As an event marketer, you will be familiar with the pressure of orchestrating a flawless event that leaves attendees buzzing. We want to ensure our emails look great and generate good engagement from the people who receive them. But…

1. How can we ensure enough of the right people are on our database in the first place to feed into our email campaigns?
   
   and...

2. How can we be sure the relevance, quality and completeness of the contacts we’re emailing are good enough for strong email deliverability?

Your database isn't just a list of contacts; it's the beating heart of your event marketing strategy.

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Here’s why your database isn’t just a list, but essential to the success of your event marketing:

1. Size matters: aligning your database with attendance goals

   The size of your database should directly reflect the number of attendees you want at your event. For paid events, you can expect a conversion rate of around 1% – meaning for every 100 contacts in your database, you'll likely secure one registration. For free events, the conversion rate is higher at 2% (1 registration for every 50 contacts), but you'll need to account for a 50% no-show rate - so you should still assume 100 relevant records on your database will give you 1 attendee.
   
   It is important to bear in mind that these contact records will come from inbound activities and any kind of data acquisition. Regardless of how a contact has reached your database, it should still be included in email campaigns to promote your events. The key here is that these are relevant records and are handled well in terms of segmentation for targeted, relevant messaging - depending on demographics and behaviour of contacts.

    

2. Know your audience: segmentation is key
   
   Understanding your audience is about demographics and behaviours that indicate two things:
   
   i) Relevance to your event: Are these the people you want in the room? It is important to have an event audience that delivers value for sponsors/exhibitors and makes sense in terms of peer-to-peer and buyer/seller networking.
   
   ii) Propensity to purchase: Have their previous behaviours indicated they’re likely buyers? Combining ‘intent’ behaviour with profile should give you a scoring system that means your nurturing and sales activities are focused on the right people.
   
   Relevant marcomms sent to people most likely to buy will also give your email campaigns a stronger engagement score, improving domain reputation and deliverability. So, don’t be tempted to ‘economise’ on tagging your database, and don’t be lazy about ensuring you’re creating segments for personalised, relevant email campaigns - or you’ll pay a high price in terms of poor email deliverability that may then spiral quite quickly beyond a point of no return.

3. Quality over quantity: targeted data acquisition
   
   While having a large enough database is important, the quality of your data is even more critical. Ideally, you should fill any gaps in your database through targeted data research rather than relying on bulk data sources. Bulk data may come at a lower cost per record, but you’ll pay a dear price in other ways. Bulk-bought lists don’t give you strong coverage of all relevant contacts within companies in your ‘top tier’ companies - considering full decision-making units in play.
   
   Having high-quality data isn’t just about increasing registrations; it's also about enhancing your email deliverability and engagement. A well-curated database elevates your domain reputation and fosters stronger connections with your audience.

4. Timing is essential: database readiness
   
   To ensure a successful campaign, you'll want to have your database in place at least 20 weeks before the event date. This lead time allows for proper segmentation, messaging development, and campaign execution, engaging your audience in the story of the event as it develops, and maximising your chances of attracting the right attendees.

5. Extending your reach: multichannel engagement
   
   While your database is the bedrock of your event marketing efforts, it's essential to complement it with other channels like PPC, an SEO-optimised website, social media and advocacy. These additional touchpoints extend your reach and contribute to overall engagement and domain reputation, further boosting your event's visibility.

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Having a well-structured, large enough and relevant database should be your #1 priority when promoting your event, alongside having a website that converts visitors well. 

So even though ‘data’ is not the most exciting part of marketing for many, ignore it at your peril! 

When MPG hires event marketers, we always look for people who see the value and importance of data and enjoy the challenge and opportunity of ensuring the data set we’re using for clients’ campaigns is getting stronger by the day. We recommend you make in-house event marketing hires with similar standards in mind!

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Get in touch to find out how MPG can help you develop and maintain a powerful database to drive your business forward. For over 10 years we have been helping our clients get their data right!