Going into 2022, the world of events is wide open. What format will see the most success, how soon the majority of field marketers will go back to in-person, and the best ways to capture audience attention remain TBD.

What marketing and demand gen leaders can and should be looking at now is how to convert their events into measurable results (most importantly, revenue). On November 5th, BDI sat down with field marketing thought leader Nick Bennett, the Director of Account-Based & Community at Alyce for a short fireside chat, Revenue-Generating 2022 Events: Field Marketing Strategies that Actually Work.

Here are some of our favorite tidbits from the conversation.

1. Use events to grow your database

“Building a marketable database is really big as you continue to grow and scale,” Nick Bennett shared at the start of the conversation.

He recommended using relevant, stellar content to drive attendance to events, and then leveraging those interested registrants and final attendees to create a usable database of your top engaged contacts.

2. Events shouldn’t be about product marketing

“Everything we do is putting you before me,” said Nick on the topic of how his team generates sales without putting on sales-first events. Brand awareness, relationship-building, and fueling thought leadership conversations are top-of-mind for Alyce when organizing events for their prospects.

“People really enjoyed having a conversation that wasn’t another pitch at the end of the day,” he concluded.

3. Don’t overlook Micro Influencers

One of Nick’s go-to channels for promotion in 2021 has been Micro Influencers. “I reached out to people that I know in the marketing space and [asked them] to promote this event,” he shared. In exchange, he would offer his connections free gifts using the Alyce platform.

According to Nick, they had four or five personal connections, as well as event speakers, promoting the event consistently on their LinkedIn accounts, which drove considerable interest.

4. Have a small marketing team? Get ultra-focused on your goals

Nick only has about six full-time marketing team members, so it’s a constant challenge to balance budgetary constraints with brilliant execution.

To help his team reach their goals, they’ve decided to focus on a specific content theme for every quarter of 2022. “Everything that we do from a revenue-generating perspective needs to tie back to that,” he said, sharing his hope that this focus will make the team more invested in the pieces of content they generate.

5. Focus on creating moments, not touches

Everyone knows that marketers are sick of being seen as part of larger campaigns. Nick’s team is all about turning personal moments into momentum that ultimately drive revenue, rather than rinse and repeat marketing tactics.

“Everyone uses the word ‘touches,’ but [at the end of the day], how do you thrive in a digital world? It’s creating moments that are relevant for people.”

Want to learn more about our conversation with Nick? Fill out the form at the top of the page to access the full event content.