More marketers co-locate private events at trade shows

A trade show just might be the best time and place for a b-to-b private event.

After all, a large contingent of customers and prospects probably are already planning to attend. Add a proprietary event or customized content to the agenda, and you just might end up with a highly targeted, can’t-miss meeting that makes the trade show and the event more attractive to the target audience.

IBM has had great success with its IBM Linux Forum, a one-day private event held during the annual Linux World show. IBM marketers reason that hosting their own event at the larger show helps the company connect with people who are very interested in the specific topic. “An event is a more personal touch than a booth alone, and it enables us to create more focused communications,” says Carol Carson, director-Linux and grid marketing at IBM. Cisco Systems has been conducting a VIP program—a type of event marketing within the event, with a lounge and personalized services to key customers—at the Networld+ Interop show for years.

Five tips:

1. Select the Right Opportunities. Cisco approaches its private events within trade shows by analyzing the audience at a particular show to see if there is a key segment from among subsets of customers, prospects, press and industry analysts that it can reach. Then, the company creates an event to match.

2. Partner with the Show. Coordinate your efforts with the show organizer. If you share your objectives and work together to create a mutually agreeable schedule for the event, the organizer is likely to see it as an enhancement, not a distraction. The events can also benefit the show organizer as well. Carson says IBM’s promotion to its client and prospect lists draws guests who would not attend the show otherwise.

3. Be Prepared to Pay. Show owners typically view private events as sponsorships and try to charge a fee. Negotiate to include benefits that will help make the event a success—like meeting space and access to the segment of the mailing list that matches your target audience.

4. Provide Valuable Content. Don’t make your event a sales pitch. Instead, approach it as an enhancement to the main conference, with unique insights or experts from outside your company. The agenda at the latest IBM Linux Forum included presentations on how IBM is approaching Linux, updates on the marketplace, access to an industry analyst, and a customer panel representing a variety of industries and company sizes.

5. Leverage the Location. Cisco makes sure it invites members of the target audience who live and work near the event. All in all, private events at trade shows can help connect with an audience that has already come together for the big event. Clients appreciate the opportunity to make their time out of the office as productive as possible. And the strategy lets corporations maximize their resources as well.