Richer First Party Data, Alexi Khajavi, Questex
In his MediaGrowth Executive Summit presentation, First Party Data; Audience is the Product, Alexi shared that, over the past four years, Questex has gone from selling banners and booths to profiting from the value of the richer profiles and data sets it builds around its customers and audiences. He expanded on the following conclusions that led the company to redesign its strategy, structure and culture:
- Audience is central to Questex’s DNA. Audience data is the core value of what the company offers.
- Audience development is not the task of one department. Everyone is responsible for creating deeper relationships that result in richer audience profiles.
- Rich audience profiles require more active data records. The more active the data, the more valuable it is.
- Additional touchpoints with audiences along the buyer’s journey (Discovery, Learning, Buying) result in more activity.
- Not every touchpoint needs to be a significant revenue generator. Some function primarily to enrich the data records.
- Audiences know the value of their information and will only share it when they receive equal or greater value for it.
- Providing value with quality content and connectivity is what Questex (and the B2B media industry) does better than anyone else trying to capture attention in noisy marketplaces.
- Market Leaders – experts in each of the six markets that Questex serves – can coordinate the content, sales and marketing efforts of the company to engage market audience members with value.
Audience members that experience value are willing to supply their personal data, which enables Questex to understand their intentions and to direct them to event tracks and other products that benefit them and the company’s customers. And the buyer’s journey can be continually repeated with new touchpoints and products.
As an example of the effectiveness of Questex’s data-building strategy, Alexi cited the journey of the company’s Bar & Restaurant Expo which was hit hard by the pandemic. After a 20% loss of attendees in 2021 relative to 2019 attendance, 2022 attendance was 27% higher than 2019, and the projection for this year is 37% to 40% higher.
