According to the Content Marketing Institute’s “2015 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends — North America,” 69 percent of B2B marketers ranked face-to-face (F2F) marketing as the most effective marketing tactic. The “2015 Global Event Industry Benchmarks Study,” which reports the findings of Cvent’s survey of 2200 marketers and event planners, found that 45 percent of the event planners and marketers surveyed spend 6–25 percent of their marketing budget on F2F marketing. This, paired with the Content Marketing Institute’s finding that B2B buyers across all industries consistently rank industry events as a top five channel for professional education and networking, is a clear indication that F2F marketing plays a critical role in the customer experience.

To develop and deliver successful face-to-face experiences, companies must bring their corporate message to life at every touchpoint along the customer journey. The following are five key opportunities for infusing your corporate messaging throughout your F2F experience.

  1. Develop a messaging architecture to guide all event communication. A messaging architecture strategically connects your event messaging to your organization’s messaging platform, aligning mandatory messages to the event’s target audience in a meaningful and relevant way.
  2. Ensure consistent pull through of messaging in all promotional content. According to Cvent’s survey, 48 percent of event attendees claim email was the most effective channel for driving their event registrations. Leverage this important communication channel to bring your story to life by delivering a clear, consistent and compelling message at every touchpoint.
  3. Ensure consistent pull through of messaging in all on-site messaging. Cvent’s benchmark study found that 43 percent of event planners and marketers use an event-specific mobile app and of those who did not use an app, 54 percent said they plan to use one. Event attendees engage with the event app consistently throughout the F2F experience. Utilize this important channel to deliver a clear, consistent and compelling story throughout the F2F experience.
  4. Infuse messaging in event presentations. Keynote presentations and breakout session topics and panel discussions are prime time at your event. Leverage these critical communication opportunities to pull your message through in a real-time manner.
  5. Empower your customers to share in your storytelling. Take control of the way in which your customers share in your story by promoting a designated hashtag that is relevant to your corporate message and the key messages promoted at your event. Attendees love to share their F2F experiences; help them bring your story to life.

Face-to-face marketing events provide opportunities for your brand and your employees to extend and amplify the key messages via experiential brand engagement and in-person conversations. Maximize the return on your F2F investment with strategic messaging that aligns with your corporate message.