Author:
Kristina Tertyshnikova
Introduction
Events are gaining momentum. Almost all large-scale industrial conferences have returned and are open to international guests by the end of 2024. Globetrotting is back possible in business travels, it not only gives a nice experience but also gets a hold of people who do not answer on Linked In or even reply to emails.
In 2024 the PitchBob team has already visited more than ten events around the world and has set up more than 150 meetings for the partners. This success is due to events allowing us to focus on high-quality leads — people essential for sales, investments, and industry strengthening.
In this article, I will describe what events are, give pieces of advice on how to reduce costs while achieving maximum business value and how to stage an event to get the most quality leads.
Explore the true value of events for lead generation
Thus, the question arises as to which events are relevant to these industries and to which we pay attention and advise our clients about?
- Industry conferences, exhibitions, and festivals
- Government events
- Innovation forums
- Local meetups not necessarily in your region
- Open microphone for startups
Almost all events ensure the participants have communication tools. Many of them are not as efficient or as easy to use, but all offer a chance to communicate with the leads — something that is rather scarce.
Event apps bring together people who are interested in an event and usually influence the buying decision. Here is a classic approach to working with an event:
Participants
Analyze and evaluate participants. This can almost always be done if the event’s website shares the attendees like in the case of London Tech Week.
You can also use the app to filter leads from companies of interest or search for relevant contacts. Here is the example from iGB2024 where you can actually register and network for free.
And not only the participants but also the speakers and the sponsors might be relevant for your outreach. Sometimes, information about categories of participants doesn’t overlap with the general list of attendees, allowing you to find additional relevant leads.
Check the floor plan. This is another way of identifying the people to expect at the event depending on the cause. It is slower and somewhat invasive but in many cases, this is the only way to go.
At one of our spring events, there was an option in the app to apply a filter, thus we had to employ this approach.
Another method is tracking event-related hashtags, and discussions regarding them on social platforms, to find interesting people and companies, although it currently provides less information.
Channels
Connect with your leads on LinkedIn. Do not solely depend on the application of the event; they often crash, do not notify, and most of the attendees do not install or open the application until a week before the event. But we need to schedule meetings in advance!
Try to extract email addresses from your database. The more channels you use, the better the results.
Posts. Do not forget about such channels as the blog on your website, and/or social media. Create 2-3 publications about your experience, goals, and expectations regarding the event and the person you are most eager to meet. Tag companies and individuals, at least five.
Texts
Create message chains for outreach via LinkedIn and the event’s app. We aim to start outreach 2.5-3 weeks before the event through LinkedIn and 1 week before through the event’s app.
In the messages, briefly introduce yourself, describe your product, how it benefits the lead, and what you want to achieve from this person.
Example of an invite I used in an outreach campaign for London Tech Week:
Hi [Name], I’m the co-founder of PitchBob.io — co-pilot for innovation ecosystem players and corporations. Partnered with TechNation, TechStars, Wharton, our tool helps early-stage entrepreneurs, innovation ecosystem players, and universities. I’m at London Tech Week today/tomorrow. Shall we meet?
If you want a follow-up message, let me know.
Remember, one or even two messages are not enough. People quickly forget new information, so it’s better to remind them multiple times and get a clear rejection than to send a couple of messages and receive no response.
Think about what you can write to your leads, what you can offer, and which names or titles to mention to make an impression.
Virtual Attendees
If your budget is limited, you cannot constantly travel to events worldwide. To avoid spending a fortune on traveling to events attended by your leads, you can buy basic tickets with networking access and not attend in person.
After the outreach team for one of our startups saw the response to event messages, we started buying tickets to various events monthly, from Europe to the USA, with team members attending only half of them. For the other half, we try to pull leads onto calls using the tools mentioned above.
You can write before the event that it would be great to communicate "before" to see if there’s mutual interest and avoid wasting time at the event. Later, you can apologize for not attending due to project commitments but continue the conversation online.
After the event, you can say that you couldn’t meet or attend but are still interested in meeting. Remember, an event is an ideal trigger to start a business communication.
Post-Event Follow-Up
Most people don’t realize that follow-up messages are almost always more effective than the initial ones. The first message can get lost or forgotten in the bustle of preparing for the event. So it’s essential to send additional follow-ups.
Always include the leads you gathered at the event in your sales funnel. Often, they respond a month or two after the event and schedule meetings.
Two weeks post-event is the final stage of the outreach campaign and is as important as the preparation and the event itself. Follow up through email, LinkedIn, and the app (although it usually stops working immediately after the event ends).
The secret to a good follow-up message lies in its usefulness. Avoid writing things like, "Well, will you answer?!" Instead, follow the principles of win-win, respect, and providing valuable insights.
Conclusion
Participation in events can be a very effective way of creating leads and therefore business development. I have found that through attending industry conferences, government programs, innovation gatherings, local communities, and start-up events you get exclusive chances to meet people who are crucial for sales and investments.
The best approach to enhancing the value of these events, therefore, depends on effective planning and implementation of follow-up procedures. This way, you can filter participants, speakers, and sponsors to define high-quality leads. Additional information is obtained from event apps, floorplans, and social media hashtags and it allows you to communicate with the right contacts.
