INBOUND 2021: Don't Let a Good Event Go To Waste

Last week, members of the Gate 39 Media and Anthem Ag team attended HubSpot’s INBOUND 2021, virtually. Seeing the speakers, the engagement, and the offers (and all of the subsequent emails I’ve received from said offers) got my wheels turning.

Soon, we’ll be entering into post-harvest season, and no, it’s not winter. It’s meeting season, whether that is in-person or virtual, meeting season is upon us. From the behemoth of Commodity Classic to local seed dealer meetings — you, as a marketer — are about to be inundated with requests. What are you and your team doing to help promote these events, drive attendance, follow-up with contacts and ultimately, earn sales? In this post, we’ll evaluate some marketing tactics to help your meeting season be a success.

Geo-fenced digital creative with landing pages

You’re probably well aware of geo-fenced campaigns, but are you utilizing these campaigns to drive attendance to your event? If so, are you driving visitors back to a landing page to capture an RSVP? A landing page can capture all of the vital information needed to help begin segmenting the attendees for follow-up.

10 Key Components of Successful Lead-Generating Landing Pages

Text messages

Did you know a text message has a 99% open rate? I’m sure your sales team has the mobile phone numbers of their clients, and potential leads, but are they being captured in a CRM? CRMs, like HubSpot, are full of useful marketing tools and plug-ins – like being able text message certain customers by their location, sales rep or overall segment. Send out a quick text message to your customers in the area of your event, inviting them to RSVP through (you guessed it) the landing page! With quick fill form options, you’ve made it really simple for the attendees to let you know that they want to attend, and simple for your marketing and sales team to send out event reminders and post-event follow-ups.

5 Reasons Your Ag Business Should be Texting

Postcards

Let’s throw it back old school with the traditional postcard invitation. Do you save wedding invites and put them on your refrigerator? Same thing with birthday party, bridal shower, baby shower, etc. right? Well, create a standout postcard for your event, maybe oversized or in a unique shape to catch the attention of the recipient so they pause and read instead of throwing it away.

This doesn’t have to be solely for an event you’re hosting at a location, but it could be to invite the individuals to stop by your booth at Commodity Classic or National Farm Machinery Show bringing their postcard for a special prize or a QR code to scan (you’re reading my mind) that directs to a landing page for a drawing or raffle! You’re capturing valuable first-party data which you can then continue to use to populate your CRM and nurture with follow-ups and inclusion on other promotional materials.

Purchased email blast lists

Utilize your media partners and their first party lists to send invites on your behalf. Their lists are individuals who have opted in to receive their content and therefore have consented to receive information from their partners, like your agribusiness. Make sure your content is compelling, highlighting all of the information they’re going to learn while coming to your event or seeing you at your booth. Of course, include a link to (you’re so smart) a landing page!

**Life hack: ask your media partner to sign an NDA and de-duplicate against your current email list so potential attendees aren’t being overwhelmed with your invites, and to potentially save money.

Email drip campaigns

Most CRMs are equipped with an email drip option. These emails distribute after a certain number of days to individuals based on the action taken within the email.

Did they sign-up after the first email was sent? Great. They won’t receive another offer to sign-up, but will receive a reminder a few days before the event.

Did they open the email but didn’t take action? You can set up a drip campaign workflow to continue to send the emails until action is taken or until so many emails have gone unopened. We encourage our clients not to exceed three attempts at communication in order to not be seen as spam.

Events promoting other events

Just like the title says, don’t let an event go to waste. Promote where you’ll be next at each event. Encourage email sign-ups so these clients and prospects won’t miss out on seeing your team. Include an event calendar on your website listing not only the in-person meetings, but any webinars or speaking engagements your team is partaking in.

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