A GUIDE TO PROVING & IMPROVING EXPERIENTIAL ROI INTRO: THE NEW WORLD OF MARKETING ROI In the past, marketing was very much an art comprised mainly of experience, gut feeling and a good serving of luck. The ability to track interactions and append real actionable numbers to campaigns has changed the industry and caused a shift to data-driven campaign analysis. As a result, marketing budgets have become increasingly scrutinized as a growing number of brands choose to measure success against their Return on Investment or Objectives (ROI/ROO). Every marketing channel has to meet corporate goals (e.g. leads, sales, brand awareness), otherwise budget and resources are quickly reallocated. ROI is no longer determined after campaigns are over; it is a real-time creature that will heavily influence strategic and tactical decisions. Brands want to determine ROI using data and analytics as opposed to rough estimates and subjective guesses. Why is this guide important? 52% of marketers see proving the ROI of marketing activites as their biggest challenge. (Source: Hubspot's 2015 Inbound Marketing Report) This guide will show you why and how to prove and improve ROI/ROO reporting for experiential and live marketing campaigns. 2 IN THIS GUIDE 1. The Challenge of Live Marketing ROI 2. How to Prove Your Return a. How Digital is Enabling Tracking b. Campaign Objectives and Their Return c. KPIs to Underpin Reporting 3. Improving Results with Optimization 4. Easy ROI with Live Marketing Automation (LMA) 1.0 LIVE MARKETING Consumers are multi-tasking, time strapped and overwhelmed by content, social media and growing inboxes. Not surprisingly, it has become increasingly difficult to capture their attention. To drive more engagement with consumers, brands are paying more attention to live marketing. It allows them to interact digitally or in-person with consumers through trade shows, VIP events, test drives, product samples, demos, interactive displays and more. Live marketing lets brands create buzz, excitement, interest and actions such as social media activity, downloads, demo requests, leads and sales. These are some of the most popular live marketing activities: Kiosks Sponsorships Test Drives Samplings Surveys Events Experiential Instore Marketing Experience Today, marketers face the battle of quantifying program success metrics for the billions of dollars spent on sponsorships, auto shows, events, samplings and more. The question is, which specific live marketing channels produce the best results and how do you track their true value to your bottom line? 4 What’s The Challenge? Brands are running campaigns but they can’t accurately tell if they are working. For example, it is hard to know if a consumer who signed up for a test drive eventually purchased an automobile, or whether someone who sampled a product took advantage of a promotional offer. The problem? There hasn’t been technology to effectively track live marketing campaigns and a brand’s interactions with consumers. In many cases, the data that defines success is highly subjective or prone to gaps and inaccuracies that result from manual reporting. These data points regularly include the number of attendees (using paper ballots that are manually counted), business cards collected (usually in fishbowls!) or media impressions – the number of people who may have seen a brand’s signage at an event (rough estimates or guesses). With data-driven marketing becoming the norm, within the wider marketing industry, it's time for a change in live marketing reporting. To prove and improve ROI, marketers need the ability to track consumer interaction and access real-time data. They can then determine how campaigns are driving relationships, awareness, leads and sales. Primary Focus of Live Marketing Campaigns* (2015) 45% Drive More Sales 31% Build Awareness 8% Generate PR/Buzz 8% Collect Leads 6% Reach More Consumers 2% Other *Brands with budget > $10M (Source: EMI/Mosaic EventTrack 2015) 2.0 PROVING YOUR ROI Live Marketing ROI Overview Live marketing ROI is driven by the ability to track every step of the customer journey. The goal is to bring consumer traffic into the physical world where in-person interactions can capture and track valuable insights. These insights enable a two-way conversation, full of actionable insight, across every subsequent engagement. This conversation is facilitated with digital tools that include native applications, websites, emails, SMS and more. ROI is tracked through "consumer journeys" which are defined by digital interactions during in- person experiences. Consumer journeys are endless and can include aspects such as registration, check-in, contest, survey, sampling, social share and photo opportunities. Data is captured at every interaction from multiple sources so campaigns can be aggregated, analyzed and optimized. After data is captured, it must seamlessly integrate across devices and filter into a customer management system or directly to relevant sales teams. of marketers said their ability to measure 79% and demonstrate ROI represents a key obstacle to deploying live marketing for their brand. (Source: 2008 Marketers Survey,” Jack Morton Worldwide) Most organizations neither have the time nor resources to develop digital assets that instantly sync with a comprehensive database in real-time. Using live marketing software is the smartest way to build live digital assets and track every live experience without breaking the bank or dealing with cumbersome development timelines. 6 Establish Your Main Top Live Marketing Objectives Goals 2015 The first step to any experiential or live marketing activation is defining the core objective(s) of your campaign. Are you only 81% looking for the most qualified sales ready leads? Or to engage Brand Awareness consumers as advocates of your brand? Sales Enablement Sales enablement processes break down quickly as traffic per event or the number of events increase. For a sales enablement strategy, your return lies in the ability to capture as many 79% customers as possible and instantly filter qualified leads directly to sales teams, ambassadors, or dealers. Increase Sales Brand Experience A brand experience strategy can include a variety of events that are not limited to product samplings, VIP events and tours. The core principle of brand experiences is offering a seamless and 62% premium package with custom data capture abilities. The true return comes through unique consumer journeys that produce Product Learning valuable consumer insight and a heightened perception of the brand. Lead Generation Live marketing software allows an unlimited number of engagement points that include both kiosk and CSR mediums. 57% The return on any lead generation strategy focuses on finding as Influencer Event many relevant engagements as possible and following up with those leads in a timely and personalized manner. Social Enhancement Live marketing software supports native photo capture capabilities and integrated social sharing so advocates can 55% share their personalized experiences as they interact with your brand. The key to tangible return revolves around moving social Product Launch engagements into face-to-face conversations where insights and Source: (EMI/Mosaic EventTrack 2015) analytics can be captured or the conversation can continue. Define Data-Driven Key Top 3 Criteria Used to Performance Indicators Measure Experiences Total Attendance or Participation Brands, sponsorship executives and agencies may thrive on the currency of “media value”, but 83% '13 impression metrics have limited the insight and 80% '14 evolution of sponsorship strategy. It's time for 85% '15 experiential marketing to embrace performance metrics and focus on data-driven performance Facebook 'Likes', Social Activity measures: 37% '13 1. Cost per 1000 57% '14 61% '15 Custom tech solutions or assets built on a campaign basis can quickly inflate the cost of live marketing Leads activities without a tangible increase in engagement 67% '13 numbers. Live marketing software will greatly reduce 64% '14 the time and cost associated with gaining a higher volume of engagements. 58% '15 2. Engagements/Leads by Rep Top 3 Methods Used to Measure Results Live marketing software ensures your lead by representative analysis maintains data integrity. Onsite Survey/Interview Reported leads are valid entries and those entries are continously tied to the representative that 47% '13 captured them. 59% '14 65% '15 3. Number of Engagements (YOY Post-Event Survey/Interview Not only does experiential marketing software enable year-over-year comparisons, but also 65% '13 improves results as your digital costs remain fixed, 64% '14 regardless of the number of assets you execute. 64% '15 4. Conversion Ratio Interactive Technology Tracking Tools N/A '13 Live marketing software ensures leads are accurate and qualified onsite so you can track the full 15% '14 consumer journey. This means you know exactly 42% '15 when and how leads convert. (Source: EMI/Mosaic EventTrack 2015) 8 Leverage Digital To Unify Reporting Fragmented data, manual reporting and a lack of transparency are causing many experiential marketers to lag behind the general marketing industry when it comes to reporting and analytics. Live marketing software has changed the experience and reporting landscape. Today, success is measured in weeks or days rather than quarters or years. By using experiential marketing software, you access 3 key neccesities for proper ROI reporting: 1. Uniform Data The ability to collect