The Gridiron: Making your investment count. Getting the most out your exhibition spend

Title A Strategic Brand Consultancy The Gridiron: Making your investment count. Or,what we think about when we think about exhibitions. Ali Nicholl Brand Strategy

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Exhibitions, trade shows and expos all cost money. Unfortunately establishing the value of exhibitions isnt as simple as turn up, take orders, subtract costs . In the B2B world particularly, extended sales cycles and multiple touch points make establishing the ROI of events complex. We've developed some simple tools to help set the metrics for success, judge the success of previous events, and plan future attendance.

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count The who, what and how 5 profiles 3 interactions The Gridiron How to use Hints & tips

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Profiles

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count 5 profiles Profile types are at an individual,not company, level. One company may have multiple delegates at an event,each with different aims, objectives,interests and levels of engagement with you. F Followers Believers B Aggregators A Explorers E Inquisitors I

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Followers Existing client contacts or prospects you already know. Followers buy from you,or are going to.They know what you do and how you do it and can be classified in most cases as pull rather than push sales.They already invest in your brand and may contribute to product or service innovation - asking for new offerings and solutions. F Followers

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Believers Those that know there is something they need but dont fully understand the opportunity or the solutions. Believers know they have problems and have faith that there are solutions, but they struggle to describe, differentiate and decide what they are. Believers may also have misdiagnosed their problem looking for fixes in the wrong places. Crucially, they are open to being told this and looking at their situation in a new light. B Believers

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Aggregators Visitors or delegates who are doing something, or have a specific tender set, but want to do it cheaper/better/more of the same. Aggregators are looking for a deal. They have their shopping list (or existing offer) and want to source alternatives, either for a genuine comparison or as a stick to beat their existing supplier/partner.Where there arent like-for-like comparators Aggregators will be interested in benefits ;alternatively where products or services are common theyll tend to only focus on features. A Aggregators

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Explorers They want guidance and know they know nothing. Explorers are heading off into uncharted territory.These often senior/c-level individuals are willing to accept expert local knowledge and insights and want to discover what might be possible and how the future could look. They will expect nuanced and detailed explanations and information and are open to new experiences or ideas. E Explorers

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Inquisitors Individuals that know everything and want to test, probe and compare specific feature sets. Inquisitors are often senior specialists,in-house experts or consultants who have risen to the top by having a deep (but often narrow) understanding.They arent overly interested in the big picture and benefits where they sit outside their own expertise.They want to grill staff and service to drill down on specifics.Theyll challenge statements for evidence and press on anythingwoolly. I Inquisitors

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Observations How do you reach people if not at events? Followers already know who you are Aggregators & Inquisitors are actively looking for you Believers & Explorers are interested but may not know who you are or where to find you. F Followers Believers B Aggregators A Explorers E Inquisitors I

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Observations What messaging do the profiles most want to hear? Believers & Explorers - benefits Aggregators - benefits & features Followers & Inquisitors - features F Followers Believers B Aggregators A Explorers E Inquisitors I

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Interactions

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Interaction types Tyre kickers Fence sitters Shoppers

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Tyre kickers They already have an existing solution in place or lack funds/interest in progressing. Note:One-in-a-million Tyre kickers will be converted to a sale. However generally they are either happy as they are,unable to make decisions due to seniority,influence or other constraints, or are simply looking for something so specific and esoteric that the chances of happening on it at an event are vanishingly small.

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Fence sitters They may be short of time and unable to commit more at this stage, or they maybe looking for the insight or observation that moves them from to be convinced to engaged.

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Shoppers These individuals are open and willing to listen and will commit quickly to further conversations if they hear the right trigger.

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Observations Believers dont become Followers at a single event but a Fence sitter can become a Shopper. A miracle ball might change aTyre kicker to a Shopper but dont bank on it! Fence sitter Shopper F F F Tyre kicker Shopper Fence sitter E E F FollowersBelievers B

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count The Gridiron

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count The Gridiron We have created the Gridiron as a practical tool. This tool can simply be used to map who you want to talk to,who is likely to be attending, what materials and touch points you have at each level,who within your organisation is best placed to field questions,what success looks like,or retrospectively as an evaluation of an event. Tyre kicker Followers Believers Aggregators Explorers Inquisitors Fencesitter Shopper Tyre kicker Followers Believers Aggregators Explorers Inquisitors Fencesitter Shopper

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Tyre kicker Followers Believers Aggregators Explorers Inquisitors Fencesitter Shopper Tyre kicker Followers Believers Aggregators Explorers Inquisitors Fencesitter Shopper F B B B I F B I Observations Conversations/interactions may move up and down the Gridiron but not left and right. Interaction type can change over the course of an event,profiles dont. Any interaction can only move one square up or down.

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Tyre kicker Followers Believers Aggregators Explorers Inquisitors Fencesitter Shopper Tyre kicker Followers Believers Aggregators Explorers Inquisitors Fencesitter Shopper What it might look like Ideal (the best result in the best of all possible worlds) Bad (a potentially wasted investment) Good (the expected interaction type by profile). The Good line of best fit here is the expected, or most common, profile by interaction type. Inquisitors may take up time and grill staff but they are likely to be particularly interested in purchasing. Conversely Followers should be on the look out at all times for new offers or offerings that will benefit their business.

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count How to use the Gridiron 1 Strategy 2 Tactics 3 ROI

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Who do we want to talk to? Who do we expect to be there? Who do we want to minimise interaction with? Strategy Defining what success looks like Hint: Think about the profiles of who will be there and how this might be influenced by format (for example at a c-level conference you might expect more Explorers and Aggregators than at a general event). Additionally, consider what youre likely to be showcasing. If you are launching or discussing a new product or service youre unlikely to meet Shoppers (the solution didnt exist prior to the event).

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Tyre kicker Followers Believers Aggregators Explorers Inquisitors Fencesitter Shopper REFER TO WEB UPSELL CONVERT WRONG EVENT Strategy example Who do we want to talk to? Who do we want to minimise interaction with?

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Tactics Getting there What tools do we have? What are we going to talk about? How do we follow up and who with? What are the next steps? Hint: With any interaction you can convert them one step along from Tyre kicker to Fencer sitter or Fence sitter to Shopper. If you have successfully converted a Tyre kicker to a Fence sitter what do you leave them with? What do they takeaway? How can you ensure that you can continue the conversation and move them from Fence sitter to Shopper?

makeitclear.co.uk The Gridiron and making your investment count Tactics example Pre-event Phone call invite HTML invite Press ad Web banner ad Post event Follow up email Follow up call Event report Event newsletter Event Event brochure Product brochure Event website/app VideoA E I B B F F F A E B B B F F F I Tyre kicker Followers Believers Aggregators Explorers Inquisitors Fencesitter Shop

The Gridiron: Making your investment count. Getting the most out your exhibition spend

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