We live in an ever growing electronic age. Technology and the need to capture vital data is becoming more important in this b2b world.
There are several data capturing points in the cycle. If you have a printed magazine, or digital newsletter/magazine you have the opportunity to have them join in or subscribe.
Tradeshows collect data via the registration process. You can also capture data on your website, and also by holding virtual events and webinars.
You can capture data by placing widgets in the forward or share functions of your website or email programs. New registration programs such as Social Clix also give exhibitors and attendeed the opportunity to collect data by searching their database to determine who from their database is already registered for the event. You can collect data in social media platforms. New smart phone apps, allow you to make contact with an individual and immediatley upload.
Now we all may run into people of different view points on data collection. Some will say who will want to answer these additional questions? Some will say well what are you going to do with it, when you get it and what value will it have.
Next you run into the problem that most people have in collecting the data the software, and the people power to manage this database. We invest in many things for tradeshows but how many of us are investing in the resources of data collection.
Ok we know how many people said they are CEO and that are coming to the event or managers etc. We know how many people come from a particular country, state, or province.
Do we track what they did when they came to the event? Do we follow the attendee around the show seeing where they swiped their badge. What was the CEO looking for, what was the manager looking for at the event? Are we collecting the history of these searches and allowing for a place for the attendee to save their searches. Do we create a pop-up of when they go to the save search with recommendation for other products from different companies that they may have missed at the show?
Do we collect the data of the conference participants the people that attend the educational programs. What is their background, what did they attend. Again a historical to make of what they attended will help you hi-light items that will be of future interest to them. Conference attendees what if you compared the education they chose to the products they searched for on the exhibit floor or online to check for the correlation.
Do you track what shows and locations they attend. Does the company send at least someone to your event everytime it is held? If not do you know why not?
Do you track which hotels your attendees stay in and determine some history to guide where they will want to stay in the future? Do you track which social media platform they belong to?
Credit card companies can track your purchases and send you coupons of items that you would like to be aware of. Do you have the ability to feed the attendee new product information or new versions from the exhibitors based upon their search from the previous event? Do you know when the attendee registers, do you have history of the registration?
How fresh is your data and how accurate is it? Data Mining and understanding data is a very powerful tool in this business and we need to know how to harness it and make it deliverable for our exhibitors as they become more data driven in their needs to determine whether to exhibit or not in your event.
Data collected can also aid you in the determination of whether your event products is still relevent or competitive and in sync with the current marketplace. It will allow you to stay ahead of the curve.
There are hundreds of areas that collecting the correct data will be important to your event. Try to step outside the box and think ahead of what you may need down the line. If you can do this you will have a better understanding of how data will help strengthen the events industry.
What is that phrase there is no bad or dumb question well in the world of data I believe that is true.
Find the correct people to assist in the data collection, the software you need and a good staff to ask the write questions and collect the history to be used from an attendee and exhibitors. You need great data on both it will assist you in closing the exhibit sale and also generating attendance.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to more conversation on data
There are several data capturing points in the cycle. If you have a printed magazine, or digital newsletter/magazine you have the opportunity to have them join in or subscribe.
Tradeshows collect data via the registration process. You can also capture data on your website, and also by holding virtual events and webinars.
You can capture data by placing widgets in the forward or share functions of your website or email programs. New registration programs such as Social Clix also give exhibitors and attendeed the opportunity to collect data by searching their database to determine who from their database is already registered for the event. You can collect data in social media platforms. New smart phone apps, allow you to make contact with an individual and immediatley upload.
Now we all may run into people of different view points on data collection. Some will say who will want to answer these additional questions? Some will say well what are you going to do with it, when you get it and what value will it have.
Next you run into the problem that most people have in collecting the data the software, and the people power to manage this database. We invest in many things for tradeshows but how many of us are investing in the resources of data collection.
Ok we know how many people said they are CEO and that are coming to the event or managers etc. We know how many people come from a particular country, state, or province.
Do we track what they did when they came to the event? Do we follow the attendee around the show seeing where they swiped their badge. What was the CEO looking for, what was the manager looking for at the event? Are we collecting the history of these searches and allowing for a place for the attendee to save their searches. Do we create a pop-up of when they go to the save search with recommendation for other products from different companies that they may have missed at the show?
Do we collect the data of the conference participants the people that attend the educational programs. What is their background, what did they attend. Again a historical to make of what they attended will help you hi-light items that will be of future interest to them. Conference attendees what if you compared the education they chose to the products they searched for on the exhibit floor or online to check for the correlation.
Do you track what shows and locations they attend. Does the company send at least someone to your event everytime it is held? If not do you know why not?
Do you track which hotels your attendees stay in and determine some history to guide where they will want to stay in the future? Do you track which social media platform they belong to?
Credit card companies can track your purchases and send you coupons of items that you would like to be aware of. Do you have the ability to feed the attendee new product information or new versions from the exhibitors based upon their search from the previous event? Do you know when the attendee registers, do you have history of the registration?
How fresh is your data and how accurate is it? Data Mining and understanding data is a very powerful tool in this business and we need to know how to harness it and make it deliverable for our exhibitors as they become more data driven in their needs to determine whether to exhibit or not in your event.
Data collected can also aid you in the determination of whether your event products is still relevent or competitive and in sync with the current marketplace. It will allow you to stay ahead of the curve.
There are hundreds of areas that collecting the correct data will be important to your event. Try to step outside the box and think ahead of what you may need down the line. If you can do this you will have a better understanding of how data will help strengthen the events industry.
What is that phrase there is no bad or dumb question well in the world of data I believe that is true.
Find the correct people to assist in the data collection, the software you need and a good staff to ask the write questions and collect the history to be used from an attendee and exhibitors. You need great data on both it will assist you in closing the exhibit sale and also generating attendance.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to more conversation on data
No comments:
Post a Comment