Unfortunately, for much of the energy industry, events are a critical element of the marketing mix. But since the future remains uncertain, many sponsors, exhibitors and delegates have been forced to explore alternative means of achieving their objectives in the weeks and months ahead.

Christy Ferguson, a research director at Gartner, stressed the importance of contingency planning in a recent blog post about mitigating risk and preserving the bottom line amid the rising tide of conference cancellations that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

“Teams must be prepared to quickly pivot marketing strategy and build campaigns to address this shift,” she said. “Due to the fluid nature of the current environment, it’s necessary to build contingency plans for the foreseeable future. Marketers that have these contingency plans in place are less likely to experience disruptions to their awareness, demand generation and product launch efforts.”

If you planned to exhibit at an event that’s been cancelled or postponed, or have concerns about an upcoming trade show, Ferguson offers these tips:

• Activate your SDRs and sales teams to reach buyers who have scheduled meetings in advance with you and offer to travel to meet them in their offices. If travel is a concern, conduct web meetings. Keep in mind that other exhibitors will be doing this as well. So, timing is crucial. For the best results, ensure that this outreach happens within 24 hours of cancellation.
• Shift or increase spend in digital advertising to promote product launches that were planned as part of the event. Use paid social to directly target buyers who had meetings or are on your account-based marketing lists.
• Direct your PR firm to expand media engagement strategies—especially if product launches were planned during the event. If necessary, shift budget to PR to accommodate this effort.
• Develop webinar content that conveys the key messages you planned to share at the trade show—including speaking sessions and in-booth presentations. The folks who would be attending at the trade show will be in front of their computers, after all.

Bottom line? Thinking outside of the box can help you drive business during the current conference cancellation era.

Let’s be honest: There’s no substitute for a face-to-face conversation. In the energy sector, handshakes still mean something. Events provide participants with access to a wide, captive audience of clients and prospects in an environment that promotes meaningful discussions.

In fact, companies that rely on events to build brand awareness, launch new products, demonstrate thought leadership, network with clients and generate new leads can achieve these same objectives with content marketing, which encompasses a variety of proven tactics to establish meaningful digital connections with decision makers.

There’s been a lot of hype around content marketing, native advertising and sponsored content in recent years. However, these same terms—and their many derivatives—are also the source of much confusion in the energy industry.

So, before we move on, let’s review some of the basics.

Content marketing is a strategic approach to attracting and retaining customers. The term encompasses both the production and distribution of text, images, video and/or audio material that is informative, educational or entertaining.

Like all marketing strategies, the goal is to drive a desired action—like purchasing a product or service. The key difference between content marketing and traditional advertising is that the former tends to be audience-focused. It lacks a hard sell but is closely aligned with the company’s sales funnel.

As noted in our recent content marketing primer for the oil and gas sector, by producing timely, compelling content that has real value—and serving it up on a regular basis, without asking for anything in return—companies establish themselves as trusted thought leaders while generating brand awareness that, over time, helps create a loyal audience of followers who turn to them when they’re looking for products and services that solve their problems.

Whether it’s a long-form article about market trends, customer case study, video interview with a top executive, product demo, podcast or webinar, content takes many different forms. Choosing the right one depends on your particular objectives.

Some are more effective than others. But, at the end of the day, substance is far more important than form.

The cornerstone of a successful content marketing campaign is quality. Equally important is sharing that content with the right people in the right place at the right time. There are countless distribution channels—online and in print. But most fall within one of three categories: owned, earned or paid.

Blogs, email newsletters, corporate websites and social media are examples of owned content distribution options. Earned media includes op-eds, guest articles, unsolicited news coverage and shares on social media. Native advertising and sponsored content placements with trade publications, online or in print, are a form of paid distribution.

Owned media is an effective, affordable distribution option that’s critical for all content marketing initiatives.

The reach is limited to a company’s existing network of contacts, however. As such, a growing number of companies impacted by trade shows that have been canceled or postponed over coronavirus concerns are turning to news platforms like Upstream to distribute content on their behalf, in the news river, at the bottom of articles, on social media and other places where decision makers are primed to engage with compelling content.

Whether it’s a long-form article about market trends, customer case study, video interview with a top executive, product demo, podcast or webinar, content takes many different forms. Choosing the right one depends on your particular objectives.

Some are more effective than others. But, at the end of the day, substance is far more important than form.

Anyone can create content. Social media, blogs and email marketing make sharing content faster, easier and cheaper than ever before. Producing content that’s unique, creative, compelling and drives action – and getting the right people to engage with it – is a different story.

As more and more marketers produce and distribute content, it becomes harder and harder to rise above all the noise. Collaborating with publishers your target audience relies on for industry news, analysis and commentary can help you overcome this hurdle.

Upstream is among the growing number of publishers that are equipped to produce branded content from scratch – or fine-tune an asset that you’ve already produced. Those with dedicated content marketing teams can also provide practical, data-driven guidance that ensure their advertising partners are achieving KPIs and maximising ROI.

Contact us to learn more about how your organisation can invest in content marketing to drive business you planned on generating at conferences.