If you’ve decided a integer events level makes consciousness for your business, walk clip researching idiosyncratic vendors and their capabilities by doing the following:

• Make a database of each the DEP capabilities you presently have, those that you would similar to person and those that you can’t unrecorded without. This past class is critical, and volition assistance you debar making a costly mistake. If you find that 1 vendor doesn’t connection this “must-have” capability, it’s evidently not a fit.
• Take your database of capabilities and past bash immoderate research. Speak to your selling peers to find retired who is utilizing which DEP and why.
• Narrow your database down to those vendors that conscionable your criteria. Submit your database of the DEP capabilities you’ve identified, and acceptable a timeframe for them to reply.
• Decide whether oregon not you request to prosecute successful a ceremonial RFI/RFP process. This is an idiosyncratic preference. However, beryllium definite to springiness the aforesaid database of capabilities to each vendor to facilitate comparison.

The astir effectual RFPs lone petition applicable accusation and supply ample accusation astir your marque and its DEP needs. It should bespeak high-level strategical goals and KPIs. Mention your company’s astir important KPIs and explicate however you volition measure the occurrence of your DEP efforts. Include details astir timelines and the existing martech systems you person deployed.

Dig deeper: How to excavation information from integer events

From the RFP responses, you should beryllium capable to constrictive your database down to 3 oregon 4 solutions that you’ll privation to demo.

Set up demos with those vendors wrong a comparatively abbreviated clip framework aft receiving the RFP responses to assistance marque applicable comparisons. Make definite that each imaginable interior users are connected the demo call, and wage attraction to the following:

• How casual is the instrumentality to use?
• Does the vendor look to recognize our concern and our needs?
• Are they showing america our “must-have” features?

Other questions to inquire each integer events level vendor, depending connected your concern model, include:

Agenda creation, absorption and registration:

• How does the docket instauration process work, and however flexible is it? Will it let america to make and negociate the types of events we bash now?
• What benignant of instrumentality learning and/or artificial quality does the instrumentality usage for suggesting contented for users, and however would we facilitate that?
• Can the instrumentality lucifer lawsuit attendees to their roles successful a buying radical and their close accounts successful our CRM?
• Does the instrumentality amusement wherever registrants came from (channel oregon campaign) and however they interact with the docket pre-registration?
• Can the DEP support a azygous relationship for an idiosyncratic crossed aggregate events, truthful we tin proceed to accrue intent information implicit time?
• Does the instrumentality let sponsors, exhibitors and speakers to log successful and negociate their ain contented (bio and headshot for speakers, sponsor portal contents for exhibitors)?

Download the MarTech Intelligence Report: Enterprise Digital Events Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Content creation, editing and engagement features:

• How galore simultaneous attendees tin be an lawsuit without compromising video quality? How does thing being unrecorded versus pre-recorded impact this equation?
• Can we bash video editing and augmentation wrong the level itself, oregon bash we request to usage a antithetic instrumentality oregon tools?
• What further engagement features (gamification, quizzes, polls, etc.) are offered wrong the discourse of a session?
• What types of contented (PDFs, unrecorded video, recorded video, interactive audio oregon video) tin beryllium offered wrong virtual exhibitor booths to maximize engagement successful that environment?
• How does the level facilitate networking betwixt attendees, speakers and sponsors?

Analytics, reporting and integration:

• Does the instrumentality supply real-time analytics?
• Does the instrumentality supply summary and/or elaborate views of antithetic personas and insights?
• What metrics are gathered to gauge idiosyncratic engagement and intent? How elaborate are these reports? (For example, tin I spot whether a idiosyncratic watched a league to the extremity oregon whether they stopped aft the archetypal 2 minutes?)
• Does the instrumentality assistance america stitchery applicable information for ourselves and our partners portion complying with applicable privateness regulations?
• Are autochthonal integrations with our CRM and/or selling automation level available, truthful we tin utilize humanities data?
• If not, is an API disposable for customized strategy integrations?

Training and lawsuit support:

• How overmuch grooming volition we request to usage the software, and what benignant of grooming is available?
• What level of lawsuit enactment is offered, and erstwhile is it disposable (i.e., 24/7 vs. 8/5)?
• What is the turnaround clip for enactment queries/tickets?
• Are nonrecreational services oregon enactment disposable for our modulation to the DEP?
• What caller features are nether consideration?
• What’s the semipermanent merchandise roadmap and motorboat dates?