As we turn the page on a new year, it’s time to look ahead and plan for a successful 2024. At the heart of your strategy should be a commitment to truly understanding your customers and meeting them where they are. This is called customer-centric marketingand your events should follow the same general guidelines, but this can be difficult to implement if you’re not used to it. Fear not: below, we’ve shared our top tips for implementing a new approach to event strategy for 2024.
Strategic Tip #1: The Power of Event Prioritization
So what does it mean to prioritize your events? It’s about organizing events into three categories: large industry events, mid-level regional events, and smaller VIP account meetings. Each tier has a specific purpose and helps move customers along their thought journey. The goal is to meet your customers’ evolving expectations and be there where they are.
- Major industry events are excellent platforms to gain visibility and reach a wide audience.
- Mid-level regional events allow us to establish a more personal connection with customers, addressing region-specific issues.
- Small VIP Account Meetings provide an intimate setting to interact in depth with our most valued customers.
The tiered approach allows companies to focus their budget, resources, and efforts based on the importance of each tier. As expected, Tier 1 events receive the most support, reflecting their critical role in your overall strategy.
This doesn’t mean that large industry events are best-in-class, especially if they aren’t delivering the results you’d expect for the same investment. Tiers should be aligned with what your business values most and help you organize to achieve those goals. This means questioning the value of large third-party events and considering reallocating funds to multiple, smaller experiences that directly engage your customers.
Strategic tip #2: Better understand your customers
As you approach 2024, focus on better understanding your customers and prioritize your event portfolio accordingly. This is essential to fostering customer centricity. Your mission is simple but powerful: deeply understand your customers and tailor your offerings to meet their needs. This will allow you to be more present and effective in your customer interactions.
In a constantly evolving industry, it’s essential to remain agile and responsive to changing customer needs and expectations. That’s why it can be beneficial to train your teams to think more creatively to maximize opportunities and stretch budgets. Help them understand that your strategies need to be as fluid as your customers’ wants and needs.
Strategic Tip #3: Make Data-Driven Decisions
Data and feedback are essential to understanding event performance. It is not enough to participate in events based on past habits or vague goals such as “brand awareness“We need to define what these terms mean and use data to answer critical questions like, ‘Why attend this event?’
To this end, we emphasize the importance of qualitative and quantitative analysis. We don’t just look at numbers; we seek to understand the stories they tell about our customers and our business. This data-driven approach allows us to challenge long-held assumptions and make cuts where necessary to free up budgets.
Looking forward
In 2024, the goal is clear: meet your customers where they are. Commit to prioritizing your event portfolio, analyze event performance data, and use attendee feedback to continually refine your event strategy for 2024. Think more creatively about how to maximize opportunities and optimize your budgets. Reevaluate the value of attending events solely to build brand awareness, and set clear goals to personalize experiences more effectively.
I wish you a successful 2024!