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Like any marketing technology, selecting the right tools is a challenge. But event tech is unique and therefore has some considerations that go beyond the basic tech selection process. In today’s article I explore some of those considerations.
How do you think about selecting events technology in the context of your overall go to market? Share your thoughts on the Buzz Community.
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3 Considerations to Select Event Tech Successfully
As we all know, planning events and conferences can be challenging, and with the shift to virtual and hybrid, it's even more critical to have the right event technology that supports your efforts. There are so many good options available, selection can be overwhelming.
I’ve discussed before keys to build a lasting marketing tech stack, but there are other elements at play with event tech that impact those decisions. In particular, unlike many other parts of your martech stack, event tech is an external technology and impacts your brand’s user experience, NPS and CSAT.
Consideration #1: It’s about your Brand
The output of event stacks (e.g., landing pages, registration experiences) is directly connected to your brand experience. And people notice when things don’t jive with your brand’s look and feel. But beyond the basic design challenges, it is key to align your event tech with your brand. This may sound ethereal, but in reality it's super important.
You’ll need to ask questions like, “Does the event tech output align to your brand and product design approaches?” Tactically, this means that your website experience and your events tech experience should be closely aligned. Both should use similar front end design frameworks (e.g., mobile-first vs. mobile-friendly; parallax vs. modern; endless pages vs. page hierarchy). These are important considerations to ensure that your event tech will support your desired brand experience.
Consideration #2: It’s about your Audience
In a hybrid event world, user experience must be a key consideration in selecting the right technology for your event technology. But this isn’t a discussion about which feature do we need (e.g., voting, real-time room attendance), it’s about understanding your audience well enough that the tool you choose aligns to the way that audience will want to interact at your event.
Event tech companies are pushing the latest bells and whistles, but for many B2B audiences those tools are unnecessary and frankly negatively impact the attendee experience. Simply put, align your event tech selection with your audience's needs. Your audience may not prefer a mobile-first experience as an event attendee. So mobile experience should move down in your selection process in terms of priority. And this train of thought should follow through the rest of the feature list. I recall looking at a large events stack Q1 for a client and the Event Tech company provided a 125+ lined feature list. While that’s impressive, many of those features didn’t align to the audience requirements.
Consideration #3: It’s about your Operations
All too often, I see event marketing technology selection processes that do not factor in the operational cost of a new technology in the stack. From the obvious considerations (e.g., does your event tech integrate with your CRM) to the less obvious (e.g., how is your design team and their workflow impacted by event tech). You must have a process map (we use swim lane diagrams) to understand your current workflows and how a new technology will impact them. In larger marketing organizations, this should be owned by the head of marketing ops. A careful, impact analysis will help in two ways: forecast the impact of the new event stack and identify the areas that will need support once the tech is implemented. Your “as-is” and “to-be” workflows should be mapped out to understand these implications.
But this impact is also on reporting and analytics. But beyond the tacticals - audience engagement, attendance rates, etc. - you need to ensure you are looking at the overall impact events are having on your broader marketing goals measured by revenue, pipeline, NPS, CSAT, etc. Make sure your event stack can help you get at some of those answers. A good sample report would be the NPS of your conference attendees vs non-attendees. Is there a bump for attendees and what is the time-decay of that bump. And can your events stack provide you the tools to get to that insight.
Selecting event tech that aligns with your GTM strategy is essential for the success of your event marketing efforts. When selecting event tech, keep in mind that these considerations will ensure technology adoption (by both internal teams and attendees) and will improve your brand, NPS and provide you valuable insights to drive your business forward.
What are your thoughts on what considerations you should include in your event technology selection? Share your thoughts on The Buzz Community.
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