6 Tips to get the right people at your Executive Roundtable

4 minute read.

One of the significant challenges marketers face when organising events, is getting the right audience. I often hear complaints that an audience is too junior.

It isn't an easy challenge to solve. Still, you can increase your chances of getting your target accounts at your next roundtable by following the below tips.

Content is King

To get the right audience at your roundtable, you must put your target audience at the centre of the roundtable topic. You want to base your roundtable topic on problems your target audience is facing. You also want your topic to have some edge to pique an executive's attention. Design the roundtable to include a simulation component or have a controversial view on a solution to that problem.

Currently designing content for your upcoming event? Check out our recent article on how to design highly relevant event content that converts!

Customer Speaker

Executives seek social proof that other executives will be at the event. The best way to create this is to have a customer co-moderator alongside your speaker. This customer's moderator role is to share their experiences and act as your brand champion. Make sure the customer you choose fits your target audience….no point in having an SMB head of IT for a roundtable aimed at large enterprise CISOs!

For tips on how to ask your customers to speak at your events, check out this article. There are also three free email templates you can use to secure a customer speaker.

Personalisation… make them feel special!

When inviting attendees to an event, most companies go down the route of creating a designed email invite. They then send it out to their entire database. This approach can get some results, but it doesn't work best when going for a targeted audience. 

You want your target audience to feel special and that this event was meant for them. Our approach at Clutch is to send them a personalised email inviting them to the event, followed by a phone call touchpoint. This personalised approach takes time and effort but leads to improved results.

Remember to always follow up. We like to have 4 touchpoints in the invite process, as emails can be missed and phone calls sent to voicemail.

First Impressions Matter

According to Litmus Research, executives give each email 12 seconds of their attention before deleting it. This means it is critical to ensure your email looks professional and is easy to read. 

For example, I often see roundtable topics where the writer wants to show how smart they are by stuffing in as many buzzwords as possible…. don't do this. Instead, make the topic clear in simple English so that someone giving it a quick scan can tell if it is right for them.

I also recommend having a webpage built for your roundtable. This webpage should again be simple in design, showing who is moderating, the topic and the location. Make it look clean, professional and pleasant to look at... Those little details help make people think this is an event I cannot miss.

You must also have a simple registration process. You don't need to collect 17 fields for them to register. You need name, job title, organisation, email and phone. Any more fields and you start leading to people dropping off as they see it as too complicated.

Attendee Incentives

It does help to have incentives for attending your executive roundtable. The starting point is to select venues that are seen as premium, so attendees know they will be getting a top-class lunch.

For tips on picking the right venue, check out this handy guide to choosing the perfect Roundtable restaurant.

It can also help to provide some out-of-the-box incentives to encourage attendance. This could include Uber vouchers to help them get to the event, a prize draw, or a charity incentive. A charity incentive is where you will donate to a charity of their choice in exchange for their attendance. I have seen these be successful in helping pull a potential attendee over the line.

Adjust your Expectations

The vast majority of SaaS companies are targeting the same ASX 100 companies in Australia….its a fact! However, there are only so many events the CISO from a Big 4 bank can go to! And they are being invited to 10-15 events a week. So when selecting your desired target audience, be realistic with what is achievable.

Try to add some accounts that aren't the usual ASX 100 and use intent data to target accounts searching for your product. Doing so will lead to a higher registration rate and a better chance of attendees converting to demo requests.

It is getting more and more difficult to get attendees coming to events. The rise of Work From Home has meant an executive isn't in the city daily, and now they are becoming much pickier about what events they will attend. Following the tips above, you should improve your chances of getting your target accounts to your next event.

Struggling to get bums on seats? We offer complete Audience Acquisition services, connecting you with the right people. Get in touch now for a quote.

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