Event Marketing Required Skills and Roles
- It is important to differentiate the roles and responsibilities for events within your organization
- Event marketing roles include event manager, content strategist and social/inbound marketing/digital strategist
- In smaller organizations, one individual may responsible for many roles tied to events
Multiple functions from sales, marketing and product are responsible for events. Depending on the organization’s size and the types of events it executes, the functional responsibilities for events and related activities may sit within multiple departments or geographies, and the skills required may extend across multiple roles. At smaller organizations, we typically find one individual is responsible for many roles tied to events. Event marketing roles and responsibilities include:
- Event manager. Critical to event success, this role acts as project manager and coordinates the logistics and operations for events.
- Content strategist. For events, this role often helps craft messaging and creates assets by event type, aligned to the goals for each event.
- Social/inbound marketing/digital strategist. This role often manages and monitors social media, designs Web assets and assists automation/nurture specialists and content strategists. For events, it is critical to have this role focus on capturing inbound social media mentions, responses and inquiries.
- Automation/nurture specialist. This role is instrumental in capturing inquiries generated from events and is responsible for implementing and managing rules, triggers and nurture programs within marketing automation platforms and event management software. As part of the overall lead nurturing strategy, this role is responsible for creating demand in the Demand Waterfall®. Events create demand that needs to be nurtured, and this role builds nurture programs linked to event goals.
- Influencer relations. Media and analysts play a critical role in event strategy and overall effectiveness. This role owns and manages the relationships, communication strategy and meeting scheduling with media and analysts.
- Sales enablement. This role is responsible for accelerating potential buyers through the sales cycle. In connection with events, this role is responsible for scheduling meetings with potential buyers as well as supporting marketing efforts related to engagement and promotion.
- Teleprospecting. This role is critical both pre-event and post-event to help drive attendance, deliver messaging related to the event and follow up with attendees to identify interest and lead level qualification.
It is important to differentiate the roles and responsibilities for events within your organization. Specifically, ensure execution logistics are handled, but equally as important, make sure the person responsible for event logistics does not also assume responsibility for event objectives, messaging and prospect/customer followup. Consider using a specialist event manager execution resource.
As part of our ongoing research into event marketing, SiriusDecisions would like to hear about your experience. We invite you take part in this survey, which will take no more 10 to 15 minutes to complete. [NOTE: The survey is now closed.]
The main focus areas of this survey include:
- Where the event management function sits within the organization and how many resources are allocated
- How events are used in the organization, and what is the percentage breakdown of in-person events vs. online events
- The current level of usage of event software within the total organization, and integration within the mix of sales and marketing technology
Everyone who takes the survey will receive a copy of the consolidated report. This authoritative report can provide great value when it’s time to inform management about the current state and how you wish to focus your investment of time and budget in the coming year.