The Comprehensive Guide to Generating More Meeting and Event Leads

2

Event Sourcing Trends

Event Sales Solution

On Your Website

On the Cvent Supplier Network

Bottom Line

01

02

03

04

05

3

Projecting Group Demand in 2019According to American Express Meetings & Events, group business will grow about 1% across all major event types—from customer advisory board meetings to tradeshows and product launches. This is projected to be the case across the vast majority of venues, especially among mid-market full-scale hotels.

Despite the growth, many suppliers are struggling to keep pace with major changes in venue sourcing.

4

Millennial Planners Are DifferentMillennial planners are 50% more likely to say social media and blogs are highly influential when it comes to evaluating a venue compared to older generations. As digital natives, they’re also more familiar with this type of interaction. 25% of millennial planners are more likely than older generations to report that negotiations are the most difficult part of sourcing a venue.

a. These professionals prefer a transactional experience, as it saves time and boosts their bottom line.

b. They are forming impressions online before they ever reach out

Social Tables customer when asked why they prefer to source online

“I’m a millennial. But in all seriousness, I think the internet makes it easier and faster to research and compare venues and services.”

5

Sales & Marketing Have Moved Online

The Information Planners Want

The most notable change to sourcing in recent years has been the move online:

• According to extensive research from Cvent, a stunning 67% of the buyer’s journey is now conducted digitally.*

According to DMAI survey research, modern planners are looking for specific information online before they make a major sourcing decision. Here are the top ten:

1. Maps with hotels, venues, and attractions

2. Hotel information

3. Venue information

4. Virtual site inspection of event spaces

5. Restaurants

6. Local activities

7. Local events calendar

8. Transportation information

9. Off-site venues

10. Room rates

6

Cvent Supplier Network (CSN) GrowthThe growth in online sourcing is reflected in stark terms on the CSN:

• In the last eight years, RFP value submitted on the Cvent Supplier Network has increased nearly 7-fold from $2.4B to $16B. In 2019, the number is projected to rise to $19B.

• In 2018 alone, 92k planners used the Supplier Network to submit 2.7m RFPs, which included 42.2m room nights.

• These numbers will only continue to rise.

7

Properties Are Seeing New Kinds of LeadsBecause of these many major changes, planners no longer feel like they need a deep, personal relationship with a DOSM or DOC in order to submit an RFP.

Bottom line: Suppliers are seeing more leads, and they’re seeing meaningfully different kinds of leads.

• New customers

• Younger customers

• Digital native customers with expectations on interactive content

• Customers who form impressions before they reach out

8

Event Sourcing Trends

Event Sales Solution

On Your Website

On the Cvent Supplier Network

Bottom Line

01

02

03

04

05

9

How Do Suppliers Compete in This New Environment?They place interactive, visually-engaging content in strategically-important locations online.

That’s what new planners want.

Plus, visuals help planners “sell” the vision of their event to their own clients or their bosses.

Social Tables can make that happen.

Social Tables Event Sales Solution is an interactive floor plan display software that meets the shifting habits of modern planners by giving them the information they need to choose your event space.

And best of all? It’s now available on the Cvent Supplier Network.

13ms56%48%

How quickly humans can identify objects in images. Our brains prefer visuals over text

Planners say ‘aesthetics’ and ‘logistics’ have the most impact on site selection.

Planners say floor plans are the most relevant information in a proposal.

Featured Perspective

10

Event Sourcing Trends

Event Sales Solution

On Your Website

On the Cvent Supplier Network

Bottom Line

01

02

03

04

05

Event Sales Solution

Showcase Space

Drive High-value Leads

Beat the Competition

Get Started Free

12

Drive high-value leads with interactive content

Enable planners to submit RFIs fast

Allow planners to envision their event at your venue with interactive floor plans and common layouts.

Give planners the option to select the event spaces they want and easily submit an RFI directly to your sales team.

13

Sharing Event Sales Solution Is Easy Event Sales Solution helps properties reach an underserved audience of planners: “accidental” or occasional planners.

• These planners are executive assistants and corporate administrators who plan 16 happy hours a year—not sourcing experts.

• Event Sales Solution’s RFI tool is simple, fast, and requires no expertise to fill out.

• Event Sales Solution customers have seen 20x+ ROI because Event Sales Solution is built to capture occasional or “accidental” planners.

Event Sales Solution allows users to search by

1. The number of attendees

2. The event type

3. The room setup

And best of all: Planners can link directly to the search results, so clients can see exactly how their events will look in certain spaces.

14

Mobile Performance is EssentialBuying and sourcing aren’t just moving online. They’re moving specifically to phones. According to research from Google:

• Today, 48% of mobile users in the U.S. are comfortable researching, planning, and booking an entire trip to a new travel destination using only their smartphone.*

• People who have a negative experience on mobile are 62% less likely to purchase from that brand in the future than if they had a positive experience.*

Bottom line:

Without a true mobile solution for lead capture and sales enablement, you could be damaging relationships with as many as half of your planners before you ever even talk to them.

15

3 out of 4 “Fortune 50” Companies use Social Tables’ interactive floor plans to source event space with hotels and venues.

other

Use Social Tablesinteractive floor plans

16

Acme Hotels

5$60k 22x

47 properties owned by a major luxury brand use sales enablement to drive group business

RFIs per month

Est. annual revenue per property

Est. annual ROI per property

Case Study: Hotelier Perspective Real RFI Examples:Event: Oct 25, 2018. Dinner gala for approximately 900 people. Kindly let me know the contact person so we can discuss the event. Thank you!

-Executive Assistant

Event is for April 2019 during the week (typically Friday) for company safety event. We need a stage and seating for around 400-450 attendees. We serve lunch and would need space for registration, raffle prizes, and gift distribution.

- Project Coordinator

17

Marquee Property in Tier One City

13$150k 56x

RFIs per property per month

Est. annual revenue

Est. annual ROI

Case Study: Hotelier Perspective

A boutique hotel with 100+ guest rooms followed a three-pronged approach to success with the Social Tables Event Sales Solution and related products.

1. Leveraged Social Tables interactive floor plans to bring interactive floor plans and RFI tools to planners visiting their website.

2. They got valuable floor plan information in front of thousands of planners using their brand’s dedicated group business distribution platform.

3. They took advantage of Cvent’s Supplier Network to differentiate themselves in their compset.

18

Event Sourcing Trends

Event Sales Solution

On Your Website

On the Cvent Supplier Network

Bottom Line

01

02

03

04

05

The First Major Product IntegrationCvent acquired Social Tables in 2018 and the teams have been hard at work to deliver a unified experience.

An integrated experience is ready, and it’s poised to provide incredible value to event space suppliers.

Cvent Supplier Network + Event Sales Solution.

Interactive floor plans will be automatically added to Social Tables Event Sales Solution.

20

Add floor plans to your CSN profile

Drive more RFPs with rich content

Enrich your venue’s profile on the world’s largest event sourcing platform, the Cvent Supplier Network.

Planners get all the information they need about a venue in one place.

21

Drive high-value leads by better showcasing

your space

Stand out amongst your competitors

Attract more qualified leads by allowing planners to easily qualify space with max capacity diagrams and visualize

their event flow.

Allow planners to quickly identify properties with rich floor plan content.

22

The Integration OverviewNew features on CSN

• Filter results of venues with interactive floor plans

New within your CSN profile

• Enhanced capacity charts

• Basic & interactive floor plans

• Rich layout & floor plan content

• Meeting room layout images

• Full floor plan and campus map

• Enhanced meeting space drill down page*

* Only available to Cvent clients who have purchased a 2 Diamond listing and above

23

Why? Planners Have Been Asking for It!What planners say they want to do on the CSN:

• See specific layouts to verify the space can comfortably accommodate their attendees

• Understand the “flow” between meeting rooms & visualize attendee experience

• Save time with immediate access to interactive floor plans (so they never have to copy & paste diagrams from a venue website and mark them up by hand again)

Featured

“Interactive floor plans on the Cvent Supplier Network is a huge win for planners everywhere. The first question planners ask themselves is ‘Will my event work in this space?’ This completely answers that question. Venues with this new feature are going to win more business.”

MELINDA BURDETTE, CMP, CMM

DIRECTOR, EVENTS

MEETING PROFESSIONALS INTERNATIONAL

24

CSN capacity charts without Social Tables

• Static capacity chart

• No interactive content

• Inability to preview space

CSN capacity charts with Social Tables

Interactive floor plans & venue map

Rich photo previews for every event space

Ability to search by ‘number’ of attendees

and ‘setup type’

All common layouts conveniently listed

25

Meeting Space Drill Down without Social Tables

• No map or floor plans

Meeting Space Drill Down with Social Tables

Ability to include full floor files, campus maps, individual room capacities and set ups in drill down pages

26

Event Sourcing Trends

Event Sales Solution

On Your Website

On the Cvent Supplier Network

Bottom Line

01

02

03

04

05

27

Bottom Line: Event Sales Solution is Everywhere Planners AreDifferentiate your venue on the Cvent Supplier Network (CSN) and dramatically enhance the planner experience on your website with Event Sales Solution.

• Enhance your profile on the Cvent Supplier Network, the largest event sourcing platform in the world, with unique content.

• Ensure your venue appears in CSN search results when planners request to see only properties with interactive floor plans.

• Help planners envision their event at your venue with common layouts and max capacity diagrams.

• Generate qualified leads from your website instantly without lifting a finger.

Event Sales Solution functions like an interactive capacity chart venues can use to capture business online.

28

1. 2019 Global Meetings and Events Forecast2. Cvent Study Reveals Millennial Meeting Planner Sourcing Habits3. Cvent Hotel Success Group Washington, DC 2019. 4. DMAI 2014 - Digitally Distorted research, as cited in How to Fix the Venue

Sourcing Bottleneck and Drive Direct Bookings, Social Tables ebook5. Launch of Cvent Microsites Delivers New Solution to Drive Group Business

for Hotels and Destinations6. 25 Ways to Sell Smarter with Social Tables7. A Guide to Visual Sales8. Think with Google, 5 principles of effective mobile landing pages for

travel marketers

Sources

29

Planning the buffet, placing the mics, laying it all out — it’s not easy making the little details come to life. So in 2011, we set out to change the way events are designed by introducing better collaboration between planners and properties.

Today, we’ve evolved that vision into an innovative platform offering the industry’s leading solutions for event sales and services. All to help the world create the best face-to-face events.

Stay Connected

For the latest resources and industry news, connect with Social Tables on

your favorite social network.

Learn more: www.socialtables.com