The Case For Using AI To Drive Exceptional ROI And Event Success

AI can help transform your events. Find out how.

November 7, 2022

AI is the future of supplementing human intelligence to work quicker, more efficiently, and with data at the center of decision-making. Rodney Hart, VP of events at RainFocus, makes the case for leveraging AI for successful events and increased ROI.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) makes music, beats humans in gamesOpens a new window that have existed for thousands of years, and even wins art contestsOpens a new window . Event marketing isn’t the exception to how AI will impact the world. Instead, the event marketers who learn how to use AI to drive event success and measure ROI will eclipse competitors and usher in an age of personalized, tailor-made experiences.

The Evolution Of Event Data 

Before we look ahead to the promises of AI, we need to revisit our current event marketing reality. Marketers have long been siloed, operating out of static spreadsheets that glean little insights for the brand. Only within the last few years have we seen the adoption of modern data collection and clear ways for events to take shape in a virtual world. Events needed vast improvements to become the pivotal digital marketing touchpoint in the customer journey that we know it as today. CMOs are taking note of events as an impactful touchpoint and tool to collect first-party attendee data that trickles down to every other micro-touchpoint in the buyer’s journey. 

While event marketers always knew that events are a critical touchpoint in the buyer’s journey to convert leads more accurately, it wasn’t until the success of sophisticated event management platforms that the rest of the marketing community realized the importance of event engagement and measurement. For instance, a high number of attendees might look great on paper, but if we aren’t measuring event engagement across the event in a standardized way, the ability to measure what most impacted the customer pipeline is minimal. It’s obvious the most engaged attendees will benefit the most from an event; event data enables a standardized approach to understanding and categorizing engagement to actually attribute event impact efficiently and in a way that counts everyone. Through engagement and measurement capabilities like gamification, we now know that smaller audiences and attendees aren’t a detriment if they actively engage and interact with your brand at an event. 

End-to-end event management platforms have positively impacted marketing leaders’ strategies for their ability to radicalize planning and hosting events, personalize experiences and content, and utilize data. For marketers looking to keep the customer at the core of their strategies, choosing a platform for an event channel vs. purchasing apps and tools for each event can rapidly enhance and accelerate overall marketing strategy and company growth.

See More: How Companies Can Engage Attendees Better in the Hybrid Events EraOpens a new window

Using AI in the Quest for Personalization and Manageable Data 

It’s no secret that sophisticated algorithms have aided in the success of some of today’s major brands and social media apps. Whether it’s selling products or showing content, today’s buyer demands personalization. However, event marketers must educate themselves on how AI-backed personalization can play a critical role in the buyer’s journey. 

An event technology platform is the cornerstone for orchestrating content and connections with prospects and customers in experiences that drive optimal engagement and align with organizational goals. Event marketers demand a new level of sophistication in AI-backed processes to enhance user experiences and enhance overall orchestration. The event channel should revolve around customers and their journeys with the brand, matching them with the right content, networking opportunities, and experiences that meet their needs. AI can help make that a reality. 

Aside from providing custom-made event experiences for attendees, there’s a growing need for marketers to work off first-party data. In fact, 37% of brands exclusively use first-party dataOpens a new window to personalize customer experiences, a 6% point increase compared to 2021. Events provide a wealth of first-party data to help marketers better understand and provide a better experience for end users.

First-party data is more reliable and reduces privacy concerns surrounding reliance on third-party data. AI can help access to the data that will help brands looking to reach their customers in an impactful way through personalization. By understanding attendees’ interests, career paths, and even their willingness to network, brands have a firmer grasp of the best ways to relate to the buyer. Intuitively, the better the data, the easier it is for AI to provide tailored, individualized event content recommendations driven by the user’s direct feedback and past behaviors.

Over time, an end-to-end event management platform that has access to historical data and can continually enrich the dataset is able to improve personalized recommendations, so attendees receive the ideal content experience. This allows marketers to provide personalized recommendations and understand the attendee all the way down to a specific individual instead of a broad-based persona model.

Let AI lead ROI

Whether you’re working with product marketers, public relations practitioners, or email marketers, a common umbrella marketing problem remains the same: How do you prove ROI for some of your most ambitious campaigns and investments?

Driving ROI with AI starts with modeling the impact of an events program holistically — this means mapping out the buyer’s journey for those who have attended events and those who have not. Then, organizations can determine which of those event behaviors were most impactful. The cherry on top is using AI in your event tools to drive recommendations that lead to the most impactful behaviors.

When collecting plentiful event data, it would be a missed opportunity not to utilize first-party user data and behavioral data in algorithms that can help determine event ROI, as well as the event types and factors that contributed the most to pipeline acceleration and deal closing. For example, suppose you compare customer journey data alongside holistic event data and measure the impact of event attendance. In that case, you can clearly determine the impact of the event and adjust strategies moving forward. With the help of algorithms, event marketers can parse out the quality of attendees, the conversion rate of qualified leads, determine where customers sit in the buyer’s journey after an event, and more. AI can help collect data and create ROI attribution models that outline which parts of the funnel relate most to subsequent purchasing.

See More: The New Nimble: The Future of Events Is FlexibilityOpens a new window

What’s Next?

AI has the ability to change how we work, change how we live, and, more importantly, change how event marketers drive and measure event success. Marketers spend a great deal of time and resources trying to uncover intent signals, yet events provide the best intent signals out there. The attendee has devoted significant time and expense and decided to focus on a certain product or service. This is an often overlooked and readily available intent signal that can be used to advance marketing efforts. 

By personalizing the attendee experience through AI and subsequently using this data in a feedback loop to boost engagement and purchasing intent, event marketing will continue to be a critical touchpoint and tool for marketers today.

Have you ever used AI to drive event engagement? Tell us all about it on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .

Image Source:Shutterstock

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Rodney Hart
Rodney Hart

Vice President Events , Rainfocus

Rodney Hart is the VP of Events, RainFocus In his previous role at Dell Technologies, Hart was responsible for utilizing technology platforms to execute successful flagship events. Hart resides in Massachusetts, and in his free time, he enjoys being active and spending time with his family, including his niece and two nephews.
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