WhatDroveUs

Feathrbeganin2012makingmobileappsforevents.Intwoandahalfyearsofthatbusiness,weworkedwithover300exhibitionsandconferences,andwenoticedthreerecurringquestions:

1. HowcanIusethisapptoboostmyregistrations?2. HowcanIusethisapptoaddvaluetomysponsors?3. HowcanIusethisapptoengagemyattendeesbeyondtheevent?

Whatweheard:“HowcanIbestleveragetechnologytogrowmycorebusiness?”

Feathr’sproductatthetimewastryingtohelp,butmobileappswereonlyonepieceofthepuzzle.Despitethefactthatpeoplearespendingmoretimeonlinethaneverbefore,theexhibitionsindustryhasnotkeptupwithmodernadvancesinonlineadvertising.Manydigitalmarketingbestpracticescontinuetobeignored.EvenmoreconcerningisthefactthatdespiteB2Bmarketingbudgetspouringevermoremoneyintodigitalefforts(over50%oftotalprojectedB2Bmarketingspendin2016),lessthan2%ofexhibitionindustryrevenuecomesfromdigitalsources.

Inotherwords,exhibitionorganizersareleavingmoneyonthetable.

MainObjectives

Inmid-2014,wewentbacktothedrawingboardarmedwiththoseinsights.Ourobjectivewastobuild“theeventmarketingcloud”,asuiteofdigitalmarketingandmonetizationtoolsspecificallydesignedfortheexhibitionindustry.Weaimtohelpliveeventsfullyleveragetheironlinereachtodrivevaluepre-event,post-event,andthroughouttheyear.Thiscouldbefromincreasedattendeeacquisition,crosspromotingmultiplebrandsaresimilaraudiencestoboostengagement,orunlockingnewsourcesofdigitalrevenuefromsponsors/exhibitors/advertisers.

Simplyput,wewanttohelporganizerstoknow,grow,engage,andmonetizetheirdigitalaudiences.

Services

Thefirstpieceofthesuiteiswebsiteanalyticssowecanhelporganizerstrackthedigitalinteractionsthatarealreadyoccurring.Understandingwhovisityourwebsitewhen,whatpagestheylookat,andhowlongtheyspendonyoursitebeforemakingtheirpurchasedecisionisincrediblyvaluableinformationforanymarketer.Usingthisdata,Feathrisabletointelligentlysegmentwebsitevisitorsintogroupsbasedontheirbehavior,scoringeachindividualbasedontheirengagementandtheirprobabilityofregisteringfortheshow.

Next,Feathrhelpsorganizersexpandtheironlinereachtonewprospectiveattendeesthroughtwocutting-edgetechnologies.Thefirstiscalledemailmapping,whichallowsyoutouploademaillists(suchaspriorattendeesornewslettersubscribers)toFeathrandthencrawlsthewebtofindthosepeople.WematchtheemailaddressestosocialnetworkslikeLinkedInandTwitter—surfacingnewdemographicinsightsaboutyouraudience—aswellasmatchingthoseemailstotrackingcookiesforadtargeting(screenshotbelow).

Thesecondiscalledlookalikemodeling,inwhichFeathranalysesanevent’sexistingaudience(cookies,emails,socialmediafollowers)andthenwefindsimilarpeoplelikethemaroundthewebbasedondemographic,industry,title,location,etc(screenshotbelow).

Oncewe’veanalyzedandexpandedthedigitalaudience,andsegmentedthembasedonbehaviorandprobabilityofconversion,wecanintelligentlyreachtherightpersonwiththerightadattherighttimetomaximizethechancethattheycomebacktotheeventwebsiteandcompletetheregistrationprocess.ThistypeofpersonalizeddigitaladvertisingispossiblethroughFeathr’sintegrationswith85+adexchangesanddataplatforms.Andnowthatwehavethesitetrafficpatternsfromthe200+eventsthathaveusedFeathrtodate,ouradvertisingalgorithmhasastrongdatasetofattendeebehavioruponwhichtobasetheseanalysesandoptimizations.Bestofall,thisisfullyautomated,savingtheshow’smarketingteamhoursandhoursofmanualanalysisandtediouscampaignadjustment.

Feathralsoprovidesanew,cleversolutiontotheoldconceptof“askexhibitorstopromotetheshow”.Ourreferralmarketingfeatureprovidesacustomizedco-brandedlandingpageforeachexhibitor,sponsor,andspeaker,highlightingtheirinvolvementwiththeevent(screenshotbelow).

Thismethodalmostmakesitfeelasthoughtheorganizerisdoingafavortotheexhibitor(asopposedtotheotherwayaround).Itisalsomuchsimplerfortheorganizer;thesepagesare

automaticallygeneratedfromatemplate(nomanualworkinvolved,justabulkuploadofexhibitornames,emails,etc)andwehaveincludedanauto-emailertodistributethelinkstotheexhibitors.Itevenfollowsupwiththeonesthathaven’topenedtheemailorstartedsharingtheirpageyet!AndbecausethesepagesaregeneratedbyFeathr,theyautomaticallyaretrackedwiththesamewebanalyticsmentionedabove,sotheorganizercanseewhichexhibitorsdrovethemostvisits,clicks,andultimatelynewregistrationsthroughtheirpages.

Finally,Feathrhelpsexhibitionorganizersunlocknewdigitalrevenuestreamsbyofferingsponsorsandexhibitoracompellingnewformofonlineexposurethatwecall“sponsoredretargeting”.Essentially,theorganizercanleveragethesameaforementionedadtargetingcapabilitiesthroughFeathrtoshowsponsors’adstotheirdigitalaudience.Whetherasanup-selltoanexistingpackageorastandalonedigitaloffering,organizerscanallowexhibitorstopayanextrafeetohavetheiradsshowntoeveryregisteredattendeetentimes(forexample)intheweeksimmediatelybeforeoraftertheevent!

Thisisalsoanopportunitytocontinueaddingvalueto(andextractingrevenuefrom)sponsorsthroughouttheyear;threemonthsafteryoureventends,thoseattendeesarestillqualifieddecision-makersintheirindustryandyourexhibitorsarestilltryingtoreachthem.Youcancontinuetoofferthisformofhyper-targeteddigitalexposuretwelvemonthsoftheyear,allwithouthandingoveranemaillistoranyotherpersonallyidentifiableinformationaboutyourattendees(screenshotbelow).

MeasuresTaken

WebuiltthecorecomponentsofthenewFeathrproductsuiteandbeganrunningpilotsinNovember2014withReedExhibitions,ClarionEvents,QuestexMedia,andotherlargeindustry-leadingorganizers.Theinitialresultswereverysuccessful,andeverysinglepilotcustomerrenewedandexpandedtheirusage.Overthecourseof2015wecontinuedtofine-

tunethecoreproduct,addexcitingnewcapabilities,andexpandourteam,includingadedicatedgroupofCustomerSuccessManagersthatprovideahumantoughandproactivetrainingandsupport.

We’vecontinuedtorefineourvisionandhoneourcraft,learninganincredibleamountalongthewayfromourcustomersaswellasincredibleadvisorslikeMarcoGibertiandPaulWoodward.Asanever-youngstartup,weintendtocontinueimprovingeveryday.

Challenges

Whiletheadoptionofourmarketingfeatureshasbeenveryswift,thelogisticalchallengesassociatedwithhelpinganexhibitionsalesteamsaddanewhigh-techsponsorshipofferingtotheirline-up(likethetargeteddigitaladexposureFeathrfacilitates)havebeenmoresignificant.Fromcreatingpricingforthepackagesandmarketingcopyinthemediakittotrainingsalesrepsindigitaladvertisingterminologyandgettingappropriatecompensationstructuresinplace,itrequiresbuy-inthroughoutthesalesteamfromtoptobottom.Wehelpourcustomersthroughthisprocessbyprovidingsamplesalesmaterial,pricingexamples,andaknowledgebaseofcommonobjections,whilealsobeinghands-oninthesalesprocess,evenjumpingoncallswithpotentialsponsorstoanswertechnicalquestionsifnecessary.

Results

Featherhasnowbeenusedbyover200exhibitionsandconventionsworldwide,includingthosebyindustryleaderssuchasReed,Clarion,UBM,Questex,EmeraldExpositions,AccessIntelligence,UrbanExpositions,NorthstarMedia,andmore.Reedrecentlysignedaglobaldealcoveringover100+moreshowsintheirportfolioacrosselevenbusinessunitsincludingtheUK,France,USA,Germany,Brazil,andAustralia.Somespecificcasestudies:

• ICE,a20,000-attendeeB2BshowbyClarion,usedFeathrtodriveover1,700newregistrants

• FOLIO:Show,a1,500-attendeeconference/expobyAccessIntelligencewithticketspricedat$1,000each,droveover200newregistrants

• NewYorkComicCon,aconsumerconventionwith100,000+attendeesrunbyReed,soldover4MsponsoredretargetingimpressionstomajoradvertiserslikeT-Mobile.

Theresultsarein:Feathrworks,andourcustomersloveit.TheaverageeventusingFeathrsees730%ROIforeverydollarspentonorthroughourmarketingplatform!

Conclusion

Feathrisonamissiontohelptheexhibitionindustrytakeadvantageofmoderndigitalmarketingandadvertisingtechnology,withoutthecostorcomplexitythathaspreventedsuchadoptionsofar.Weaimtoprovideorganizerswithasuiteoftoolsspecificallytailoredfortheiruniqueneeds,sincetodatetheyhavehadtomakedowithgenericsolutions.Westrivetoempowerliveeventstoleveragetheironlinereachinordergrowbothattendanceandrevenue,givingthebusinessofface-to-faceanevenbrighterfuture.