Creating effective digital ecosystems: Amplifying audience footprints through end to end digital enablement

– Dr. Paul Frost Event Tech Live 2015

In a world where online interaction has become ubiquitous, participants at events such as this one have an expectation of their digital experience which both fulfills the role of traditional media and creates an integrated delivery method. But getting it right ain’t necessarily easy…

It’s an omni channel world

And it starts on the desktop…

% of attendee initial interaction will be in a desktop web environment

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%

…but increasingly moves to mobile at events

increase in mobile web use at events

% 35

We believe – Solutions should effectively link desktop based journeys to a mobile app which allows attendees to participate in a personalised experience of the event.

Drive attendee engagement from the inception of their experience

Facilitate networking/sharing opportunities

Provide a full user journey analytic picture to measure end-to-end success

Brands must remember that people don’t tend to get married on the first date

!

Jack Morton survey of over 100 event registration site forms indicated an average completion time of

23 seconds 3 minutes

Getting these forms right can increase conversion rates by

% 41

The role of reach –

The average B2B email address in the UK receives over 80 promotional or newsletter comms per day

This has led brands to start innovating in their leveraging of dedicated Content Beacons in order to cost effectively reach and amplify audiences

What does good look like? – Personalised interactions… From website To email To mobile app To physical event Adding value to base experience

Solving the key challenge: Getting users to download mobile apps (and how brands should utilise behavioural targeting)

Too often, event marketeers resort to “download our app and get a free cup of coffee” when numbers aren’t performing well

Visibility – From portal, to email communications, to wider outreach programmes, making sure the app download opportunity is front and centre is critical in ensuring the success of any digitally augmented event

Pre-registration for events allows users to manage their programme, check out important information (such as venue, concessions etc) and access features such as e-ticketing; while this provides a reason to visit the website portal, intrinsically it does not (and should not) offer a reason to download the mobile app

Registration & Ticketing –

Encouraging uptake by means of rewards, competitions and games has been proven to significantly improve response rates, but ultimately, are just another glorified free cup of coffee

Incentivisation –

The issue here is that none of these emphases delivers clear mobile app benefit payoffs for the end user

Most important user benefits – Research presented in the excellent Event Bible suggests that the following elements are the most important benefits for users

There are a number of key takeaways from this that resonate with our approach

Richer interactions add massive value

1. Outside of agenda/personalised schedule collateral, there is quite limited levels of commonality for other feature sets such as push notifications, maps, floor plans or session ratings

It is our belief that this is in principle because the information offered in typical event apps is limited and fails to take advantage of potentially rich ways in which this information can be presented, e.g. Interactive floor plans

Analytics should shape experience

2. Although personalised content within app environments is generally considered beneficial for attendees, the limited utilisation of analytic data to shape the overall user experience

As mobile apps have concentrated on offering utility, it is inevitable that these informational needs form the core of what users expect

Most important special features – Delivering tangible benefit for the end user necessitates a wider consideration of the “Event Digital Ecosystem” rather than a mobile app in isolation

Tailored Content – Especially relevant for brands with disparate audiences or complex messages, using mobile app information to identify individuals and then present tailored content to them is perhaps the most exciting, user-resonant way in which this sort of technology is being used to realise user benefit

Tailored Content – Whether using conductive ink/digital signage to granularise content being presented, crowd/flow control or recommending other parts of an event based on their behaviours allow marketeers for the first time to employ the kinds of data driven approaches that have become commonplace in online environments

Tailored Content – Algorithmic collateral presentation, personalised messaging,

tailored product/service focus all help make the experience more relevant for each individual

The same approach can also be utilised to present group/segment level customisation, which can help reducing marketing costs/wastage as well as improving overall campaign effectiveness

The use of wider online media channels to maximise reach –

Google Display Network

Retargeting is your friend

Low cost per click

High specificity

Can use registration portal/other owned website visit as the basis of audience selection

Paid Search

PPC is also a cost effective way to reach audiences, with data indicating that campaigns should typically focus spend from the four week event date to deliver optimal levels of traffic and take up But… customer matching is the way forward

Google Customer Match

Allows advertisers to target individuals based on what they know about their audiences, including: Purchase history/conversion behaviour Offline campaigns Attendee/customer profiles

This approach enables brands to strengthen connections with their known user base, tailor messaging for prospects and leverage the significant footprint that Google provides across its YouTube, Gmail and Search platforms

Google Customer Match – How it works

1. Data lists, typically comprising target email addresses, are uploaded to the Google advertising platform in a secure manner before the system then matches these to Google accounts

2. Targeting can then be designed based on device of access, relationship with the user and channel utilisations

So known attendees to an event (who have either registered online or have a pre-existing data relationship with the brand) can be specifically marketed to across their web journey

Google Customer Match – How it works

Once a user has registered for an event but not downloaded the app, let’s say, their email address can then be used to trigger dedicated ads within paid search results, YouTube and Gmail

When accessing the web via smartphone, these ads can also include device-marketplace appropriate calls to action, thus maximising ease of use

Initial trialling of this approach suggests that it is the most effective way to increase app downloads pre-event, with a recent test indicating that Customer Match advertising was almost 50% more effective than email marketing

So in summary…

The benefits to the event organiser or attendee of digital enablement are clear, but demonstrating/communicating these to end users is the biggest challenge currently

A number of approaches have evolved around the development of more effective reach and conversion strategies, including better form design, predicate based marketing and incentivisation

So in summary…

Ultimately, providing in-event personalisation across channels is the most compelling potential benefit for end users, as well as offering further cost-saving for brands

This enriched physical presence helps augment user interaction while not distracting from the tactile, textural, multi-sensory opportunities afforded by experiential marketing

After all, who wants to create a digital event strategy that congregates an audience in a specific location so they can look at collateral on their smartphone?

Talk to us – Contact Peter Sun VP, Brand Marketing Peter_Sun@jackmorton.com +1.212.401.7015

Read our blog at jackmorton.com/blog

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Visit us online at jackmorton.com

About Jack Morton We’re a global brand experience agency. We generate breakthrough ideas, connecting brands and people through experiences that transform business. Our portfolio of award-winning work spans 75 years across event marketing, sponsorship marketing, promotion and activation, experience strategy, employee engagement, digital, social, and mobile. Ranked at the top of our field, Jack Morton is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE: IPG). © Jack Morton Worldwide 2015