Marketing takeaways from the AEO Forums by Alex Jones from Raccoon Events

It was amazing discussing the great work being done across marketing at the AEO Association of Event Organisers Forum as event confidence gains pace. It was great to be a speaker with Rob Nathan Tom Fisher and Ed Tranter. I also learned a lot, here were my keys takeaways;

🌱Most events are currently sitting between 50-70% of their normal attendee numbers but with green shoots and some hitting 80/90%
💻 Now is the time to re-educate exhibitors on the value of an in-person lead. They SOMETIMES don’t need busy halls, they need the right buyers.
👥Use your visitor to # of exhibitors and square meter ratios to map out what you actually need
📈 The future looks bright as we’re starting to see the bigger picture. Plural's recent market study on the UK, shows the events market returning to 2019 levels by 2024.
https://lnkd.in/dnjsbPx3
🎤Marketing has a voice in the board room like never before, use it well
🔑 The marketing operations role will be key, when we define roles send responsibilities
🎟 Look at your ticketing models, even a 50% conversion isn’t enough for the effort and budget spent
💰We have to question strategies of one marketeer delivering 2/3 shows a year. Is it a false economy on salary ratio? Think of all the lost year round MQLs
🏃🏼‍♀️A show of hands said that they are comfortable with 3 days in the office. Shout out Raccoon Events policy of accountability based not hours based.
🪐 An oldie but still a challenge. Sales and Marketing MUST work together above a weekly meeting to grow their events