Database Marketing

How to capture and capitalize on information power

By Michael J. Flynn and Linda Kephart Flynn

When Prince Albert launched the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London's Crystal Palace, he ran down his list of potential international exhibitors, eliminated all nonproductive prospects, grouped likely participants by their business needs and tailored his sales pitch to the individuals involved.

Our methods have become more sophisticated since Britain's prince kicked off the world's first trade show 144 years ago. Yet show professionals throughout the world capitalize on the same basic concept: Know everything you can about your customer, and use that information to your advantage.

These days, the challenge is how to negotiate the same success when the sheer size of your exhibitor and attendee universes have expanded beyond your ability to reach them all on a personal level. Your salvation comes through capturing and capitalizing on huge amounts of information -- made possible by the latest database management technology -- not only to sell better, but also to help your customers sell better, too.

Database defined
A database is simply a collection of detailed information. Everything about your exhibitors and attendees becomes a valuable sales tool -- from their names and the sizes of their booths, to their buying preferences and the individual exhibitors they visited at last year's show. Marketing with a database means you can manipulate that information to reach extremely specific audiences with a message custom designed to appeal to their individual needs. Rolling database power into your marketing program also allows you to more reliably predict the future based on past customer behavior: You can better tell who will buy what next, and when.

Database marketing helps reveal emerging growth opportunities. It enhances customer relationships by enabling you to address their needs on a personal level, and it shows you where to spend your marketing dollars. Database marketing is the competitive edge.

Why now?
For the last two decades, most databases have been stored as computerized files. What's causing the recent explosion in database popularity is the almost mind-boggling power that technology has brought to the game. Information that once required a mainframe computer can now be handled on desktop PCs. Show managers can choose from a host of off-the-shelf database software or opt for one of several programs tailored to individual shows by software designers.

"Good marketers have always marketed to their database," says Anver Suleiman, President of CSE Management, a strategic marketing consultancy based in St. Petersburg, FL. "But technology has made the process easier, faster and cheaper; and it allows you to use more publicly available information."

Properly executed, database marketing lets you pitch only to those most likely to respond, allowing a greater return on your marketing dollar. Whether you're peddling floor space to international exhibitors or trying to increase your association's show attendee count, database marketing can significantly influence your success.

"Database marketing allows you to touch your customers," says Suleiman. "It actually lets you come as close to personalizing your contact with them as economics will allow. Those economics are based on how likely they are to respond, how deep you want to go in the database to differentiate them and the cost of the specific marketing vehicles you use."

The International Association of Fire Chiefs, based in Fairfax, VA, knows well the power of database marketing. "Our '91 show was 99,000 square feet, and this September we expect to hold a 180,000-square-foot show," says David Gudinas, Exhibits Manager. "In effect, we've doubled our size, and 50 percent of that growth can be attributed to improvements in database marketing. It's just become a part of the relationship we've developed with our exhibitors and attendees."

Reed Exhibition Companies places similar stock in what a quality database can deliver. "We see our databases as the family jewels, and we do everything we can to take care of them," says John Lewinski, Marketing Services Vice President in Norwalk, CT. "We've developed a database for each of our shows. Generally speaking, attendance at our events is growing, and that's a result of better targeting our message."

Despite such enthusiasm, show managers are just beginning to see the potential that database marketing really offers. No one knows exactly how many show managers currently market with a database. And those who do admit they have a long way to go.

"Even with all the interest, I have yet to see anyone using database marketing as much today as I was when I started back in '88," says Mark Bakke, a former show manager and co-founder of Systems & Services Inc., a Fairfax, VA, consulting firm that developed STARSystem database software for the show industry. "The software is there, the information is available, but it requires someone who will grab the ball and run with it."

Other industries already have experienced long-term success with database marketing. Airlines, banks and credit card companies that have tracked their individual customers for years remain in the forefront. Now they're using parallel computers which gang microprocessors to scan large data collections in an instant. Customized database software cross-indexes records to make information retrieval easier, and they've developed neural-network software that creates a model of customer behavior based on previous transaction analysis.

By comparison, most show managers are just beginning to invest in such technologies. The rewards, they're discovering, are there. Now they just have to go after them.

Data basics
A good database marketing program begins with a good database. You have to have the means and a method of gathering, storing, retrieving, comparing and presenting information if you want to get the maximum use from your system. Today, that means taking your old computerized files and converting them to a system that allows you to code, call-up and massage your data.

At least three other software companies besides his own currently supply show-specific software to the industry, according to Bakke. "Off-the-shelf packages can provide a good start," he says. "You can always have a software designer add more bells and whistles to the system as your needs increase." Systems & Services' products, including installation and training, cost from $1,500 to $6,000. Suppliers of more complex systems charge $10,000 and up.

"The good news in database marketing these days is that it's getting easier to access the information you need, and the price is coming down," says Carl Pugh III, President of Stamford, CT-based Cowles Event Management, producers of the National Center for Database Marketing show. "For 50,000 or 100,000 names, you used to need a mainframe computer. Now you can maintain a million-plus names on your desktop PC. For $5,000 you can get one heck of a PC, and another $500 gives you the basic software to run it. So for well under $10,000, you can be on your way."

Those who'd rather turn their existing lists over to a database contractor can have the information collected, maintained and supplied on an as-needed basis, without ever buying a computer. But think hard before turning this responsibility over to others."I prefer to stay in-house with a database if you can do it cost-effectively," says Pugh. "You're closer to the information, you know exactly what you need to market, and no one understands your business like you do."

Other show organizers have found that dividing their database responsibilities works best. The American Heart Association (AHA), for example, maintains a 1,500-exhibitor prospect database at its Dallas headquarters, while Galaxy Expocard in Frederick, MD, manages the association's 30,000-plus attendee database.

"Galaxy handles our registration services, and it works well to have them keep track of attendees throughout the show," says Debbie Draper, AHA's Manager, Scientific Meetings, Registration and Housing. "We merge and purge our in-house membership list with their list, which lets us update our material. When we do mailings to past attendees, Galaxy supplies the lists we need."

Teaming up works particularly well for AHA because the group uses Galaxy's Expocard, an electronically encoded pass card, to gather more information about show participants. "With the cards, we can include everything from an attendee's title, to the years they've attended the show, to their medical specialty," says Mike Godsey, Galaxy's Registration Services Director. "All the information that's entered in the database from their registration forms goes on the card's magnetic strip. Then, as they walk around the show, we can tell what booths they stop at, how often they use the message center, and what educational programs they attend.

"That information is retrieved from the show floor and poured into our database," Godsey says. "Then we can produce reports for the association and its exhibitors that, say, identify all the Maryland medical trainees interested in cardiology. The targeted marketing potential of that information is fantastic."

Targeted data use
Whether you develop your own database or choose to turn that responsibility over to others, you've still only solved part of the equation. Next, you have to use that information to build effective marketing programs. "You can have all the sophisticated database hardware and software in the world," says Bakke, "but you still need the marketing knowledge to do something with it. The two go hand in hand."

Bill Egan, President of Direct Marketing Management Co. in Fort Myers, FL, agrees. "Database marketing is not about hardware and software. The database is simply a tool that changes the way show managers communicate with their exhibitors and attendees."

The single greatest marketing capability your database gives you is the ability to single out a particular audience, based on past behavior, and identify the factors that go into that group's buying decision. For example, John Q. Ball, an east-coast billiard table manufacturer, needs a minimum of 300 square feet of floor space, traffic of at least 250 qualified buyers and an audience demographic made up of X, Y and Z. When you can tap your database for that kind of information, then customize a sales letter, personalized brochure or other direct marketing piece to Ball's attention, you greatly multiply your chances of making a sale.

"Database marketing lets us do a lot more definitive analysis of who we have at our shows, and who we want to mail material to in the future," says Reed's Lewinski. "Some of our shows might have a single letter that goes out, and others might have 30 or 40 different messages depending on the audience. You're not after more people, you're after more of the right people. Database marketing makes it easier to get qualified buyers in the aisles."

Besides identifying proven and profitable customers, a marketing database lets you find new clients who fit the mold of your current exhibitors. And the information gives you another chance to sell to those who should have an interest in your show but aren't exhibiting with you now.

"When we do a mail piece to those prospects," Lewinski says, "we want to be able to say, 'You came to our show for the first three years, but you didn't last year. Why not? Here's what we're offering this year and why you'll be interested.' When we can make that sort of personal approach, our chances of success grow dramatically."

The effect on your bottom line is obvious. Instead of mass mailing general sales material to people who may be disinterested parties, you send fewer pieces to those most likely to respond. The result: lower costs and higher returns.

Targeted sales is only one advantage of database marketing. Having that information carries many other bottom-line benefits as well. The Fire Chief's Gudinas, for example, notes that his database management and marketing efforts involve an ongoing cycle that includes partnering with exhibitors, increasing attendance and pre-selling his show floor.

First Gudinas offers exhibitors all the complimentary passes they want, in exchange for names, addresses and fire department information from those who receive the tickets. "That way the exhibitors feel like it's their show, I get additional qualified buyers in the door this year, and I have more database names to market to next year," he says. "The response has been tremendous."

But the cycle doesn't stop there. "Since we have more qualified buyers at the show, the exhibitors are happier," Gudinas says. "That means that where we used to sell 60 percent of our following show at the current event, we now sell better than 90 percent of the show floor on site. The database brings customers to the show, and that brings us revenue from our exhibitors."

Marketing spinoffs
As a show manager, you're not the only one who can benefit from your database marketing information. Your exhibitors and attendees will pay dearly for that kind of industry insight, and you're missing possible revenue sources if you overlook their interest.

"We get a lot of interest in our database when it comes to our own show," says Julie Nelson, Director of Information Services for the International Association for Exposition Management. "Exhibitors often want to use mailing lists drawn from that information, because they know it's one of the most effective ways to reach their customers before they arrive at the show."

CSE Management's Suleiman recently tracked the mailings received after he himself attended a November '94 exposition. "They must have sold my name for 30 to 50 uses, judging by the stack of brochures I've received," he says. "At an average of 10 cents a name, my name generated $2.50 to $3, and probably 85 percent of that would have been profit."

You can easily do the same with your own exhibitors. Make certain they know your database is available and easily accessible -- at a rate that's both attractive to them and profitable to your own organization.

In marketing your database information, think beyond the obvious exhibitor/attendee relationships, advises Systems & Services' Bakke. "A database should keep better track of companies' product lines and the markets they fit into," he says. "It's not enough to match up attendees' buying interests with exhibitors' product lines. Your exhibitors could easily be, and probably are, buying from each other." Track that information, let others know you have it, and you'll have additional database sales outlets.

Remember, too, that your marketing information can be useful to companies beyond your expositions' scope. You could sell your industry-specific information, for instance, to outside companies as they establish or refine their own sales and marketing plans.

Say you produce a marine products exhibition. The information you keep on your exhibitors and attendees could be quite helpful to a start-up boat manufacturer or a consumer publication seeking to expand its subscription base. Letting outsiders buy your information also gives you an entree for selling them booth space in the future. Consider the potential, then let others know about your database through such vehicles as trade publication advertising and your own direct-mail pieces.

Naturally, you want to carefully control your list and who uses it -- not only to ward off competition, but to capitalize on new product opportunities as well. "You should always look at the people who use your list to sell their own products," says John Long, Executive Director for Database Marketing at National Trade Productions in Alexandria, VA. "They're making money on your list, and it may be that the conference, seminar, book, newsletter or software they produce is something you should be producing and selling yourself."

In such cases, use your own list to test the waters. Put together a direct mail piece that markets the idea to those who would be most interested. Or create a survey to gauge response to a number of different ideas. You win whether you pursue the ideas or not -- at the very least, you'll have captured marketable information that can later be sold to others.

Don't forget to look for new sales angles within your data. For example, if you explore reaction to a proposed seminar topic by surveying your attendees, and 30 percent of them express interest in it, you can more easily entice an exhibitor with expertise in that area to join your show for the first time, expand their existing booth space to accommodate a video presentation, or sponsor an educational session on the topic themselves. It's just another revenue builder to develop through your database.

Database futures
Such opportunities are what database marketing is all about. In our high-speed, yet high-touch, business climate, database marketing brings companies and customers together in a more targeted, personalized and sales-oriented fashion.

Still, database marketing with its sophisticated, technological components has only begun to come of age. As more show managers realize the value of obtaining, then maintaining, accurate and reliable customer information -- and using that data to its fullest potential -- the practice will become even more widespread.

Keeping up may be challenging. Even now, technology far out-distances most exposition managers' ability to utilize it. It's a brave new world that show professionals must learn to navigate if they hope to stay ahead of the trend.

"It's like the college professor who, on the first day of class, has everyone shake hands with the person on their right, then their left," notes Direct Marketing's Egan. "Then he says, 'Now that you've all met, four years from now, two out of three of you won't be here.' That's database marketing today: Those who aren't using it won't be around for very long."

IAEM markets industry insidersAn award-winning direct mail piece or an expert telemarketing team mean little if your database fails to deliver the information you need to successfully analyze your market and identify those most likely to do business with you.

One of the fastest ways to grow your database is to identify and incorporate well-maintained, proven lists from other organizations. A prime example is the International Association for Exposition Management's membership list, on which most EXPO readers are included. It's widely known as one of the best databases for the show industry.

"IAEM's list is one of the most reliable we've found," says Mary Pleasants, Production Manager for the Atlanta Market Center. "We still advertise, but we get more response from direct mail, and to be effective your material has to go to the right people."

IAEM's list includes nearly 4,000 national and international show professionals, ranging from managers of the industry's largest expositions to those who oversee events of under 30,000 square feet. Another 7,000 exposition manager prospects, who haven't joined the organization, are also available through the IAEM database.

"We prospect for new names and information daily," says IAEM's Director of Information Services Julie Nelson. "We make an ongoing effort to merge and purge our list so we've got the most current information."

When the association's board first voted to allow membership list marketing in 1993, it stipulated that only IAEM members and recent advertisers in EXPO, Who's Who in Exposition Management and the IAEM Newsletter could rent the list. Each member or advertiser may use the same set of names twice each year.

IAEM can sort its list in a variety of ways. Geographic location, membership type and employment categories are among the most common delineators, although the database is sufficiently coded for extensive cross-referencing. For more information, contact IAEM at (214) 458-8002.

Capturing new namesDeciding who or what companies to include in your exhibitor database comes down to three simple questions: Does this person or company exhibit in your show now? Have they exhibited in the past? And is there even a remote possibility that they will exhibit in the future? Answering "yes" to one or more of those questions automatically identifies someone who should be a denizen of your database.

Current customers -- Current exhibitors have demonstrated their ability and willingness to do business with your show. Roll out the database carpet for them. Remember the 80/20 Rule -- 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers -- and you'll want to focus on these heavy hitters, making sure you've updated all relevant data about them.

First-time exhibitors are also vital. You need them to replace the inevitable attrition from failed companies, budget cutbacks and competitive shows. Plugging them into your database allows you to track their relationship with your company from the start, and that information may help you discern a new exhibitor trend as it happens.

Past customers -- One of the biggest mistakes show managers make is forgetting about those who have exhibited with them in the past. Once you've sold someone, even if he or she drifted away, you'll have an easier time selling them again than making a first sale to an unidentified prospect.

Start by tracking dropouts from your last few shows. Carefully consider each lost exhibitor and what might have gone wrong. Then get in touch again, with a personalized marketing approach that stresses the improvements you've made in your event.

Potential customers -- Time to get creative. Think of everyone who could or would exhibit at your show, if only you approached them with the right pitch. What about your competitors' customers? How about an emerging niche market? Companies that sell spin-off products to your target customers, divisions of large corporations, small one-person operations -- they all should be included in your database.

When it comes right down to it, your database should include everyone who might wind up in a business relationship with you. Once you've compiled the information, start devising targeted communications that will tell them about your show.