360-Degree visitor management

“ATTENDING A TRADE SHOW WILL BECOME MUCH MORE EXCLUSIVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.”

Adventics CEO Gunnar Heinrich on a restart strategy for trade show organizers and the associated tool for success, “360-Degree Visitor Management.”

WHAT IS 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT?

360-degree visitor management – or community management, as it is sometimes called – provides event organizers with the foundation to understand their target visitor groups, interact with them, and offer them tailored experiences. Some people still know the term exclusively as “visitor management.” But in my opinion, that doesn’t fully capture the scope of the concept. After all, community management for trade shows truly encompasses all participants – that is, visitors as well as exhibitors, staff, association and press representatives, and all other stakeholders involved with the event both before and during the trade show. And it also covers the entire lifecycle of a trade show event – from managing interests and profiles to sending invitations, all the way to comprehensive behavior management, addressing questions such as “Which booths are most frequently visited? Which surveys are completed? What does the overall interaction look like?” – as a 360-degree analytical process, community management optimizes the value of the entire event.

WHY WILL TRADE SHOWS NEED TO TAKE ON A GREATER HOSTING ROLE IN THE FUTURE?

Event organizers should always be mindful of their role as hosts – and not just when considering 360-degree visitor management. After all, what host would stop taking care of their guests once they’ve entered their home? Anyone who hosts a barbecue at home usually knows what their guests do for a living, what their hobbies are, and what they like to eat – and responds to them accordingly. Whether on a small or large scale, there are immense benefits to making optimal use of these guest profiles. But I keep noticing that trade show organizers could know more about their visitors. Because even though the square meters of booth space end up on the exhibitor’s bill, the right visitors at the booth are the actual product that exhibitors are ultimately willing to pay for. But what company could afford to know as little about its products as trade shows do about their visitors?

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT?

In my opinion, 360-degree visitor management offers countless advantages. As already mentioned, trade show visitors aren’t just another customer group – they’re also a special “product” in their own right, one that, when all else is equal, can tip the scales in favor of an exhibitor’s decision to book a booth. After all, trade shows compete with many other marketing channels for a significant role in the marketing mix – and thus for their share of the budget. Furthermore, every visitor – and every exhibitor – plays different roles at a trade show. In addition to their professional profile and the reasons for their visit, they are always private individuals, members of a specific age group, influencers within their professional and personal networks, and much more. This holistic community management approach comprehensively addresses this incredibly important issue of multiple roles. It enables highly targeted communication with visitors and their individual interests. Ideally, it allows me to accompany participants throughout the entire customer lifecycle and make exactly the right offers tailored to each situation.

WHAT ROLE DOES THE CORONAVIRUS PLAY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT? COULD THE CURRENT SITUATION ACCELERATE THIS PROCESS?

The pandemic and its dramatic impact on the events industry are creating mixed conditions for community management initiatives. On the one hand, the data infrastructure and legal requirements have never been more conducive than they are now. On the other hand, some trade show organizers are hesitant to implement these initiatives because the slump in revenue has initially frozen many project budgets. However, the pandemic should definitely accelerate the shift toward 360-degree visitor management. After all, the current global situation provides good reasons for this. Trade show organizers are now legally required to collect profiles of all participants – whether visitors, exhibitors, or suppliers, for example. And they must manage visitor flow very precisely. For example, peak times must currently be avoided due to social distancing regulations, which means that visiting times and the most popular areas must be known. Due to the pandemic, the number of hybrid or digital events is also increasing. While this is certainly out of necessity at the moment, digital components will continue to play an important role in the future as a complement to in-person trade shows. And high-quality, content-rich data is an absolute prerequisite for this. If I don’t have that data, there’s no point in planning, hosting, or trying to monetize fully digital events.

ARE THERE ANY RISKS OR DRAWBACKS?

Generally speaking, no. Of course, all data protection aspects must be carefully planned in advance and strictly adhered to. I view inadequate organization and insufficient use of digital solutions as significant risks. Those who fail to plan this properly will not have the data quality they need and will incur unnecessarily high costs. Good consulting can quickly minimize these risks and also has the advantage of reliably drawing on proven experience and national and international best practices. You don’t always have to completely reinvent the wheel.

WHAT DO THE PARTIES INVOLVED NEED TO DO TO ENSURE THAT 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT WORKS RELIABLY?

Only when the entire process chain consistently utilizes and enriches the information generated by the management process does it realize its true value. This starts with senior management, which must recognize the value of this information and promote it throughout the entire organization. After all, 360-degree visitor management is an issue that affects all organizational units. It doesn’t just concern marketing or project management – and certainly not IT alone.

WHY AREN’T MORE COMPANIES IMPLEMENTING A 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT STRATEGY?

Good question. This has been a topic of discussion for many years, and the need for action has been recognized. Nevertheless, many trade show organizers are struggling with it. There are already drivers for this issue within the individual event segments of a trade show. However, successful implementation requires a company-wide effort to consistently apply these measures across various events.

WHY SHOULD TRADE SHOW ORGANIZERS INVEST IN A 360-DEGREE VISITOR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM RIGHT NOW, OF ALL TIMES?

It’s simple: because it pays off even in the short term. Yes, setting up a robust 360-degree visitor management system is an investment. But you’ll start to see the results as early as your next events – whether virtual or in-person. Not to mention the long-term benefits. When trade shows resume, we’ll see fewer exhibitors and visitors on-site. This doesn’t have to be a disadvantage at all if you can strategically manage quality using a 360-degree visitor management process and the available information. In fact, the individual data points collected there will become even more valuable. Attending a trade show will take on a much more exclusive character in the near future.

Cost consciousness is understandable, especially right now. Nevertheless, decision-makers now have the opportunity to create a central foundation for success – particularly in the near future – through integrated 360-degree visitor management. And what do fishermen do when the sea is too stormy? They stay in the harbor and mend their nets. I think it’s an advantage that the organization currently has time for innovations like these, which go far beyond simply implementing a technical system. We should take advantage of this opportunity.

Munich, November 5, 2020, © adventics GmbH