By Mike Antonczyk and Matt Hirschland Ph.D., H2A Partners
Engaging C-suite executives and enticing them to attend events has always been hard. It is made more so in a world that is now AI all the time, and where everyone is competing for the attention of the same leaders on the topic. Taken together, this has made getting the right people in the room more difficult than ever. So, what does great look like in an environment where appetite to engage decision makers is high and yet the signal to noise ratio makes attracting them difficult?
A client recently came to us after hosting 2-day conference. They were frustrated by who actually showed up – and especially who did not. As they reflected, some red flags along the way suggested they needed a different approach.
- From the start, they discovered their contact and CRM data to be outdated
- They realized they were going head-to-head with numerous, similar events
- Some invitees shared that they were unwilling/unable to travel
- The program content was good but not distinctive (‘AI fatigue’ is real)
- As the event came closer, they resorted to accepting anyone who could join
Finding Your Who and What
Beyond the obvious correctives to the red flags above (i.e., get your data right, develop compelling content, consider local dinners over multi-day summits, etc.), we at H2A propose one more important change.
The firms we see being most successful in gathering leaders right now are the ones that are laser-focused on the “who” and “what” their practice/firm/solution solves. Rather than casting a wide net and attempting to attract nebulous executive archetypes like ‘those leading transformation’ or a broad swath of ‘AI executives’, for example, they are focused on very specific profiles. In practice this looks like operations leaders, VP and above, in the Northeast leading CPG companies $2 to $15 billion in size. Or they are targeting specific functional titles and roles inside industries where both interest, experience and topics are deeply shared.
Finding your who and what means answering three questions:
- Where you currently serve, who are you interacting with and serving on a daily basis vs. who is the decision maker when it comes to the hiring decision (or is it the same person)?
- What are the big questions these leaders have and does your reason and program for convening them address these specifically?
- When we talk about your practice’s/firm’s/region’s offering, what is different in terms of the proof points compared to your competitors’ offerings (e.g. faster, cheaper, different expertise in XYZ, etc.)?
Answer these questions and you have a good indication of the right invitees and the topics they care about most such that the program you build is fit-for-purpose.
Built for Results and the Long-Run
In our experience, the most impactful and longest running client gatherings are true peer groups. They are comprised of leaders who share a natural “glue” in that they see themselves as leading similar lives, facing and solving problems in common. They are not interested in general knowledge but are seeking specific expertise and camaraderie with a group enduring similar pain points. The groups may be smaller, but these are the cohorts most valuable to attendees and those that bring them together.
To be clear, this can be a tough sell internally. A group of 15 highly engaged and clientable executives versus a room filled with 150 attendees are different creatures (though smaller events are more and more common). And yet, if business development is the goal, the former is the surest path to success. If a broad-based brand building initiative that creates platforms for internal leaders to get in front of large audiences that are not high-likelihood buyers is the goal, then the answer is markedly different. We get it. Sometimes it really is just about numbers and storytelling. And yet, if commercial conversations are the desired end-state, in our experience, a smaller group of the right people is far more valuable than a room full of the wrong ones.