The Evolution of Meeting and Event Communications through New Technologies

Reposted from Elite Meetings Blog - click here for link

Successful meeting and event programs are built on the foundations of effective communication efforts with audience members. Communicating well and communicating often is a proven way to keep your audience engaged, informed and motivated. Today, companies have more communication options to choose from based upon their meeting or event needs, as well as the preferences of their audience. But, this wasn’t always the case.

Historically, meeting and event planners were limited in terms of what communication options they had available. Creating and supporting levels of engagement during a program period was one thing, but leading up to and creating an afterglow experience post program involved a number of challenges that required new, more interactive tools and approaches. Through the course of the last several years, communication options have vastly evolved, leading towards much broader opportunities to further excite, engage and extend the overall attendee experience.

Think of it this way, today’s communications have shifted from just supporting one-way informational exchanges to helping better create more engaging, two-way dialogues between hosts, speakers, sponsors and attendees. Consider the following periods of meeting and event communications, from where we were to where we are now:

• Event Communications 1.0 - In the early years, meeting and event communications mainly involved traditional hard copy mailings, outbound calling and fax transmissions. These one-way communication exchanges may have helped logistically, but were highly limiting when it came to one-to-one promotional relevance or communicating real-time shifts, changes or program updates.
• Event Communications 2.0 - The dawn and mass market adoption of the Internet brought an immense improvement to meeting and event communications. Websites were created as a central linking point for program attendees to reference and register. In addition, emailing was integrated into communication strategies, providing a new and more effective mix for marketing efforts; it also could be used to provide ongoing announcements leading up to and following meeting and event programs. We’d have to wait just a bit longer for technologies to evolve and enable us to create more effective, two-way and interactive communication experiences.
• Event Communications 3.0 - New technologies and new uses of existing technologies have impacted and created significant shifts in how people manage, operate and socially interact with one another. Face-to-face meeting and event interactions now are more informed and greatly influenced by social networking, virtual engagements and the use of mobile applications.

• Social Networking  - Whether you like it or not, social networking is occurring already with regards to your meeting and event efforts. Ignoring it would place your program and organizational objectives at a disadvantage. Embracing social networking involves a number of considerations and can range in its level of adoption, but its inclusion can greatly enhance your ability to inform, motivate and extend your program’s communication reach.
• Virtual Engagements - The term “virtual” is often defined differently based upon who you ask. There are a number of technology advancements that have created different engagement options. For instance, the use of virtual worlds or Virtual Engagement Platforms (VEP), regional satellite broadcasting, web casting and collaboration as well as telepresence are all primary industry formats available and in use today. However, each type has its strengths and weaknesses, but the right combination with specific face-to-face meeting and event types and audiences can substantially improve levels of reach, engagement and program performance.
• Mobile Applications - A growing number of attendees are demanding more integration of mobile applications into the meeting and event programs they participate. Mobile platforms have become today’s intersection point of the physical meeting or event, virtual experiences and social networking interests. Put simply, program attendees want experiences that are more convenient, interactive and integrated with their mobile devices. Making appointments, noting calendar commitments, sharing contact details and having access to interact with other attendees, sponsors and speakers 24/7 are among a variety or inclusions they’re looking for in today’s meeting and event programs.

These types of communication options can be deployed as tools to extend the overall attendee reach and experience throughout the lifecycle of a program – before, during and after your meeting or event.

Organizations have greater opportunities today, over programs of the past, to create better business outcomes with the right integration of two-way, interactive communication options thanks to new technology advancements. Such opportunities enhance the value of meetings and events by further engaging an organization’s people – employees, channel partners and customers. While situations vary, so should the strategy. Otherwise, organizations run the risk of an ineffective, one-size-fits-all approach. Planners need to consider what the right mix of communication options can best help extend their program’s content, expand the audience reach and create enhanced ways for program attendees to interact and engage others.

The future of meeting and event communications isn’t coming, it’s here. What have you found that works better for your program, organization and attendees?

5 Ways to Increase Campaign Response Rates and Avoid Relationship Penalties

Consumers have had enough! A continued exposure to a steadily increasing number of marketing messages, campaigns, advertisements, offers and the like are suffocating relationships. Think about it, messages exist everywhere from traditional magazine, newspaper, television and radio to blogs, emails, web pages and the list goes on and on and on; okay, you get the idea. To quantify this trend, in Accenture’s 2001 Insight Driven Marketing Report, a typical consumer went from an average of 650 messages they were exposed to a day in 1985 to over 3,000 in 2001; share of mind has definitely become a competitive field for businesses.

The unfortunate effects on the attitudes and behaviors of the consumer as a result of undifferentiated, overly abundant and brimful frequency of messages necessitate action by which companies communicate to their existing and future customers. The following five steps will assist in getting a lift out of response rates and increase in overall campaign performance.

1. Integrated Media Channels
Even with the most appealing offer that is strategically appropriate and tailored for specific individuals, response rates are not guaranteed. The main hurdle that remains is that of effectively connecting and communicating with your audience. Determine what channels are most preferred by your targeted audience and create a media plan that integrates direct marketing efforts into a connected stream of touch point activities.

2. Targeted Messaging.
Regardless of the communications channel(s) used, a degree of customization – whether personalization, versioning or targeted offering based upon what is known of the customer – will greatly assist with response rates. At the end of the day, effective campaign performance is about relevance – promoting and communicating directly to me what I may want, when I might need it and from who I might buy it.

3. Don’t Beat Around the Bush, Be a Straight Shooter
Although it’s important to capture the immediate attention of the customer in the headline, do so with brevity and clarity. Another pitfall of campaign efforts is that while a creative message begins with a lead-in, it quickly strays away from what originally captured interest. Often referred to as somewhat of a bait-and-switch, this tactic quickly diminishes the credibility of the promoter in the mind of the consumer. As such, relationships can be damaged and future opportunities can be hindered.

4. Consumers Like it Simple
Hypothetically, if a communications piece went out and it had all of the necessary components such as being targeted, was straight to the point and even involved integrated communications channels, response rates can still be ineffective if the consumer isn’t lent a simplified means to respond. Often enough, campaigns become disenchanting for the consumer due to a clear call to action being missed, an overly complicated process to respond or demands that are too high from a time perspective to complete the transaction.

5. Don’t Over Communicate
Email is one of the largest culprits to consumers being bombarded and overloaded with offers, representing instances where they are receiving hundreds of emails each week. As a result, this channel continues to dwindle in its effectiveness. While new channels have emerged from texting, RSS feeds, PURL’s, Social Media and the like, it’s important to remember that you don’t need to be everywhere, all of the time, hounding (if not annoying) customers and potential customers. Consumers are simply overworked and, for the most part, getting more and more turned-off. Think of your touch point activities as currencies and spend wisely. Awareness isn’t always a good thing, especially if perceptions are not all that flattering.

These guidelines are pertinent to any sector or market situation. Following any number of them provides improved results, but incorporating all of them into communications planning yields a synergistic effect that turbo-charges the effective connectivity with the customer.