Sponsorships and Exhibits
01 — Project details
In 2024, NEI sought to increase sponsorship and exhibitor revenue. With a new accounting system in place for conferences and events, I prioritized benchmarking to better understand our progress in the future. This is the initial effort to strategically track sponsorship and exhibit marketing.
02 — Program Strategy
NEI traditionally sold sponsorships and exhibits through word of mouth and in emails that marketed the event to potential attendees. After researching our sponsorship and exhibitor habits, as well as the habits of others in the energy industry, I determined an email and word-of-mouth campaign would best suit our needs for the initial yearlong strategy.
Once a prospectus for an event was developed, conference managers personally contacted companies that had previously sponsored or exhibited at that event to give them the first opportunity to sign up again.
While they did this, I gathered all vendor contacts or company names from conference and program managers to expand our small contact list. I then developed an email for each specific event and distributed them monthly.
In the spring, when we were working on as many as 13 events simultaneously, I determined that sending emails for each event was unsustainable. Our contacts were beginning to receive too many emails, and open and click rates began decreasing. In response, I worked with the conference team to send one monthly email with all the upcoming opportunities, significantly reducing the number of emails and increasing open and click rates.
Once emails were distributed, a list was created of those who had clicked on a link for information but did not immediately buy a sponsorship or exhibit. The conference manager then would follow up with the individual contact.
03 — Skills Used
Research
I researched thoroughly to understand industry standards and conditions, gather contacts and determine the best direction.
Strategy Development
Then, I planned what steps to take to achieve the KPIs and assigned tasks to team members.
Execution
During the execution, I set up campaigns, wrote email copy, developed layouts, shepherded products through the review process, and distributed the campaigns.
Reporting
No marketing project is complete without measuring and reporting on performance, so we checked the numbers and provided conference managers with the information to follow up with interested parties.
04 — Tactic Examples
Used Fuel Management Conference Sponsorship and Exhibitor Email Outreach
From: Ken Morton (Conference Manager)
Subject: Promote Your Business at NEI's Used Fuel Management Conference in Orlando May 7–9
Preheader: Educate attendees about your company's products and services.
Distribution Date: March 6, 2024
Our Used Fuel Management Conference sponsorship and exhibit manager has worked on this event for many years and knows the individuals who typically purchase sponsorships and exhibits. Considering this, I ensured that the email was from the conference manager and included personalization.
This email was distributed early in the campaign, and we had already acquired three of four executive sponsors through personal touches. I used this email to highlight one of the exclusive benefits of the sponsorship level and encourage companies to stay competitive. The conference manager reported that they had people inquiring about the sponsorship level, but ultimately, those who inquired sponsored at lower levels.
These emails were distributed once a month for each event with a sponsorship and/or exhibitor program.
Multi-Event Sponsorship and Exhibitor Email Outreach
From: NEI Conference Team
Subject: NEI's Upcoming Sponsorship and Exhibit Opportunities
Preheader: Highlight your company at NEI events
Distribution Date: June 18, 2024
Many of NEI's member companies have more than one vertical in the nuclear energy industry. Vendors will often receive information on multiple events because they have multiple business interests. After sending individual event marketing emails for a few events, I took a new approach to outreach by changing the focus of the sponsorship and exhibitor emails to a monthly email promoting all of the events. This reduced the number of emails that recipients received and cut back on the number of emails I was creating, allowing more time for data collection and other campaigns.
This allowed us to create one report for multiple events that Marketo could send directly to the conference managers.