They had a company on their target list for a while but were struggling to find a way in. One time, they were planning to attend a conference and found out its VP was also going to be attending. They got his contact details using SalesIntel and started sending emails and just a week before the conference, he responded by saying he will be stopping by the booth. They then sent a dinner invitation for the following evening, which he accepted and a demo was scheduled the same week.
The best part is, it isn’t even a one-off story. We hear anecdotes like these so often that pre-event marketing has come to be recognized as instrumental to the success of event campaigns. The reason is that while events and conferences are great for networking and acquiring fresh leads, they are also chaotic and most people already have an itinerary for which booths to visit and which meetings to take.
You can’t just expect to show up at an event, randomly bump into people of interest, and sell your product. That’s why you’ve got to have a plan.
Next week, the Salesforce community from across the globe (estimated to be 170,000 people strong) will descend upon San Francisco for its annual event Dreamforce. There will be executives, developers, sales and marketing leaders, basically, everyone who matters.
Keep in mind that between a conference pass, hotel, travel and lost productivity you’re looking at a $5-10K investment PER ATTENDEE sent. That is why it is billed as one of the largest B2B events and a pure 4-day bonanza for business prospecting.
If you are sending a team to Dreamforce 2019, you can easily expect to spend tens of thousands of dollars between tickets, travel, and accommodation alone. But what will you get out of it? Of course it’s a learning opportunity with countless speakers, seminars, summits, and panel discussions, but we all know the core motivation- connecting to the right people.
Going to Dreamforce without pre-event marketing is like going fishing without a hook. Yes, you will see abundant fish but they’ll just slip by you. Get your hook, or better, layout a net. The weeks preceding an event is generally the most productive for prospecting. You are more likely to get responses, book appointments, and as many of our clients have experienced, close a few deals even before you’ve left.
SalesIntel can get you all of the information you need for your pre-event marketing. Our combination of technographic, firmographic, and intent data can help you precisely build target lists which when coupled with our human-verified contact data will enable you to run highly targeted and effective outreach campaigns.
If you do this right, you can easily line up your 4 days at the event with productive meetings and successful deals. And it isn’t just about Dreamforce. With SalesIntel in your marketing engine, you are destined to make the most out of every event you attend.
And of course, we eat our own dog food here at SalesIntel and are doing our own pre-event marketing prior to sending our team out next week. So if you’re going to be attending Dreamforce this year and would like to meet with a SalesIntel team member to learn more let us know here:
