In this article, you'll learn how to set up an event campaign using Spear. Before getting started, make sure you have:
An active profile connected to Spear
The ICP you want to input (optional for conference campaigns that use Speakers, Sponsors & exhibitors or Attendees as the prospect source)
The campaign copy you want to use
What is an Event Campaign?
An event campaign is a strategy designed to generate business opportunities around a specific occasion. It uses a targeted messaging flow to secure registrations or meeting slots for that event. Start and end dates are optional, so you can schedule the campaign around the event or run it without dates, like a standard campaign.
What are event campaigns used for?
Driving registrations for a client-hosted event, such as an invite-only session, dinner, or webinar.
Arranging sales meetings with prospects who are attending a major industry conference.
Re-engaging contacts immediately after meeting them at a networking session.
Targeting a specific group of relevant prospects, regardless of whether they are attending an event.
How to start a new event campaign
Every event campaign lives inside an event. You first create the event, and once it exists you add one or more campaigns to it.
Step 1: Create the event
Go to Event Campaigns in the left menu and click New event at the top right.
Enter the Event name (required).
Add the RSVP link: the event's URL, so Spear can identify the event correctly. For a conference, use the conference website.
Select the Event type (required).
Optionally, set the Event start date and Event end date.
Click Create event.
Step 2: Add a campaign to the event
On the event row, click Add campaign.
An event can have several campaigns, for example one for speakers, one for sponsors and one for attendees.
Step 3: Choose the campaign type and settings
New Prospects: for new prospects you are not connected with. Get prospect suggestions and send personalized trigger-based messages.
Existing Network: for existing connections within the outreach platform. Spear suggests prospects from your network that match your ICP.
Select your preferred option and click Create Campaign.
Enter a clear and descriptive name in the Campaign Name field.
Choose the primary language for your campaign.
Enter an outreach start and end date to automatically turn the campaign on and off.
Step 4: Choose who to target
In the campaign settings, use the Which type of prospects do you want to target dropdown to pick who the campaign reaches. Then choose a Prospect source. The prospect source options depend on the audience you pick. All audiences are available on every plan, including Starter.
Speakers: people speaking at the event.
Sponsors & exhibitors: people at companies with a booth or a sponsorship.
Attendees: people going to the event, found from several sources.
General: relevant prospects, whether or not they are attending the event.
Speakers, Sponsors & exhibitors and Attendees: pick a prospect source
For these three audiences, the prospect source has two groups:
Spear finds them for you: choose Automatic speakers finding, Automatic sponsors finding or Automatic attendees finding. Spear finds the people and filters them by the ICP of this campaign. For public industry conferences with a public event website, Spear finds speakers, sponsors and exhibitors from the event's official website once you save the event. This only happens once per event: if another profile creates a campaign for the same event later, Spear reuses what it already found.
You already have them: choose Your Sales Navigator prospects if you have the relevant people in a Sales Navigator search or leads list (paste its URL), or Your list of prospects to use a list you upload from the Lists tab with the profiles that should enter this campaign.
To review the speakers Spear found, click View speakers on the event row. For the full walkthrough, see How to View Event Speakers and Add Them to a Campaign.
ICP filters are optional here. For conference event campaigns with Speakers, Sponsors & exhibitors or Attendees as the audience, you can leave the ICP empty. Go to Campaign settings → ICP filters. Job title is no longer mandatory, and the whole ICP can be empty. With an empty ICP, Spear does not filter the people it finds by ICP. If you do set filters, Spear applies them as before. ICP filters are still needed when the audience is General.
General: pick a prospect source
With General selected, you choose between three sources:
Spear ICP filters: you define your ideal customer profile and Spear finds relevant prospects for you.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator URL: use your existing Sales Navigator search URL.
Prospect lists only: works only with prospects you upload through Lists, with no automatic prospect generation.
Attendees: choose where Spear looks
Attendee campaigns find people from more than one place. When you select Attendees, an Advanced link appears next to "Spear finds them for you". Click it to open Advanced attendee settings, where you tick the sources you want Spear to use:
Event attendees: the event's own attendee list. It is always on, so there is nothing to select.
Sponsors & exhibitors: people at companies with a booth or a sponsorship.
LinkedIn: people writing posts and hashtag posts that mention the event.
Google News: people named in articles and blogs about the event.
Past editions: speakers and attendees from past years.
Click Save when you are done, then use Back to campaign settings to return to the campaign.
One connection request per source
Each source has its own connection request message, shown under the source. Click the pencil icon next to a source to edit its message, so you can word the invitation to match how the person was found. Trigger-based messages are also available for attendees. Each source appears separately in the campaign, for example "attendees (linkedin)", and you set its message on its own.
Event keywords
Every event has its own keywords. Click Event keywords at the top right of the Advanced attendee settings to see them and edit them. The number next to the link shows how many keywords the event has. Sources that rely on keywords, like LinkedIn and Google News, show "No keywords yet" until you add some.
Event campaigns run automatically
Once you save an event and its campaigns, Spear finds the audience for you, on every plan including Starter. The one thing that still helps is the attendee list from the event's networking app or website, if you can get to it. If you can, ask your Customer Success contact to upload that attendee list for the event. Once it is uploaded, your campaign pulls from it automatically.
Step 5: Set Up Your Sequence
Build your first message and follow-ups for the campaign. For the full walkthrough, see How do I set up my campaign sequence?
Once your sequence is complete, click 'Create Campaign' in the bottom-right corner of the screen to finalize your setup.
Useful Tips and Best Practices
Show tips
Start Early: If you use dates, set Auto activation to 3 weeks before the event to give yourself enough time to book meetings.
Stop on Time: If you use dates, set Auto de-activation to one day before the event so you don't send meeting requests while the event is happening.
No dates: Without start and end dates, the event campaign runs like a standard campaign, so activate and deactivate it manually when you need to.
Connect the App: If available, enable the Networking app toggle to pull attendee data directly from the event platform.
Maximize Volume: Consider pausing other general campaigns for the profile attending the event to concentrate daily volume on the event campaign.
Related Articles
How to add a single prospect to a campaign: if you meet a specific contact at the event and want to target them immediately.
How to View Event Speakers and Add Them to a Campaign: review the speakers Spear found for a conference and add them in bulk.