Now you’ve made the SMART choice to exhibit at a business expo or networking event, it’s time to get SMART about event marketing…
“52% of business leaders believe trade shows and events drive more ROI than any other marketing channel.”
Harvard Business Review Analytic Services
What is a good SMART objective?
Here’s an example of a good and bad SMART objective.
BAD
Generate warm leads through exhibiting at Blackpool Business Expo.
Why it’s bad: It’s not specific in terms of how many leads need to be generated, the tactic needed to generate them or the timescale.
GOOD
Generate 25 leads through to our sales team by 15 November 2022 utilising networking opportunities, guest blogs, email shots, and other opportunities offered by exhibiting at Blackpool Expo.
Why it’s good: It’s specific and measurable in terms of how many leads need to be generated by a certain deadline as well as mentioning some of the tactics which can be used to achieve results.
You need a plan
Jumping in to event marketing headfirst without a clear plan or objectives could leave you struggling to measure your success and ultimately your return on investment.
SMART objectives are a fantastic way to set goals that have a clear objective, timeframe, and a way to keep on track and measure your results.
But how do you write a good SMART objective?
I’m glad you asked. Let’s dive in.
SPECIFIC
First, you need to be specific about what you want to achieve by exhibiting.
Is it to raise brand awareness, generate leads or showcase a new product or service?
Whatever the reason, not having a clear objective means you can’t measure your success or return on investment.
You also need to add a target figure to your goal.
Simply saying you want to increase the number of followers on your social media profiles is too vague. However, saying you want to increase followers by 25% compared to Q1 is a lot more specific.
MEASURABLE
Once you know what you want to achieve; you need to know what and how this will be measured.
What will be your KPI (key point indicator)?
If you are trying to raise brand awareness, a good KPI could be the number of leaflets you handed out from your stand. Yes, we count them 😊 or increasing the number of followers on your social media accounts.
Or if you’re there to generate warm leads, you could set a target of collecting 25 interested visitors for your sales team to follow up post-event.
Remember to take baseline statistics before you start your event campaign so you know whether you’ve reached your end goal.
ACHIEVABLE
So, you have your end goal and how you’re going to measure your success, but are they achievable?
There’s no point setting unrealistic objectives.
That just sets you up for failure.
At the same time, you want to make sure your goals are challenging, just not out of reach.
If you’ve run a similar campaign before, you’ll have some idea of what you can achieve given your resources, so use your past data to help you set achievable targets.
However, if you’re new to event marketing, try to find industry benchmarks you can use as a starting point. Then you can use your first campaign results as a baseline moving forward, and remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
RELEVANT
This is where you need to ask yourself the following questions:
Is this objective relevant to your business’s main goals?
Should we be spending time and resources achieving this goal at this time?
Is it going to solve a specific need, and does it fit with your brand values?
Are you able to achieve this with the resources you have?
If yes, you’re good to go.
TIMELY
Finally, you need to set yourself a deadline for when you’ll achieve your goals.
So, if your goal was to raise brand awareness by increasing the number of followers on your Instagram profile, this might not be achievable on event day alone.
You might need to network a little afterward and engage with the visitors you met at the event on the platform before they follow you.
To find out more about visiting, exhibiting, or sponsoring Blackpool Business Expo, click HERE.
