360 DEGREES VISITOR MANAGEMENT

360-degree visitor management, or community management as it is sometimes called, provides event organisers with the basis for understanding their target visitor groups, interacting with them and making them tailor-made offers. Some still know the term exclusively as “visitor management”. But in my opinion, it does not completely capture the full scope of the term. After all, community management for trade fairs really means all participants; i.e. visitors as well as exhibitors, staff, representatives of associations and the press, and all other stakeholders involved with the event in the run-up to and during a trade fair. And it also covers the entire lifecycle of a trade show event. From interest and profile management to invitation to the entire behavior management with questions such as “Which booths are visited preferentially? Which surveys are answered? How is the general interaction shaping up?” – Community Management optimizes the value of the entire event as a 360-degree analysis process.

Organizers should always be aware of their host role first, and not only when considering 360-degree visitor management. Which host would not take care of his guests after they have entered his home? Who invites privately to a barbecue, knows mostly what his guests do professionally, which hobbies they have, what they like to eat and reacts accordingly to them. On both a small and large scale, there are immense advantages in making the best use of these guest profiles. But I keep noticing that trade show companies could know more about visitors. After all, even though booth square footage ends up on the exhibitor’s bill, the right visitors at the booth are the actual product that exhibitors are ultimately willing to pay for. But what company could afford to know as little about its products as trade shows know about visitors?

360 degree visitor management has countless advantages in my opinion.After all, as already mentioned, visitors to a trade show are not just another customer group, but also already a special “product” that, in case of doubt, is the deciding factor in an exhibitor’s booking decision.After all, trade shows compete with many other marketing opportunities for a significant role in the marketing mix and thus for their share of the budget.In addition, each visitor and also each exhibitor has different roles at a trade show.At the same time, in addition to their professional profile and the motives for their visit, they are, after all, always private individuals, members of a certain age group, influencers for their professional and private networks, and much more.This holistic community management maps this immensely important multi-role issue holistically.It enables pinpoint communication with visitors and their individual interests. Ideally, I can accompany participants throughout the entire customer lifecycle and make exactly the right offers for the situation.

The pandemic and the dramatic impact on the events industry are creating opposing conditions for community management ventures.On the one hand, the data basis and legal requirements have never been more conducive.On the other hand, some trade show companies are hesitant to implement because the sales slump initially froze many project budgets.However, Covid should definitely accelerate the initiative towards 360-degree visitor management.Because the current global situation offers good reasons for doing so.By law, trade fair companies must now record all profiles of all participants, whether visitors, exhibitors or, for example, suppliers.And they have to manage visitors very precisely.At the moment, for example, peak times have to be avoided because of minimum distance regulations, and to do this, visiting times and the most popular areas have to be known. Covid is also increasing the number of hybrid or digital events. Currently certainly forced, but also in the future digital components will play an important role to complement presence fairs. And it is precisely for this that good, content-rich data is an absolute prerequisite. If I don’t have that, I don’t need to plan and hold completely digital events and try to monetize them.

Basically not. All data protection aspects must, of course, be planned precisely in advance and complied with. I see insufficient organization and inadequate use of digital solutions as decisive risks. If you don’t plan properly, you won’t have the data quality you need and you’ll incur unnecessarily high costs. Good consulting can quickly minimize these risks and also has the advantage of being able to reliably contribute proven experience and national and international best practice examples. The wheel does not always have to be completely reinvented.

Only if the entire process chain permanently makes use of the information that arises from the management process and also enriches it, does it play out its true value. This starts with the management, which must recognize the value of the information and promote it throughout the entire organization. After all, 360 degree visitor management is a topic for different organizational units. It doesn’t just affect marketing or project management, and certainly not exclusively IT.

Good question. It has been discussed for many years and has also been recognized as a need for action. Nevertheless, many trade show companies are having a hard time with it. There are already drivers for this issue in the individual event areas of a trade show. However, successful implementation requires an overall corporate effort to implement this consistently across different events.

Quite simply, because it pays off in the short term. Yes, setting up a stringent 360-degree visitor management system is an investment. But the effects will already be noticeable at the next events, whether virtual or live on site. Not to mention the benefits that can be expected in the long term. When trade shows can start up again, we will see fewer exhibitors as well as visitors on site. This absolutely does not have to be a disadvantage if you can manage the quality specifically with a 360 degree visitor management process and the information available. Rather, the individual data obtained there will become worth more. Participating in a trade show will be much more exclusive in the near future.Good question. It has been discussed for many years and has also been recognized as a need for action. Nevertheless, many trade show companies are having a hard time with it. There are already drivers for this issue in the individual event areas of a trade show. However, successful implementation requires an overall corporate effort to implement this consistently across different events.

Cost awareness is understandable right now. Nevertheless, decision-makers now have it in their hands to create a central basis for success, especially in the near future, with integrated 360-degree visitor management. And what do fishermen do when the sea is too stormy? They stay in the harbor and mend their nets. I think it is an advantage that currently the organization also has time for such innovations, which go far beyond the introduction of a technical system. We should take advantage of this opportunity.