This article was updated in July 2022.
Marketing automation is an essential tool for marketers, but are you taking full advantage of it for your event outreach? Automating processes such as outreach, reminders, and social can save you time, and set your marketing event up for success from the very beginning.
What is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation is the process for using technology to manage and execute a variety of marketing tasks and campaigns. Through strategic automation, different actions can trigger additional actions that move prospects and customers through specific workflows.
Marketing processes and tasks that can be automated include:
- Social media
- Chat
- Lead qualification
- Forms
- Dynamic content
- Content scheduling
- Website banners
- Product updates
- Customer feedback
- On-demand webinars
Marketing Automation Tools Worth Having
Banzai
Banzai's product's Reach and Demio are all about automating the event marketing process. WIth Reach, users can easily automate event outreach, confirmation and reminders. Demio makes setting up webinars easy. Multiple integrations enable Demio to work with your CRM and other marketing tools. Users can produce on-demand webinars with automated email confirmations, reminders, and event follow-up.
Hubspot
From email marketing to workflow execution and lead qualification, Hubspot helps marketers do it all. Marketers should consider Hubspot if they are looking for a robust platform that the team can actively manage and make work for them.
Alyce
Alyce's AI-powered software helps marketers automate their gift giving strategy. Alyce integrates with a variety of marketing tools making it easy to determine when a gift is sent in a prospecting workflow. Alyce also makes it simple for prospects to book meetings with your team by including calendar links directly in the gifting process.
Marketing Automation and Events
Producing a great B2B event often involves detailed checklists and to dos. Marketing automation can scale a lot of the repetitive and time intensive task so event marketers can focus on driving event ROI. Here are a few ways to utilize marketing automation for your upcoming B2B event.
Create targeted invites
A one size fits all invitation is not the best option for events with multiple target audiences. Marketing automation allows you to create specific invitation workflows for the different groups you are inviting. For example, if you are hosting a conference for technology professionals with a session track for healthcare IT managers and another for IT managers in the finance sector, then create two separate invitation workflows that cover the necessary logistics and relevant sessions.
Automated invitation workflows give you the benefit of planning and scheduling your emails in advance. Reach creates a master invite list. We then draft our outreach emails all at once and schedule them five to seven business days apart. Once a prospect meets the goal of our workflow (they register for the event), they are automatically unenrolled from the invitation workflow and enrolled into the reminder workflow (keep reading for more on reminders!).
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Send reminders and pre-event content
Event reminders are a great tool for preventing event attrition. Send frequent reminders to keep your event top of mind and (if done right) generate excitement around the big day. Schedule reminders that provide useful information, preparing registrants for your great event.
Reminder emails can include details such as:
- Parking and directions
- Speakers and sessions
- Sponsors
- Audience demographics (industries, titles, company types, etc.)
- Networking opportunities
You can decide how reminder workflows are triggered (based on the date of the event or when someone RSVPs). Automated reminders make sure all of your registrants get the information they need for your upcoming event.
Planning and scheduling your event’s social promotion is an effective way to continually promote your event. Plan social around big milestones leading up to your event including speaker announcements, agenda updates, ticket prices, etc. Automating your social media requires a bit of heavy lifting and thoughtful planning up front, but once scheduled, you can focus on the other aspects of your event while monitoring the engagement around your social posts.
Keep the conversation going
Your event doesn’t end with the last guest leaves. It is up to you to keep the conversation going and attendees connected with your brand long after your event is over. Using your list of attendees (create separate lists for even more targeted follow-up), create an automated follow-up plan that provides useful resources and content that encourages engagement and solidifies your brand as an industry expert.
Marketing automation is a powerful tool for your event marketing program. Executing a thoughtful automation campaign can save you valuable time, resources, and set your B2B event up for success.
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