Millennials Reshape Event Success Strategies

As the millennial cohort expands event attendance, trade show and conference marketers and performing arts marketers are beginning to change their targeting, messaging and event planning strategies to cater to a demographic that demands technological multi-channel savvy, interest-specific targeting and experiential interactivity. A recent post by UK-based Conference News highlights strategies that event professionals can adopt to woo the millennial audience. While millennials are known for their social media, mobile-phone-addicted personae, studies show that these digital preferences can actually fuel greater live event interest; Conference News cites one survey showing 73% of millennials consider live event attendance as a way to express their beliefs and personality online. But it also means that event planners need to take cues from their digital experiences. Since millennials flock to online platforms that offer a nexus of various interests and connectivity, an event that focuses too narrowly can misfire. Conference News argues for a "multi-faceted event" and cites North Carolina's Moogfest as an example. Moogfest is primarily a music festival, but, in 2016, it added a stage for workshops, installations and discussions of the current political climate. By combining art, activism, food/drink, and activities in one place, it addressed attendees' multiple passions and created more social media fodder and buzz at the same time. Meeting the millennial demand for a multi-faceted event experience can also require going beyond hotel conference rooms and exhibit spaces. In 2017, the demand for non-traditional spaces rose by 3.8%, notes the article. Millennials are technically savvy and expect technically savvy event support. The Conference News article cites three event technology ideas likely to gain ground this year: 1) RFID (radio-frequency identification) wristbands can speed up entry lines and allow purchases without cash or cards; 2) Mobile Event Apps can let attendees craft customized experiences via eased navigation, personalized schedules, push notifications about upcoming activities, and social sharing with other attendees; and 3) Artificial Intelligence (AI) can use chat bots to answer attendee questions and, in coordination with social-media-based event app info, generate personalized on-site recommendations. See the full post at http://www.acculistusa.com/millennial-attendees-reshape-event-success-strategies/

2017 Magazines: Digital Embrace, Platform Tensions

The pursuit of circulation and ad revenue will push magazine publishers to embrace a number of digital publishing trends in 2017, per predictions in a Publishing Executive magazine article by Ron Matejko, president of digital publisher MVP Media. For one, watch for subscription drives to leverage digital outreach.While insert cards and direct mail remain sturdy tools for circulation marketing, Matejko foresees increased use of digital tools in audience development, and he cites the example of Dallas-based D Magazine, which is leveraging its combined database with outreach via automated and personalized e-mail campaigns and targeted social media advertising to audiences that look like their current print subscriber base. The result has been more new and renewed subscriptions for the print product, in fact almost a 100% increase in subscriptions generated monthly through digital efforts. Mobile apps are another area that will see increased interest, predicts Matejko. Consider the success story of Cities West Publishing in Arizona, which expanded its app offerings last year with interactive versions of two monthly print publications, as well as apps to supplement multimedia campaigns for two special issues. The benefits: branding, extended shelf life beyond the newsstand, and revenue via multi-platform value-added for print ad partners. Plus, Matejko cites other tech innovations that could transform digital publishing, particularly when teamed with mobile. For more on his digital publishing trend predictions, see http://www.acculistusa.com/2017-magazine-trends-digital-embrace-platform-tensions/

Do You Have a 2017 Cross-Device Strategy?

With mobile now a key platform for digital display ad, social media and e-mail viewing, and even print integrating with mobile and online, marketers clearly need a 2017 cross-device strategy. As a 2016 Econsultancy survey noted, only 14% of marketers said their company was able to handle the customer matching across multiple devices, even though almost three-fourths of respondents felt cross-device customer tracking was a strategic priority. A recent Direct Marketing News article by Pierre DeBois offers some good tips for initiating a cross-device strategy. Start with analytics platform reporting now that Google Analytics, Piwik and Adobe Analytics all offer a user ID feature, a modification to the analytics tag, to allow cross-device visits to be an identifiable segment in the analytics reports. DeBois also suggests setting up report filters for digital traffic to take advantage of what is already known about the digital points at which customers engage, such identifying web traffic by the IP address of a store site to track customers who shop the site while in-store. A mobile site that makes it easy for customers to act immediately—whether they want to order, call or download—is a must. With strong mobile traffic, a marketer can even develop enough audience to support an app launch. Since accessing social media is a key activity for mobile users, and video viewing continues to soar, marketers will want to leverage social traffic stats and demographic parameters to tailor content to social media platforms, with an eye to mobile and visual/video impact. DeBois cites the Google Customer Journey tool as one way for marketers to adjust when media content should be deployed. Then design ads for cross-device viewing and response and take advantage of the paid search platforms' expanded mobile and IoT (Internet of Things) offerings, with device selection for re-marketing and paid search ads, call extensions and cross-device reporting. For the full post, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/do-you-have-a-2017-strategy-for-cross-device-marketing/