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Optimizing Your Industry Event Investments2014 UBM Tech Research: Industry Event Attendee Survey


Data: UBM Tech survey of 820 business technology professionals who attend industry events, March 2014

Discussion Guide – P.O.P.

• Maximizing your industry event investments Pre-Show- Reasons why IT professionals attend industry

events like trade shows, conferences, expos- What IT Pros do to prepare before attending

industry events and how you can get ahead of the game

On Site- What makes attendees stop and visit exhibitors- Types of content and speakers they want to see

and hear about Post-Show- Things to avoid as a tech marketer: reasons

why IT professionals would/not engage with exhibitors

- Types of follow-up attendees want from you



• UBM Tech survey of 820 business technology professionals who attend industry events; fielded in March 2014

UBM Tech Industry Event Show Research

7%

32%

35%

18%

8%

Primary Job Function Company Size: Number of Employees

64%26%

10%

CIO/CTO/CSO/VP IT

IT Director / Manager / Architect

IT Staff / Developer / Consultant

LOB

Other

1,000 or more

100 -999

Under 100



Top Reasons Why IT Pros Attend Industry Events

What are the reasons you attend IT tradeshows?

Looking for Vendors To Buy Business Technology Solutions From

To learn about specific products or services that can

help me solve a business problem

To evaluate technology solutions

Networking To learn about a specific tech vendor and their offerings

General education, regardless of my area of expertise

To seek advice from peers about a technology need or purchase

The event subject matter

appealed to me

To hear the keynote

speaker(s)

To meet with a vendor we already do business with

The timing or location/venue were optimum

56%

32%

61%

32% 26% 24% 24%

53% 39% 38%

A useful event is where “There were

a lot of vendors demonstrating products

and their features”



Pre-Event: Do Your HomeworkInformation Attendees Want You To Know About Them Prior to the Event

56%43%

39%27%

19%

17%

My industry

The specific business need I am looking to solve with technology

My overall top

business challenges

My existing technology environment

Whether or not we already do business with this vendor

Budget 52% schedule time to meet with vendors before attending an industry event Make sure you have content available

that address business challenges



What types of advance coverage or promotions from exhibitors or the show producer would make you more likely to attend an industry event?

Pre-Event Marketing is Key to Your Show Investment Your Integrated Media Strategy is Critical to Your End-to-End Event Marketing Plans

#1

White papers

#2

Webcasts

#3

Video

#4

Editorial coverage on websites

#5

Ads on websites

Have a good mix of content assets to use for pre-event marketing



What makes you more likely to stop and visit a vendor's booth during an industry event?

Booth TrafficWhat Gets You On IT Pros’ Agenda

Subject matter

experts at booth

75%Vendor

communicated with me prior to the event

49% 47% 47% 36% 27%

Incentive offered at

their booth

I read about them on

business tech sites

Vendor speaking at the event

I have seen ads from

them on business

tech sites

Pre-Show Exposure is Critical!62%

are more likely to visit the booth of an exhibitor they have

communicated with pre-event



If you visit a vendor's booth, what kinds of information or content do you find most valuable or would make you likely to actively engage with the vendor?

Booth Do’sMake It Worth Their While – Attendees Want Useful, Relevant Information

Tech demos 75%

Technology specs or other "how to" materials

Business case information 39%

White papers 28%68%

Case studies or peer-perspective 44%

Industry-specific information

52%



An Integrated Approach to the Event

If a vendor sponsored a smaller breakout event at an industry event, would you be likely to attend?

81% would attend a smaller

hosted breakout event at an industry event

if it adds value

Leverage Your Booth for Broad Reach, and Host Breakout Sessions Featuring Your Subject Matter Experts and Customers For Deeper Dive Engagement



What would make you less likely to actively engage with a vendor at an industry event?

Booth Don'tsMake It Easy For IT Pros To See Your Value; Make It Relevant

Too much marketing fluff

Only had product brochures available; content not robust enough

Content did not give clear indication of how tech could help the business

It was not obvious to me what the vendor's solution was

Lack of demos

Lack of industry specific information

Lack of case studies

No ROI and/or TCO information

I was not familiar with the vendor's brand

Content was not validated by third-party

I had never received anything from them in the past 5%

7%

14%

22%

23%

38%

47%

54%

54%

55%

65%



What type(s) of speaker provides the most useful information for you?

Choosing Your SpeakersProduct Managers and Customers are Most Useful to IT Pros

Product managers

Customers/case studies

Executive leadership

Marketingexecutives

Salesexecutives

73% 65%32% 8% 7%



Now thinking about after you return from the event, what would make you more likely to engage with an exhibitor post-event?

Building Relationships After the EventWhy IT Pros Would Continue to Engage

They demonstrated how the technology could help with my business

The vendor demonstrated that they understood my specific business challenges

The vendor was knowledgeable about my industry and industry-related challenges

Networking with a fellow attendee of the trade show piqued my interest/curiosity in the vendor

The vendor provided information to show ROI of their solution

The vendor supplied valuable marketing materials

The vendor spoke at the event 13%

33%

34%

37%

53%

63%

72%



What would make you less likely to engage with a sponsor after the event?

Building Relationships After the EventWhy IT Pros Would NOT Continue to Engage

17%

35%

47%

53%

53%

55%

56%

60%Did not demonstrate how the technology could help with my business

They gave too much of a sales pitch

Vendor did not demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of my specific business challenges

Representatives at their booth were not knowledgeable

Not knowledgeable about my industry

Vendor's marketing materials didn't demonstrate the value of their solution

Could not show the ROI of their solution

Information they sent me was not customized to what I spoke to them about at the event



What kinds of follow-up do you want after you return from an industry event?

Post-Event CommunicationRelevant Information Tailored To Their Needs; Nurture The Relationship

Email with additional research

or information

52% 45% 37% 33% 29%

Email with a link to a website for more

information

Email from a tech vendor sales person

Info following up on specific event

content or discussions

I prefer to physically take info away with me from the event

An invitation to another event

19% 18% 15% 7%

Invitation to join an online community

related to the show

Call from a tech vendor sales person

Call or email from a product manager



Optimizing Your Industry Event InvestmentsKey Takeaways

Centering Your Marketing Strategy Around Active Technology Communities

• Technology decision makers want to learn and hear about new technology trends, solutions and products, and do so at face-to-face event communities as well as online communities

• The convergence of paid, owned and earned media is a reality you need to consider to increase the effectiveness of your marketing investments – an end-to-end marketing strategy sets you apart

• Relevant Content – whether it be in the form of live subject matter experts at your booth or event breakout session, or in the shape of white papers, research reports and case studies – is key to not only attracting the interest of technology decision makers, but keeping them engaged



Industry Event Optimizers

Pre-At-Post Event Marketing Solutions From UBM Tech



Optimizing Your Industry Event InvestmentsPre-Event

Awareness and BrandingGet front and center with IT buyers through communities like InformationWeek, Dark Reading, Network Computing and Wall Street & Technology Web Advertising Digital Issues E-Newsletters

Lead GenerationEducate IT buyers while feeding your sales pipeline Webinars Content Syndication Topic Alignment Program Tech Digests Reports



Optimizing Your Industry Event InvestmentsPre-Event

Content Marketing Educate potential your target prospects with relevant, thought-leadership content created explicitly for your company 3 Months Prior: Arm your sales team with the most up to date intelligence with a

Pre-Event Pulse Survey (5-7 Questions): Find out who will be at the event; What are their expectations? What problems are they trying to solve.

2 Months Prior: Launch a survey to study important challenges and opportunities in your solution space. Our research and content teams will assist with creating a 10-12 question survey and field it to technology decision makers in our database. Research results can be used as discussion points for event speakers and in booth discussions. An infographic will be designed to highlight key results, and an in-depth, analytical report based on the survey results will be created for you to share with attendees and other prospects.

At-Show: A 20” x 30” poster size of the infographic can be created and displayed in your booth.



Optimizing Your Industry Event InvestmentsAt-Event

Traffic Drivers / Audience ExtensionStay front and center with attendees and other IT buyers Show Daily E-Newsletters Web Advertising / Show Coverage Live Simulcasts

Content GenerationLeverage our onsite video crew for content generation Show floor video interviews

(2-3 minutes each) with up to three subject-matter experts, company executives, customers, etc. Our on-site video team will record and edit the video and we’ll present you with the files for posting on YouTube, your company website or within other marketing content.



Optimizing Your Industry Event InvestmentsPost-Event

Content Marketing Nurture relationships started at the event with an ongoing content marketing campaign Immediately After the Event: Cut through the noise with a custom Business Case Builder

that can help your prospects justify an investment in your product/solution category. Content can be “verticalized” for specific industries.

2 Weeks After the Event: A Tech Brief about your solution and a Q-A with a company executive will be sent to prospects. Ideally, the Q-A would focus on customer success stories.

3 Weeks After the Event: Invite prospects to a 30-60 minute webinar to follow up on event discussions/demos. This is an ideal time for attendees to connect with SMEs and ask questions.



Optimizing Your Industry Event InvestmentsPost-Event

Relationship Building EventsContinue conversations started at the event while also extending your connections to new prospects in key cities Two-city roadshowTwo-hour breakfast events in the cities that had the highest check-in scans at your booth; we’ll invite local IT pros, and attendees that checked in at your booth15 to 20 attendees per city.



Appendix



Optimizing Your Industry Event Investments

Keep Conversations Alive

• Again: content is your biggest attraction; keep attendees interested and engaged with relevant, targeted content

• Attendees go to industry events to find solutions: 52% want exhibitors to send them a post-event email with additional research or information

• Consider sponsoring /participating in a post-event online community

• Nurture relationships with localized events with attendees that stopped by your booth

Post-Event


The Participatory Age We Join. We Share. We Collaborate.

Launched in 2003. 277 million members in its network, in more than 200 countries.There are 2.1 million

LinkedIn groups.

Over 1.23 billion users, with 757 million daily users and 945 million

monthly mobile users. 4.75 billion pieces of

content are shared daily.

Over 6.45 million registered users, 58 million tweets sent

daily. Over 9,100 tweets sent every second.

4.25 billion hours of video watched daily. 65 hours of video uploaded every minute.


We’re Forming Around Engaged Communities

Shared InterestsProfessional audiences congregate in communities based on: current interests and functions

so they can interact with peers and experts, gain and share

insight

More ValuableCommunities

foster interaction, drive engagement, and nurture

customer-client relationships

TrustedCommunities treat members as real people – not buying machines – they are

more personal, more social, more responsive, more

effective, and more trusted


Shared Interest + Trust = VALUE


UBM Tech CommunitiesBringing the World’s Technology Communities Together



What type of information do you need to return from an industry event with in order to justify your expenditure?

Building The Case To AttendAre Your Materials Meeting These Requirements?

Technical information

Content that focuses on my business pain

points

Content that focuses on my job function

or role

Case studies/peer experiences

Industry-specific content

Summaries of keynote

speeches

Anything, as long as it's

more than just business cards

62% 44% 43% 39% 34% 26% 14%


Community Strategy In ActionConnecting Tech Decision Makers Online and Face to Face

INFORMATIONWEEK

Relaunched November 2013

• Monthly page views: Up 19%

• Monthly average visits: Up 22%

• Monthly unique visitors: Up 26%

• Comments: Up 233%

UBM Tech Enterprise IT Communities


1: Omniture, March to April 2014; 2: Omniture, March to May 2014

INTEROP

• + 54% in shared visitors across both sites year over year

• + 144% in InformationWeek registrants for Interop Las Vegas year over year

INFORMATIONWEEK’S INTEROP Las Vegas coverage

100+ articles pre-at-post event

More event attendees are engaging with UBM Tech online communities before, during and after the event …

and vice versa!



Why Your Pre-Event Strategy Matters…A Lot

What do you do to prepare for an

industry event before you attend?

Research the exhibitors I have

identified 59%49%

46%

33%15%

Prepare a list of sponsors I would like to visit

Review the floor plan

Get advance access to contentCommunicate

with an exhibitor

PRE-EVENTHave a comprehensive air cover strategy to help IT pros

properly prepare




Expose Your Brand and its Solutions to Business Technology Decision Makers

• Be “present” in the minds of IT professionals consistently

• Review your paid, owned and earned media plan to ensure that your brand and products are getting exposure across all platforms

• Have a strong content marketing plan in place – no matter the platform, relevant content is your brand’s biggest attraction

• Make sure you have ample, up-to-date content that addresses different information needs; do a content audit

• Syndicate your content

• Remember: 62% of tech professionals are more likely to visit the booth of an exhibitor they have communicated with before the event

Pre-Event




It’s Not Just About You

• Sales pitches always fail; do less talking, listen and be more consultative to their issues and challenges

• Have knowledgeable speakers and subject matter experts at your booth

• Attendees want to hear from you! Consider hosting a smaller breakout session in addition to your booth at an industry event – 81% said they’d attend if it added more value to their experience

• Ensure you have the right materials at your booth, including white papers, customer testimonials, business case builders

• Attendees want to see your solution at work; have demos to share and make your discussion as hands-on as possible

At-Event



The Attributes Of The Most Useful / Successful Industry Events Attended – Verbatim Comments!

“A wealth of demos and practical information”

“Ability to explain my challenge and having some follow-up from vendors

who thought they could help solve the problem - not just a cold call situation”

“Came back with information regarding solutions to problems

I was having.”

“Exposure to new technology that would

help my business.”“Connecting with vendors and peers, and

gaining insight I didn't have prior regarding solutions and options applicable to current

issues and future projects”“Deep subject matter expertise in the

area of interest, broad range of customer interactions - peer to peer

networking” “Lots of educational content. Not just selling me a product, but

teaching me something I can take back to work with me, whether I

buy their product or not”“The vendor sessions clearly stated what a common problem was, how this problem could be solved and why you wanted their product

to solve the problem because it saved time and effort.”

“Ability to see a large numbers of vendors who collectively provide

solutions I'd be interested in”

“High quality speakers, knowledgeable staff at

booths, no marketing fluff”

ubm tech research_optimizing your trade show investment_blackhat

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