If you are currently an event marketer, it’s highly likely you are already implementing field marketing strategies. But having a deeper understanding of field marketing will definitely take your events to an entirely new level.
From building brand awareness to customer interaction to boosting product sales, the fundamentals of field marketing will allow you to best represent a brand and cater to its target audience for optimal business growth.
What is Field Marketing?
Field marketing is essentially how brands get their products in front of their customer’s faces. Whether it’s B2B or B2C, think of it like marketing “in the field.” Depending on the brand strategy, this could mean having products displayed or brand representation at various retail locations, institutions, and events.
More specifically, this could mean brand demos, trade shows, conferences, samplings of products, sponsorship, merchandising, and targeted customer campaigns.
What Does a Field Marketer Do?
Highly trained field marketing professionals are tasked with the job of representing the brand, developing customer or client relationships, and generating leads to scale revenue. For large events or campaigns, a knowledgeable field marketing manager is typically assigned to make sure the brand is properly represented and events are strategically designed to engage a specific audience.
A field marketing manager hires, trains, and supervises field teams to make sure that brand values are clear and each member of the team is able to collaboratively meet the projected goals of the company. They are also typically responsible for tracking metrics and reporting progress to senior-level executives.
Field Marketing for B2B Companies
As event marketing is increasingly incorporated into B2B marketing strategies, many field marketers are focusing a significant portion of their efforts on event-specific marketing goals.
For a field marketer, this could look like supporting a sales team, facilitating a workshop or training, hosting a demo, or interacting directly with customers and clients in some other way. This is especially helpful for B2B lead generation.
Sometimes referred to as a field marketing specialist, a field marketer will typically work with sales and an event marketing manager to make sure everything runs as seamlessly as possible and business objectives are met at events.
Recommended Events for Field Marketing
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Roadshows
A great opportunity to lure in passersby and generate new leads, roadshows are an ideal way to get the brand out in the public eye. A booth set up or giving out branded collateral is a casual and easy way to engage and convert leads.
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Conferences
Large events like conferences are a perfect place for field marketers to flex their networking skills. They can get to know their clients’ needs or thoughts on a deeper level, and interact with potential leads through formal demos or informative workshops.
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Face-to-Face Meetings
In-person meetings are extremely beneficial in building an intimate bond between the field marketing team and target clients. A field marketer can more easily walk a potential client through using the product or service and work in tandem with sales to close a deal.
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Webinars or Digital Events
Since the pandemic, more B2B companies are shifting to digital events to generate leads. Online webinars or forums are a great opportunity to familiarize clients or customers with the brand and the services offered, sometimes with a direct call to action to purchase or join.
Helpful field marketing tips for events:
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Have an event marketing plan
In event-based marketing, an event marketing strategy that incorporates field marketing tools is critical to achieving business goals. Make sure to be clear and thorough, and that ideally, everyone is on the same page before the execution.
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Use event marketing software
Software built specifically for event marketing helps you track all the moving parts and oversee the full campaign. An organized and automated workflow allows you to more effectively delegate roles and responsibilities to team members.
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Articulate the brand values
Be clear on what the brand is about to the T. What do they believe in? What is their purpose and how does their product meet this end? Have an elevator pitch ready and make sure to have some clear guidelines for this for all parties involved so that the messaging is consistent.
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Know your audience
Instead of focusing on the attendee numbers, zero in on the target audience. Who is the event for? Is it for CFOs of large corporations or IT department reps? The messaging should be catered to the specific audience so they feel understood, engaged, and inclined to invest in your product or service.
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Use Event Intelligence Software
Event intelligence removes the guessing element in choosing the right event for your business, and helps you find events your target audience attend or speak at. Event intelligence is important for marketers as it saves time and increases efficiency, helps you to make sure you’re in the right place at the right time, helps you build better relationships with your target audience, and it gives you a competitive advantage. Companies that are successful at events have done their homework – knowing exactly who will be at an event before it happens, and building a relationship will help you to increase your event marketing ROI.
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Be clear about the offer and overdeliver
If you tell the attendees they will be offered a discount for a free subscription to your service, they will expect it. Make sure that you are delivering your promise and always work to exceed expectations. Overdelivering a surprise offer or bonus is always a great way to keep people excited about the brand.
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Become savvy at sales
In sales, timing and delivery are everything. You don’t want to oversell your customer or client right away. At an event, make sure there are ample opportunities for a client to tell their story, to create an opportunity for connection and empathy before trying to sell them on the product or brand service. If you work with a sales and marketing team, make sure you’re all on the same page so everyone is able to tag the team and work together.
Takeaways
Field marketing is used to build the awareness of your brand and also implement sales and marketing strategies into your event planning. It gives your ideal client or customer a way to engage with your brand and try out your product or service before purchasing. At the same time, it also gives the company an opportunity to get to know its target consumers better through qualitative data collection and increase conversions through strategic marketing campaigns.
There are plenty of ways to incorporate field marketing into your next event. So make sure to try them out and continuously stay ahead of the curve with new, innovative marketing strategies!
