Last week Mash Media’s marketing team attended the AEO’s marketing social event, in association with ASP, where their marketing working group brought the industry together to share their best practices and strategies across six engaging roundtable discussions headed up by industry peers. This event proved to be a treasure trove of insights, from benchmarking our own marketing to sharing new marketing tactics for us all to level up, all followed by pizza and networking. Here’s a deep dive into what our marketers learned:
Social Media with Dom and Ben from Raccoon Media Group
The discussion on social media was very clear and varied tactics depending on the organising company and their social media strategy, including an importance of difference depending on the event that sparked discussion on the rise of video and TikTok for B2C but also for B2B, noting its power to captivate audiences and drive engagement. Tools like Oktopost were highlighted for their ability to streamline social media management and enhance engagement through CRM and tracking.
Tech with Sam from Easyfairs
The conversation revolved around maximising tech in unique ways that work for you. Platforms like InGo, Snoball, and Gleanin were identified as vital for boosting event sales through social advocacy, while Grip was noted for fostering year-round community engagement. Sam shared his unique use of tech, such as Otter.ai and ShoutOut for capturing testimonials on-site, and making sure your tech stack is effective.
AI with Felicia from Cvent
AI was a hot topic, with discussions on how AI tools can transform marketing efforts. Beautiful.ai, copy.ai, and jitter.video were all praised as good options with ChatGPT and Canva’s embedding of AI tech most prominent, alongside this was the benefits of smaller licenses that offer flexibility and scalability when venturing into AI. Tools like Wrike were recommended for project management.
CRO and Websites with Jon and Mark from ASP Events
Perfecting and optimising user journeys and improving conversion rates on event websites, including emphasizing the importance of compliant cookie bars on every separate domain, including your registration page, just make sure they are the same simple design to improve tracking and CRO. Tools like Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity were recommended for identifying and rectifying user experience issues, while Converts.com was noted for enhancing A/B testing on PPC campaigns. A critical point was the need to tailor event landing pages for new versus repeat visitors and to streamline options to guide users effectively.
Marketing efficiency with Tom from Clarion Events
The discussions centered around optimising reporting and tracking processes, integrating APIs, and adapting to new platforms. Tools like Claude.io were mentioned for their data profiling capabilities, enabling more precise targeting and personalisation. Establishing robust data profiles was deemed essential for effective marketing operations and lead management.
Data and email marketing with Alex from Messe Frankfurt UK
Effective data management is crucial for any event marketing strategy, and Alex broke it down into three stages, growing, warming and reengagement. When starting out it is important to conduct a gap analysis from your universe for your event and leveraging tools like ZoomInfo and Apollo.ai for data collection to fill those gaps. Another approach discussed was using a secondary email account to clean and manage bounces before integrating the data back into the main email system. The significance of warming up email accounts to maintain deliverability and using tools like Dmark for reputation management was also shared. Also engaging data through WhatsApp channels was suggested as an alternative communication method for mini-communities.
Thank you to the AEO Marketing Working Group and ASP for a great event!
