Typically the conferences where we have attended and given presentations have provided us with a list of attendees, or at least let us put up our fish-bowl to collect those business cards. Obviously it's much easier to get that list in spreadsheet form and just import it, assigning the attendees a Category on import; however, if manual entry of each is the only way, then that is what we do (still assigning that Category as we go).
Once we have our Category assigned, it is super each (Search -> Contacts) to pull up that list whenever we need it.
a. The Campaign
Campaigns are a great way to assign a budget and track Expenses against it, create goals and assign Opportunities against those, and generally see if the juice is worth the squeeze.
Add all those Attendees to the Campaign in the Attendees tab, using the Contact Selector to grab them by the Category that you set up. There is a checkbox next to each attendee's name -- I usually leave it unchecked to indicate that they just attended, then check the box to indicate those that I had some form of engagement with. The next step after that would be to add an Opportunity for any that were qualified leads or desired follow-up.
b. As a Project
Another option to group people together for common activity tracking is to use a Project, especially where you want to link individual Tasks or Journals to the group as a whole.
Add the conference attendees to the Project in the same way as we did with the Campaign, from the Contact Selector's Category search. Now we have a nice place to tie related marketing, such as an email sent to the attendees, or tasks we do in the office (sending samples or brochures to the group?).
2. Marketing Mailer
When sending out bulk mailings, whether postal or email, we want to track who was sent what so that we can refer to it when talking with the contact in the future and generally know what step we are on in our marketing process with them.
a. The Postcard
Whether it is a brochure, packet, or postcard, a physical mailing is a common way to reach out to leads. This type of effort is ideal for using a Campaign or Project to track, just as was the case with the in-person conference event. Use a Campaign to track the return on the investment; use a Project as a more generic touch-point only type of container.
b. The Email
It is super easy to link that Email to the Project, just by typing the Project name into the bottom of the email before (or after if you forgot) sending. This email then shows as a touch-point in the Activity list of the Project, as well as the Activity list of each contact that it was sent to.
3. The Price Increase Notice
This one-time (or at least less-frequent event) may not need particular follow-up, doesn't have a lot of potential to generate leads, and is more of a one-time touch that is important to record but doesn't need the nuance of a Campaign or the multiple-touches of a Project.
a. The Email
Every recipient of the bulk mailing automatically has the email shown in the Activity list (no additional action required).
b. The Additional Info
Just like you can Bulk Assign Categories, you can Bulk Assign a piece of Additional Info. If I am pulling my list from an existing Category to mail to, I might just mark those I have already sent it to with an Additional Info note. In this way as new people are added to that generic category, I still have an independent list of who received that particular price increase note. Just like using a category, it is easy to pull up the list by Additional Info as well (Search -> Contacts).