The Marketing Leaders - Why you should sponsor a networking event

Ed Weatherall says playing host to a B2B networking event can get your name known and win you new business. How?

Sponsoring networking events is a great way to get your brand in front of an audience with whom you need to be seen as a facilitator, someone that makes things happen in the industry. People will be impressed if they attend an event from which they get some value, and are not just there for the free wine and nibbles. Do this properly and the next time you call one of the people in that audience, you’ll have a much bigger profile to back up your conversation.

How can networking build your profile

To really get the benefit of B2B networking you need to look at it as a chance to talk to your peers about what is going on and to share new ideas, problems and opinions on what is happening in your industry. If done properly, networking allows you to become known and, hopefully, respected within a particular market place. From there your profile grows, allowing you to recommend your products, introduce colleagues and identify movements or changes in mood.

I have always seen B2B networking as an opportunity to meet and build relationships with people I have something in common with. I am always looking to meet people I know already as well as new people to expand my own network. We’ll often talk about the problems we are having as an industry and exchange ideas.

Professor Merlin Stone, Professor of Marketing at Bristol Business School, is often asked to talk at networking events. He always tries to make his speeches humorous. ‘Networking needs to be fun,’ he says. ‘We all work long hours but we are prepared to start early or stay late for a social event because we enjoy what we do and need ways to find contacts, ideas and challenges to help us to develop ourselves and to achieve more.’ So, how do you make networking fun?

It shouldn’t make a difference whether you are a supplier or a buyer. You both work in the same industry and have experience that the other can benefit from. I have attended networking events a buyer and as a supplier. I’ve learnt over the years that you need to treat them exactly the same if you want to get any long-term gains from your potential network. As you become better acquainted, maybe you’ll end up working together. But maybe you won’t.

Avoid the hard sell

Hard selling suppliers who run around asking people what they do and would they like to hear about their product, very quickly find themselves spending networking events with other similar suppliers. Potential buyers run away from them. It can be like watching a hawk diving in to a flock of birds that all turn away very quickly and stick closely to the person next to them.

If done properly networking allows your peers to be exposed to your brand in a comfortable environment. It also allows you to gauge whether this is the right audience for you to be spending your marketing budgets on. But be careful. Don’t become the hawk, or you will lose a great chance to get insight into what your buyers are worried about.

Use the lead up to show people you are very active in their market. Let them know who else will be there. Show them that they can’t afford to miss your event. Of course you’re looking for business from networking. But you should also see it as a way to make people comfortable with your brand. Show them that they’ll learn things by being associated with you.

If you speak at the event, be informative and interesting. Talk about the latest topics and issues facing the industry. Say who you think is doing best at addressing them. What are they achieving? Ask people what alternative opinions and approaches they are using. See what proof (rather than hearsay) there is for either view.

Before long people will be asking you to meet up later in order to talk further, share thoughts and gain advice – especially if they feel you are knowledgeable but not pressuring. ‘We need some help and I thought of you,’ is the phone call or email that every sales person wants to receive. Hosting a successful networking event can improve your chances of getting this call.

Checklist for hosting a B2B networking event

Venue

Think about the people you are engaging with and select a venue that puts them at ease. A bar? Your office? Wembley? West End club? Choose somewhere that’s easy for them to get to.

Timing

When do these people like to network? How does it fit with their work and their play? Different cultures exist for networking events. Americans may be used to early breakfast meetings while Brits may prefer getting together after work.

On the night

What should you do as a host? Should you introduce everyone? Give away a prize? Say a ‘thank you’ speech? It’s important that people know who you are and that you make the evening fun. But it’s also good to keep it business-focussed. That’s why people have come.

Afterwards

How will you follow up on your success? You might want to arrange another networking event for a particular sub-group or niche. If people were interested in what you had to say, perhaps you could follow it up by getting people to sign up to your regular thought-leadership communication.

In my experience, hosting a successful networking event rarely fails to open avenues of opportunity. With your new found friends, you’ll be well placed to make the most of them.

Edward Weatherall is one of the founders of Concep and is the Managing Director of the London office. Over the last four years Ed has consulted with global organisations on the successful implementation of effective email marketing strategies, working with the likes of Capgemini, BearingPoint, The Institution of Civil Engineers and Cushman & Wakefield. Ed is also a founding member of the IAB email marketing council and a regular speaker for the IDM.



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