Innovative web solutions

Leveraging Webflow for event management

Introduction

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The way we build websites has massively transformed over the last three decades.

Long gone are the days of simple HTML sites and rigid templates. As new technology and ways of working have entered the mainstream, how we build websites — and digital experiences at large — has massively transformed.

As a result, speed and agility have becoming critical business levers, and organizations have shifted their focus to investing in talented people, powerful tech, and effective processes to put their businesses on a path toward long-term success. Likewise, creativity and innovation have become a new currency, and teams that have embraced the art of the possible are the ones that stand out from the crowd — and will likely stand the test of time.

Since a little inspiration never hurt anybody, today, we’re sharing a page from our own playbook: how to push the boundaries of what’s possible with a powerful technology in your corner.

Read on to learn how we leveraged Webflow’s composable CMS and visual development capabilities to build our own, custom events platform — and how you can, too.

Chapter 1

Building a successful events program

Why marketing teams should invest in events, and the key challenges associated with building out a successful program

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Events marketing is a critical component to driving growth

Cultivating relationships and building personal connections sit at the center of marketing. It’s what allows organizations to better understand their customers and prospects, communicate value in a more genuine way, and build strong foundations that can better establish trust.

One of the most important ways our marketing team, here at Webflow, builds true one-to-one relationships with prospects and customers is through events. Whether it’s user conferences, trade shows, community meet ups, or intimate dinners, the ability to carve out time to connect with our audience face-to-face is critical to generating brand awareness, driving demand, and accelerating pipeline maturity.

The core challenges we’ve faced with event marketing

Anyone who has ever worked in event marketing knows how big of a logistical undertaking it can be — especially when customizing the format or scaling the size.

Events is not a one-person job: it requires support from executive stakeholders, IT, marketing operations, content marketing, field marketing, and external partners and vendors. As a result, managing these logistics across teams and tools can quickly spiral out of control.

Let’s look at two of the primary challenges our team faced when initially building out our events program.

Cost

The cost of the average events platform has skyrocketed. Upon evaluating 5+ different solutions that had most of the functionality our marketing team needed for event management, the average cost of bringing on a new tool was roughly $40,000.

Control

In order to have the autonomy our marketing team needs to run in-person and virtual programming, we needed solutions that give us the ability to own every guest interaction. This included the ability to:

Build new landing pages
Check-in users digitally
Access data for reporting

Scaling our events program has added a layer of complexity

Over the last six years, our team has scaled our events program from one, in-person user conference, to a virtual user conference, to multiple user conferences in a single year, plus multiple industry events, private programming, and gifting programs. As a result, the challenges of cost and control multiplied year-over-year.

Scaling events is a sign of success — but requires precise execution

Growing your events program year-over-year requires a continued level of detailed and thoughtful execution, as well as agility. The tools and systems your teams use can dramatically impact your success, and below are a few must-haves for any marketing team growing their events program.

Customize the user experience by event type

A holistic events strategy encompasses a variety of event types — from high-touch roundtables and hands-on workshops to flagship industry conferences. Event teams need the ability to customize the user experience based on varying needs in order to consistently craft memorable experiences.

Stay within budget

The cost of events can quickly multiply, and with marketing teams being asked to reduce spend where they can, event teams need to ensure they’re proving out the ROI of their programs, including their event technology investments.

Accurate event reporting and data

Event teams need access to the right event metrics in order to continue to gain insights about your customers and the overall event experience. Having access to this data is what will empower your teams to optimize your holistic events strategy.