The Definitive Guide to Lead Generation

CHAPTER NINE: PAID PROGRAMS
EVENTS
Virtual Events
These events have the look and
feel of an offline event, but are
hosted in a virtual environment,
combining the educational
elements and ease of a webinar
with the networking and interactive
features of a trade show.
Participants visit a virtual booth,
where they can collect materials,
meet the staff, ask questions, and
even pick up some virtual swag.
The virtual booth at a Marketo virtual event
Your Virtual Booth
You wouldn’t design a tradeshow
booth that doesn’t suit your company,
and the same goes for your virtual
booth—rather than using a default
appearance and setting, adhere to
your own style guide.
Many platforms allow you to chat both
privately and publicly with your booth
visitors. Keep your public chat box
clear of clutter, and use it to moderate
discussions, promote your content
and/or session, and welcome visitors.
If it’s appropriate to answer a question
privately, simply move the discussion
off your public chat.
Booth Content
Most virtual events allow you to include
content in your booth and elsewhere
within the exhibit hall. It may be
tempting to throw up some product or
service-specific datasheets, but your
best bet is to include thought
leadership pieces. As with any lead
generation technique, make sure you
are addressing pain points, but not
shoving your sales messaging down
your audience members’ throats.
Marketo recently hosted a virtual event
and all of the offered content was
Top-of-Funnel thought leadership,
rather than pure promotion.
Top-of-Funnel content offerings at a Marketo virtual event