Blog And News
Virtual Event Networking: How Not to #FAIL
One year ago, virtual events were limited to particular industries. Today they’re everywhere. That’s because in the absence of in-person events, we’ve had no choice but to embrace virtual platforms as a means of building and maintaining our professional networks. But if everyone’s networking through virtual events, then why
The Future of Events: A Look at 2021 and Beyond
The temporary shutdown of in-person events in 2020—and subsequent explosion of virtual events in their place—has left one question on everyone’s mind. What will the future of events look like in 2021 and beyond? With more than 75-years of experience in the U.S. B2B events industry, we at MEET
Online or In-Person? Developing Your 2021 Event Strategy
For the past nine months, companies have solidly depended on virtual for their event strategies. But with a vaccine on the horizon and predictions for a return to normal as soon as this summer, could that all change? More importantly, should it change? We sat down with Kelly Kenney,
Leveraging Virtual Trade Show Events as an Attendee
Eight months into the pandemic, virtual trade show events have proven their unique value. Which means for those who thought they could coast until in-person events come back online—it’s time to get moving. On November 21st, MEET released the final podcast to a 3-part series: Leveraging Virtual Trade Show Participation
5 Steps to Launching a Virtual Trade Show Plan
One outcome of the recent explosion in virtual events due to COVID-19 is the unprecedented opportunity it has created for companies that are expanding internationally. Truly, the “cheese” has moved. By lowering barriers to entry, the ability to confidently and skillfully navigate virtual venues is more valuable than ever, particularly
Q&A with Bill Kenney on the Future of Trade Shows
Are in-person trade shows gone forever? That’s a good question. It seems pretty unlikely that in-person trade shows and events are gone forever. We’ve already seen some events come back on the calendar and believe that the advent of a widely available vaccine will be a big milestone in the
Digital Marketing Strategies for Market Entry How to Test, Gain Traction, and Scale
Jeffrey Cohen, Vice President at Imageworks is interviewed by Bill Kenney, Founder and Client Advocate at MEET about Digital Marketing Strategies for Market Entry How to Test, Gain Traction, and Scale on the Belly2Belly podcast. Listen on iTunes or Spotify Watch on YouTube Bill : Welcome to the belly to
Leveraging LinkedIn for Market Entry How to Create Your Future Advocates
Bill Kenney, Founder and Client Advocate at MEET interviews Laura Hannan, Co-Founder and Director of Client Success at Pitch121 on the Belly2Belly podcast. Listen on iTunes or Spotify Watch on YouTube Bill: Welcome to the belly to belly podcast where we explore in-person business to business market. This episode is brought to
The Less Obvious Benefits to Measuring Trade Show ROI
There are many reasons for measuring trade show ROI. The most obvious: to improve marketing performance. After all, without baseline metrics of your returned value, it’s impossible to know where and how to make improvements to maximize the results of your in-person event strategy. At MEET, we’ve identified a number
A Lesson in Maximizing Trade Show ROI from Great Bakers
What is there to learn about trade show ROI from great bakers? The answer: ratios. For example: Bread = 5 parts flour : 3 parts water Cookies = 3 parts flour : 2 parts fat : 1 part sugar The beauty of understanding baking from the perspective of ratios
Navigate Your Marketing ROI GPS-style
It’s hard to imagine driving these days without GPS. The experience of getting lost or struggling with oversized maps has all but disappeared…and no one is mourning the loss. GPS has fundamentally changed the experience of driving by putting valuable real-time data in the hands of the driver—whether to avoid
How to Ensure Your Trade Show Strategy is Complete
If you follow our blog and webinar series, you know that trade show strategy is a big focus of our work. For one, it’s because we truly believe that a well-crafted, well-executed strategy is critical to maximizing trade show ROI. Second, we’ve noticed that many B2B marketing strategies stop
The Best 2020 Event Selection Strategy
You might be thinking: “Wow, they’re confident!” In fact, we are. Because when it comes to developing an event selection strategy for our clients, we focus on a results-centered process rather than specific events. Get the process right, and failure becomes nearly impossible. Tell us if you agree. Step 1:
The Four Biggest Stumbling Blocks to Trade Show Success
A report by PwC values the B2B trade show market at $14.3 billion. By 2021, that figure is expected to reach $16.8 billion. Renowned as the best content marketing strategy for B2B companies, these figures come as no surprise. By offering face-to-face exposure to large numbers of high-quality prospects, there are
Achieving Trade Show Success in Ways You Never Expected
As 2019 comes to a close, many CEOs of scaling ventures are taking stock of the year’s marketing investments. They’re looking at their budgets and sales pipelines, and asking the ultimate question: what was our ROI? This time of year is not only about reflecting back—it’s about projecting forward.
A Marketing ROI Strategy for Half the World’s Population
At MEET, we talk a lot about the critical link between clearly defined buyer personas and marketing ROI. But for international scaling companies, developing the right marketing strategy also requires a careful account of the unique cultural ways of doing business in each foreign market. India’s vast size and gateway
Adjusting your Landing Gear for Indian Market Entry
At MEET, we help international companies soft-land and scale in the U.S. through trade shows and in-person events. Many of the companies we work with are not new to international scaling. In fact, it’s their success—both at home and abroad—that has led them to explore U.S. market entry. One thing
Exploring India Market-Entry with Nilesh Gopali
As the world’s sixth-largest manufacturer, powered by a labor force of 520 million, India market-entry is a massive consideration for many globally scaling firms. On November 12th we spoke with Nilesh Gopali, Founder and CEO of the investment and business advisory firm AAVOR in an interview titled: Capitalize on
Why Take a Systems Approach to Marketing?
Scientists and engineers define a system as any group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent parts that form a complex and unified whole with a specific purpose. More simply, all systems: Have a purpose Must contain all parts to perform optimally Are impacted by the order in which these parts
Channel Your Top Chef Marketing Strategy
The spaghetti technique of “throw it against the wall to see what sticks” is too often adopted into practice by marketing professionals. With so many low-threshold, low-cost marketing tools out there, it’s increasingly easy to simply flood the market and hope for success. We refer to this “spray and pray.”
The Beautiful Music of B2B Marketing
People don’t pay to hear the New York Philharmonic get on stage and make a lot of noise. They pay to hear music—beautiful music that is performed with precision and expert guidance. And then they pay to hear it again. In our recent webinar on October 17th titled: Taming the
International Scaling and the Art of Partnership Vetting
The business world is full of metaphors and famous quotes invoking the importance of finding the right partners and team members to drive success. Whether it’s “get the right people on the bus” or “it’s better to be alone than in bad company,” the point is clear: surrounding yourself
U.S. Market-Entry Requires More Than a Lasso
For most CEOs of scaling firms, U.S. market-entry isn’t their first rodeo. The majority have withstood the bucking bronco at home—maybe even won the blue ribbon. A handful has had the opportunity to test their skills in other venues (foreign markets) for that added layer of certainty. Still, no matter
Choosing Early Sales Traction
Sales traction, ideally early sales traction, is requisite for every scaling firm. Therefore, if given the choice, wouldn’t all firms devote the necessary resources to achieving sales traction as quickly as possible? The answer, strangely enough, is no. Each internationally scaling firm takes a slightly different approach to new market
A Word of Caution to Scaling Firms: U.S. Regulation
The prospect of drowning in a sea of U.S. regulation is scary, particularly if you’re not an experienced swimmer. Yet scaling firms must come to terms with the fact that part and parcel to reaping the rewards of U.S. market entry is mastering the depth and breadth of its regulatory
Navigating Sales Channels in a New Market
Perhaps the hardest waters to navigate in a U.S market entry expedition are developing sales channels. With tight timelines and even tighter budgets at stake, understanding how to leverage U.S. manufacturing, distribution and sales networks in the most efficient way possible is both challenging and necessary for scaling firms. For
The Argument for Soft-landing U.S. Market-Entry
In weighing the risks and rewards of U.S. market-entry, the golden rule of financial investing holds true: “never invest money you can’t afford to lose.” Scaling too early, before you have the proper reserves and stability in your home market, is a serious gamble. The major difference between financial