For the last ten years, IHR have provided first class recruitment exhibition type events for Talent Acquisition professionals and Recruitment Leaders. We have put together nine handy tips to ensure you have an effective event guaranteeing success for your brand before the event, during and afterwards. In person events are showing that attendance in the UK is on the rise and things are back to normal. Data shows (Sept 2022) that people have more time to take part in these events now and are encouraged to utilise this time to upskill themselves and their teams. We want to make sure that you can make the very most out of these events. Let’s get started.
Understand the Environment
If you want to ensure confidence and a flawless event experience, then it’s best practice to get the lay of the land beforehand. Once you understand your event surroundings you will be prepared for any tweaks or changes you might need. Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance or to do a run-through with your team if it is not prompted by the event organiser.
Know What’s Included, then Maximise it
Make a checklist of all aspects included in your package so that you don’t miss any opportunities. This way you can plan out your absolute best-case scenario by ticking off items on your list. Add goals and targets to your list so that everyone on your team is aware of the potential of this event (ex. follow-up calls, new contacts, or content) this will allow you to maximise on the experience as well as help to measure the success of an event. IHR have a fantastic event app to help target your audience, know the companies attending, know the agenda and speaker times, plus much more. Certainly, take time to familiarise yourself with the ‘IHR Event App’.
Read the Room
Even though you are face to face, it is even more important to understand your audience and their needs. You are not alone on this, work with your event organiser so that you can tailor your content and conversations to meet the most needs. The event organiser will have gathered data from the attendees before the event that will be vital to your message. This data can be used to zero in on the audience’s pain points and how you can add to your audience’s knowledge.
Understand the Full Agenda and Where You Fit in
Get to know the full event agenda so that you are aware of how the day will play out and where you will fit into the experience. This is a great opportunity to open communication with the host of the event as well as fellow expert speakers (if you have a speaking slot). Build the relationship by checking to make sure your topics don’t have duplicate content or just ensure that you have a unique angle.
Don’t Underestimate the Volume and Frequency
At the IHR Live events for example, IHR will have combined over 12 weeks of marketing efforts so that the attendance is all there to come and see you. This means that you will likely have a lot of conversations in person, and then via online chat, audio or video chat. An IHR event also suggests that people can approach your stand during the entire event and not just during breaks, so prepare your team and always have someone ready to answer questions. We recommend 4 members of your team to be present but work with your event organiser to prepare properly.
Look Your Best – Get Your Branding in Place
Each stand will have branding capabilities therefore it’s a priority to understand what those are and how to maximise this opportunity. For an in-person event, you’ll want to put your best branding foot forward to encourage visitors. Think outside the box and how you can stand out, so don’t forget goodies and offers just like you would usually bring. Vouchers or offers can go a long way and don’t necessarily have to be just given out, they could be given after answering a survey! The IHR Event app has various competitions running through the day, so talk to your event organiser about what you could offer on the day.
Create Landing Pages and Tracking Links
You will encounter various visitor scenarios while hosting your event stand and you want to be prepared to continue the conversation. If you are using a data capture form on your stand, take a moment to create a landing page featuring tracking links or event-specific offers so you can be sure to know which event people came from. This also refers to Tip #2, by making a list and benchmarking how many clicks/information requests you aim to get.
Tell Everyone Before, During and After the Event
Our events are not new to the industry, and it will be important to show that you are involved as well as committed to connecting with your audience. Post about it and share your experience to not only market your product but your brand. This will highlight how versatile you are willing to be. Keep up with Live Tweets, Linkedin Updates, Instagram posts and publish a round-up afterwards, this is valuable content for your business and your customers.
How to Follow Up the Right Way
Avoid the clumsiness of a generic follow up by connecting with your team beforehand. Strategise with everyone who had conversations at the event on ways to be more personal with customers who showed the most interest and who is the best point of contact. Then work back through attendees who didn’t approach the stand at the time but might have an interest in your product. You can do this by obtaining an updated version of the attendee list from your event organiser.
There you have it, IHR events are firmly here to stay by following these tips and gaining your own experience you can ensure great success! We look forward to hearing about your big returns and fantastic results. If you’d like to find out how you can add virtual events to your marketing toolkit, lead generation game plan or branding strategy get in touch with the partnerships team today.
