6 Golden Tactics for Smart B2B Event Outreach

First-time virtual event organizers often come to us asking for a "quick fix" to help with their upcoming event.

Most of the time, it's either:

• the registration numbers are lower than expected,
• or from looking at initial data, the sign-ups don't seem to fit their ICP,
• or their team is having trouble getting final RSVP confirmations.

Sure, there are always last-minute tricks you can try to boost the registrations; but, after supporting thousands of events with our platform, Reach, we've learned that the success of your event really comes down to the following tactics.

Note: Want to learn how big brands run successful events without having to worry about how to get attendees? Download our guide to defining and nailing your event ICP.

1. Leverage Your CRM's Existing Data

Even if all of your buyer personas could find value in attending, the actual target audience of your event should be narrowed to those who will best help you achieve your goal.

For most B2B clients we work with, the goal is revenue. This means you need to spend your resources focusing on prospects who are most likely to buy.

Use the data you already have in your CRM and other marketing/customer platforms to understand and analyze your past audience data and current customers. Your CRM likely contains valuable insights into the demographics, psychographics, and behavior patterns of your existing contacts. This data reflects specific attributes of your ideal event attendees, like who they are and how to recognize them.

An effective approach for this is to filter the CRM data based on engagement levels. Identify contacts who have consistently opened and interacted with your previous emails or marketing campaigns. These individuals have demonstrated interest in your brand or offerings and are likely to be more receptive to your event invitation.

Then you'll further your research to segment them by learning about the attributes that are common about these companies - i.e., ways in which they're similar. Do they have a specific business industry? Business size? Revenue range? Similar headcount? Anything else?

Next, aggregate all the data you collected to define your ideal target audience. You can then export the data to define lookalike audiences as you're building your outreach list from platforms like Reach, Apollo or ZoomInfo.

Another effective approach is to leverage your CRM's lead-scoring capabilities. Most systems assign a numerical value to each lead based on their behavior, demographics, and other relevant factors.

So, group and research contacts with higher lead scores to find similarities. Then based on your findings, deduce the target attendee profile you'll then feed your data intelligence tool and find your attendees for virtual events.

Moreover, if your event is related to a specific product, service, or topic, you can leverage data on previous purchases or downloads to identify contacts who have already shown interest in that area. These individuals are more likely to find value in attending your event and maybe closer to making a purchasing decision.

Remember, the key to effective B2B event outreach lies in targeted and relevant messaging. By using your CRM data, you can understand:

• Your past audience analysis
• Current customer data and trends
• Demographic and psychographic information
• Messaging structure, and more

2. Leverage Online Communities Relevant to Your Niche

Niche communities provide access to networks of engaged individuals who share common interests, making them ideal platforms for reaching your target audience.

Facebook groups, for example, offer a valuable opportunity to connect with potential attendees. Search for local "events in my area" groups and fan groups related to the industry or topic of your event.

Before promoting your event, take the time to familiarize yourself with the group's rules and guidelines. Some groups encourage event promotion, while others prohibit it outright.

Instead of jumping straight into promotional mode, engage with the group members organically. Participate in discussions, share valuable insights, and build relationships. This approach helps establish credibility and increases the likelihood of your event promotion being well-received. When promoting your event, focus on highlighting the benefits and value attendees will gain, clearly communicating the key takeaways, speakers, or topics covered.

Furthermore, consider reaching out to group administrators and exploring opportunities for collaboration, such as co-hosting an event or allowing you to share your event details with the group.

Here's Felipe Aranguiz, Director of Biz Dev at Instantly.ai, sending a lasting minute reminder for a live event his group hosted with the Head of Social at Clay.com.

Meetup, a popular platform for organizing local events, can also be a valuable resource. You can set up your event there so people from your target demographic and geography can see it.

Or you can search for Meetup groups in your area or niche that align with your event's topic or target audience. Engage with these groups, participate in discussions, and share your event details when appropriate.

For instance, here are marketing groups in a 25 miles radius of New York on Meetup.

Many industries and interest groups have active Slack communities where professionals and enthusiasts connect and share information. Join relevant Slack communities, participate in discussions, and build relationships with members. Once you've established a presence, explore opportunities to share your event details with the community or collaborate with the admins to promote your event.

Here's Taylor Wells promoting his event in All In, Brendan Hufford's Slack community.

When promoting your event in online communities, it's essential to follow the community guidelines and focus on providing value rather than solely promoting your event. Engage organically, share relevant insights, and build relationships with community members. This approach will increase the likelihood of your event promotion being well-received and attracting the right attendees.

3. Work With a Data Provider

Here, look for a provider that offers specific technographic, psychographic, and demographic data to maximize the effectiveness of your outreach efforts.

Demographic data can help you target attendees based on factors such as job title, company size, industry, and location. This information ensures that your event invitations reach the right decision-makers and professionals most likely to be interested in your topic or offer.

For example, if you're hosting a webinar on cybersecurity best practices for healthcare organizations, demographic data can help you pinpoint IT security professionals, compliance officers, and C-level executives in the healthcare industry, increasing the chances of attracting a highly relevant audience.

On the other hand, technographic data can provide insights into the technologies and software solutions your potential attendees are currently using. This information is invaluable for tailoring your event messaging and highlighting how your product or service complements their existing tech stack.

For instance, if you're promoting a marketing automation platform, technographic data can help you identify companies using specific CRM or email marketing tools, allowing you to position your event as an opportunity to learn about seamless integration and enhanced capabilities.

Fortunately, platforms like Reach offer access to all these valuable data points, empowering you to create highly targeted and personalized event campaigns.

Reach's database of over 379 million verified contacts allows you to define your ideal audience based on specific criteria. It will help you ensure that your invitations reach the right individuals.

ThoughtSpot, a leading data analytics company, leveraged Reach to great success. They were able to create specific audience profiles within the platform and launch targeted phone and email outreach to brand-new contacts that matched their desired event audience.

This strategic approach resulted in generating more than 400 registrations for their events while boosting registration rates by as much as 75%.

Here's How to Leverage Reach.

1. Set your campaign name and choose a campaign type. Specify your desired outbound campaign goal - event registrations, content downloads, survey responses, etc.

2. Set your event details like a registration URL, start date, end date, and campaign goal.

3. Define your Audience ICP filters (industry, company size, roles, technologies used, etc.) as granularly as possible based on your ideal attendee profile.

4. Add a contacts list, exclusion list, and additional supporting notes.

5. The outbound platform identifies matching contacts from a massive database of decision-makers, runs the coordinated multi-channel outreach campaign for you, and serves up the engaged ICP members ready for your customized follow-up.

4. Personalize Your Invite Process

The default event invitation process for most companies is the same, create an email and blast that email out to your entire contact list.

After all, "who wouldn't want to attend this fun event?!" And while the intention is genuine, people need some sort of an incentive.

Serious Question: Why should your prospects take time out of their day to network with strangers and listen to a sales pitch when they could be home with their pets?

You don't need to give out free iPads to anyone who stops by your sales table, you need to make your prospect feel valued. The event isn't about you, it's about what they gain from going to it.

So, how do you do this?

Since you've already gone through the process of uncovering your event's target audience, you now know information such as:

• What actions an attendee took before deciding to register for your event
• What days and times they are most likely to engage
• What type of content and events they engage with
• How long it typically takes an event lead to close and how many touches
• Likes, dislikes, hobbies, and interests
• Pain points and job aspirations

From the planning stages to the actual outreach, you should be using this information to create custom messaging that resonates. This might mean you will need to segment contacts based on similar data points in order to create the best possible invite. Some of the top personalization methods include:

• Tokens: Including someone's company name, job title, and other information in your invite - beyond their first name!
• Similar interests: Notice that a large percentage of your target audience is passionate about dogs? (who isn't?) Then make a version of your invite that includes a picture of a dog or something to draw their attention. The goal is to build a human connection.
• Pain points: All of your target prospects have the same pain point in common; because if they didn't, they wouldn't need your solution. Focus on highlighting not just the benefit of using your product, but what your prospect's lives could look like if they do...show them how great your solution really is!
• Insider information: What other information do you have about your target prospects that links them all? Maybe you're targeting all local residents and there's a reference to the city that only they would know. Or perhaps all of the previous attendees who closed asked to review a specific product sheet beforehand, and you can speed the process up by sending it along now. Use these insights when possible!

5. Partner with Influencers or Brands You Share the Same Audience With

When starting out or looking to expand your reach, partnerships can be a powerful lever. By aligning with influencers or businesses that share your target audience, you can tap into their existing audiences and amplify your messaging.

1. Partnering With Influencers

Influencers have cultivated loyal followings by consistently delivering valuable content to their audiences. By collaborating with the right influencers, you gain access to their engaged audiences and leverage their credibility to build trust and interest in your brand.

Take HockeyStack, for example. Emir Atli, the co-founder, shares how their sponsorship with the influencer Nick Bennett yielded remarkable results:

"Our sponsorship with Nick was great in terms of ROI. We were able to see at least 5 deals directly influenced from the sponsorship. Additionally, there were lots of people who heard about us on the podcast."

HockeyStack's playbook for influencer partnerships involves identifying influencers who create content that aligns with their brand's goals and resonates with their target audience.

They then collaborate with these influencers to create engaging content series or sponsor their existing shows. The key is to strike a balance between promoting your brand and delivering value to the influencer's audience.

A few influencers HockeyStack partnered with include:

• Brianna Doe Brianna Doe: a well-known influencer and podcast host in the marketing space. HockeyStack partnered with her to create a content series called "Growing Pains" focused on helping B2B marketers navigate career growth.
• Todd Clouser Todd Clouser: the Head of Audience Marketing at AudiencePlus and the co-creator of the "Easy Mode Framework," which teaches companies how to build media engines that turn eyeballs into revenue.

You as a first-time event organizer can leverage influencer partnerships to build awareness and drive registration for your events. By co-creating content or sponsoring an influencer's show focused on the event's theme or topic, you can tap into their audience and generate interest in your event.

2. Partnering With Businesses

In addition to influencer partnerships, you can collaborate with other businesses that share your target audience (that are not your competitors).

These partnerships can take various forms, such as co-marketing initiatives, joint webinars, or cross-promotion opportunities.

Gong, a Revenue Intelligence platform, has built a robust partner network that includes both services and consulting partners, as well as technology integration partners.

As Matt Schroyer, a Gong representative, explains, "Partnership ecosystems are the key to joint success."

Gong's approach involves partnering with companies that offer complementary products or services, allowing them to expand their product offering, gain access to new markets, and improve their competitive position. For example, Gong partners with companies like Corporate Visions to provide pre-built sales methodology trackers, saving their customers time and effort while delivering value.

Another effective strategy is to leverage the reach of complementary brands by displaying lead magnets or promotions on their websites.

HubSpot, a leading marketing and sales platform, has previously adopted this approach by displaying a lead generation eBook on Typeform's homepage, reaching Typeform's audience with a relevant offer.

You can also leverage this tactic to promote your events or webinars by partnering with brands that cater to your target audience.

6. Keep the Momentum Going with Well-Timed Reminders

The key here is to strike the right balance between timely notifications and a personal, engaging approach.

Start by scheduling reminders at strategic intervals: 24 hours, 1 hour, and even 15 minutes before the event kicks off. Leverage multiple channels like email, SMS, and push notifications to increase your chances of catching your attendees' attention amidst their busy schedules.

But don't just settle for generic, one-size-fits-all reminders. Craft your messages to feel personal and conversational. Avoid excessive capitalization or overly formal language. Using a friendly tone fosters a connection with your audience.

For example, an email reminder could read:

"Hey [Name], just a quick note that our webinar on [Topic] is happening tomorrow at [Time]. I'd love to have you join us and share your thoughts on the subject. Let me know if you have any questions!"

Take a cue from Founderpath CEO Nathan Latka's approach.

He sent a personalized email that reads like a genuine message 96 hours before his event. The email reads like he personally typed it.

When I showed interest, he sent a similar organic follow-up response written like it's a conversation between friends.

This organic, conversational style helps your reminders stand out from the deluge of promotional emails and ensures they're well-received.

More importantly, to keep attendees' engagement and momentum high, Latka sends sneak peeks of the upcoming event, making you want to attend.

As soon as the event goes live, seize the opportunity to send a notification encouraging last-minute attendees: "The event has just started, but it's not too late to join! Click here to secure your spot and gain valuable insights from our industry experts."

Remember, the goal is to keep your reminders lean and engaging. Don't use overly formatted or promotional-looking emails that might get lost in the noise. Craft your messages to be concise yet compelling. Providing essential event details creates a sense of excitement and personal connection with your attendees.

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