fallowup process. There, 326 00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:33.759 I think, on my side, when I think of virtual events, 327 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:37.160 the thing I'm pushing people towards, because I'm so in content marketing world, 328 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:41.880 it's just when you have an event, get good quality video because it works 329 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:45.640 as a content strategy for four to six months, and I cannot press on 330 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:48.599 that enough, because it can create buzz for your next event, but it 331 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:53.160 is also a way of building your thought leadership it's it can have called actions 332 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:56.680 in the videos. So, like when you think of events in your overall 333 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:03.599 strategy, events are pillar pieces that if you're having several virtual and, let's 334 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:07.319 say, some in person meetups, there's just so much opportunity for that to 335 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:08.839 drive the rest of what you're doing. And I know we know this, 336 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:12.519 but it's like worth harping on again because sometimes we're so in the weeds on 337 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:18.440 our marketing strategy that we don't remember how powerful an event can be. Yeah, 338 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:21.640 a lot of people have been talking about hybrid events recently and they look 339 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:25.039 at hybrid as well. It's so expensive because I have to have the video 340 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:29.880 production crew on site and pushing out the content, but they're missing the biggest 341 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:33.920 opportunity there, which is exactly what you just mentioned. You need that high 342 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:37.559 quality video content. You need to repurpose that contact. It's not just for 343 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:41.079 getting new eyeballs and new prospects and leads in the door, but it's also 344 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:45.640 a way to deepen the relationship with your existing customers in provide opportunities for them 345 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:52.200 to continue to educate and learn. Hm. Okay, so if a listener's 346 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:56.680 hearing this and this is like your opportunity to step up onto a soapbox, 347 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:00.640 kind of final piece of this conversation, and you're going to advocate for our 348 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:04.039 listeners to really hone one skill coming out of this episode. Maybe it's a 349 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:07.160 main takeaway or a question that they should be asking about their next event. 350 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:11.920 What's the thing that you want people to remember? In your own words, 351 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:14.960 John, why are you hosting that event? Bring us back to the y 352 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.920 always. That's excellent. All right. Well, let's do this. As 353 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:21.680 we wrap up here. I'm sure there's going to be those that want to 354 00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:25.680 stay connected to you and will also be interested in excel event. So tell 355 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:27.440 us a little bit more about excel events and where people can find you. 356 00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:33.920 Yeah, definitely. So you can find US Excel Eventscom accyl events. We 357 00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:40.119 are huge on customer support, real human response in thirty seconds or last. 358 00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:42.599 So I challenge anybody to take me up on that. Head over to the 359 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:45.559 website, send us a message and if you don't hear back from US and 360 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:51.680 thirty seconds, pick me on Linkedin. Let me now nice. Love that 361 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:53.920 and are you it best way to stay connected to you as well? Just 362 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:59.559 linkedin. Yeah, linkedin. I'm starting to get a little more involved with 363 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:03.319 twitter as well. Fantastic. I cannot jump on the twitter train, but 364 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:06.559 I should probably try. I love it. Man. Thank you so much 365 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:08.880 for stop him by, BB growth, drop in your event knowledge. I 366 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.720 know our room full of marketers is listening attentively and gained a lot from from 367 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:18.160 this conversation. Thanks for having me on to our listeners. Thank you for 368 00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:22.039 checking out this episode. We hope it helps you continue to fuel your growth 369 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:26.440 and innovation. You can connect with me on Linkedin. Just Search Benjie Block, 370 00:25:26.519 --> 00:25:29.640 talking about marketing, business in life over there, and would love to 371 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:33.200 check at will be back real soon with another episode. Keep doing work the 372 00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:48.680 matters. BB growth is brought to you by the team at sweet fish media. 373 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:52.319 Here at sweetfish, we produce podcasts for some of the most innovative brands 374 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:57.039 in the world and we help them turn those podcasts into Microvideos, linkedin content, 375 00:25:57.240 --> 00:26:02.000 blog posts and more. We're on a mission to produce every leader's favorite 376 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:04.359 show. Want more information, visit sweet PHISH MEDIACOM