By their very nature, Meetings Managers are a very innovative group. We have to be! Our attendees expect to be dazzled at our events; they desire to walk away from a conference with knowledge of the latest and the greatest in information, products and services. As a result, we need to always stay ahead of the rest of the world, and be on the look out for what is trending so we can add it into our meeting mix.
We do it for our audience, but we also need to stay cutting edge for our own good. I’ve created this list of what the most innovative of us are doing in order to stay ahead of our own Game!
Go Soft: Software that is. If you are operating from spreadsheets it is time to start Googling terms like “Event Software” and “Meeting Management Software.” This is the solution to making event management; registration, payment processing, email marketing and more go oh-so-much easier. Take some time to look at the various offerings, then create a list of your must haves so you find the perfect fit for you and your meetings.
Get Up Close and Personal: Have you noticed how, for example, a pair of shoes can follow you around from site to site on the internet. Of course, I have! I will take a peek at some fabulous heels, then they walk on over to my Facebook page, tap dance onto another website, and hop on over to some other online visit. This may bother some of you, but Millennials love it and expect it. One Millennial shared that if you wish for them to take notice, they expect you to advertise only that which is of interest to them, as well as to personalize it to them. This can mean including their name in the email marketing messages or creating a specialty event that attracts a subset of your attendees. Check out the next bullet point for more info.
Gain A New Perspective: When we market we tend to think in terms of age, geographical area, etc. But now that Big Data has hit the scene, there is an amazing amount of new demographic information available to even the smallest of companies. Large social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn collect amazing amounts of data on its users, each and every day. They then make this information available via their advertising platforms. Savvy social media companies know how to help you reach people according to their interests, attitudes and more. Let me know if you need such a company to help you out, I know people J
Catch my blog next week for Part 2; I have more innovativeness to share!
