Yes, Conferences Are Worth It,
IF You Do It Right.
Companies Can Generate a Positive ROI on Both Virtual and In-Person Conferences
During Covid and post-Covid, management teams and IR firms wrestle with 2 key questions: 1) Conferences vs. No Conferences & 2) Virtual vs. In-Person.
Question #1: Conferences vs. No Conferences?
Conferences are worth the effort IF you do it correctly with three phases: prepare, engage and follow-up.
This may seem obvious, but many companies forget to prepare with pre-event press releases, announce participation on social media and coordinate with the conference host to ensure they have a full schedule of high-value meetings.
During the event (if it's in-person), don't just focus on the scheduled meetings. Talk to the person next to you getting coffee, engage with the service providers who can make future introductions and bring at least two people from the company. Effectively working the room is a lot for even the best schmoozer.
For both virtual and in-person, practice your presentation, prepare for analyst questions and be ready for any investor Q&A. Actors don't get on screen or on stage without rehearsing. You have an attentive audience, so put on a good show.
Don't forget to post a thank you to the host on social media after the conference, share copies of any presentations or panel recordings and individually follow-up with every person you met. Don't just tuck away that stack of business cards in a drawer. For virtual events, get a list of those who viewed your presentation and write personalized notes. Every investor matters.
Question #2: Virtual vs In-Person?
Both. Virtual has lower financial costs and time commitment but can still generate a positive ROI, since the "I" is lower. Follow the same steps as above sans the informal meetings. But the pre- and post-marketing of your participation is content marketing "gold" for your company.
For in-person events, hand pick the most impactful and relevant events based on your industry and company size. Put in the effort to thoughtfully prepare, fully engage and follow up as mentioned previously. People remember people they spent 25+ minutes talking to or having a drink with. Those relationships are valuable beyond measure.
We look forward to bringing high quality companies together with professional investors during our full line up of Featured Conferences.
Meet some of our B2i Digital Featured Companies at these upcoming events or go directly to their profiles on b2idigital.com to request a meeting.
If you'd like to discuss the possibility of joining our family of Featured Companies, email david@b2idigital.com. Kindly note, we only add 1 or 2 companies per month and conduct our own proprietary due diligence process to ensure a good fit.
See select Featured Companies below as well as our full line up of Featured Conferences.
