Finding an audience for a mature product

Strategies in Light is a trade show whose focus is around LEDs and the Solid State Lighting industry which are mature technologies. The trade show concluded on March 1, 2019 and was one of the most challenging business scenarios of my career on multiple levels.

My employer, PennWell, had just been sold to Clarion in May 2018. The VP in charge of Strategies in Light and the PennWell LED & Lighting Network had forecasted that they could reduce ticket prices by 37% and grow the overall attendee revenue by 41%. She left the company in July 2018 along with several other key team members. I absorbed the responsibilities of the Director of Marketing, Marketing Manager, and Conference Manager for this trade show, two conferences, and two additional business units.

By August, Clarion had decided that there were several PennWell business units that they would package and re-sell under the name “PennWell New Media”. Strategies in Light and all the associated digital products were included in the package. Although LED technology is mature, the revenue the Strategies in Light trade show represented within PennWell New Media was the largest of the 33 business units being sold. Pressure to meet the revenue goals as forecasted by the previous VP was high. I reported directly to the new VP of the division and the new Clarion COO in charge of finding a buyer for PennWell New Media. The successful sale of PennWell New Media to Endeavor Business Media was announced on February 22, 2019; three days before the Strategies in Light trade show.

Developing the Strategy
Solid state lighting was a new business unit for me. I was completely unfamiliar with the technology and market. I worked with knowledgeable team members to confirm the actual market potential and needs of executives the conference is geared to. Prior to my arrival on the team, business ties had been severed with a partner greatly reducing the audience for the show and our in-house resources were not a sufficient pool of prospects to work with. Even worse the historical trend for the attendee revenue was a -14% YOY growth for every year for the past eight years. I presented new forecasting and strategy that called for a 7% increase in the number of attendees with a goal of flat revenue growth.

Executing the Strategy
The good thing about B2B media is that we know our audience. In order to access content or attend events audience members must fill out a qualification card that details their job function, title, buying authority, specification authority, and many other details. Personas were created to identify different types of potential exhibitors and attendees. Associated campaigns were created across multiple channels including programmatic, retargeted, direct mail, direct email, and telemarketing.

My experience marketing programs for the PennWell SaaS product, “Orchestrate”, gave me the skills necessary to develop this as a lead generation program that identified the most likely to convert prospects, nurtured them, and then converted them to customers.

I expanded upon the known prospect base by creating SEO retargeting campaigns based upon identified personas. Based upon those interactions prospects were further nurtured through programmatic advertising coordinated with informational landing pages. As new names were identified they were added into currently running email campaigns. Engaged prospects who had not converted by 2 months pre-show were included in print campaigns. Engaged prospects who had not converted by 1 month pre-show were included in telemarketing campaigns. All content was personalized based on factors such as title, buying authority, interactions, and product interest.

As prospects converted to attendee status they were included in several customer programs to ensure satisfaction and maximize ticket revenue. C-Suite executives who had bought into conference packages were offered exclusive content and networking opportunities. Those who had bought entry-level ticket packages were engaged in programs that offered them upgrade opportunities and group discounts.

Results
The end result was that we were able to make the revised goals for both number of attendees and revenue. The new CEO traveled to the event with the team. While there he expressed that he knew the previous goals were unattainable. He was impressed with the process used to revise the goals, develop strategy, and execute upon the tactics.

Leadership opportunities exist for me at Endeavor Business Media but my goal is to return to my roots and work in high tech. I specifically want to be with a company offering cloud solutions. I’ve enjoyed working on this trade show because it required me to dig deep into the data and respond quickly to a changing landscape. These are skills are imperative in the high tech marketing world. It’s inherent in the technology that fascinates me; cloud and headless solutions are all about using information to remain agile. I’m determined to make this change and look forward to finding the right opportunity.