Showing posts with label Event Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Event Marketing. Show all posts

Friday, March 18, 2016

In today’s busy technological world, almost everyone has a smart phone connected to at least one social channel. For these people, it’s unlikely a day will go by when they don’t check their Facebook, emails, Instagram account and Twitter. Whether they’re on their lunch break or commute to and from work, it’s not unusual to see people with their heads buried in their phone, oblivious to the world around them.
If you’re an employer, this social engagement can be really beneficial for your company and the event you’re planning. It’s likely that people will be active on social media or checking their smartphones from your event. So instead of having a strict policy or ignoring the members of your audience tapping away at their screens, why not encourage social sharing and engagement and make sure that your event and business is at the centre of the conversation?
Unsure of the best way to utilise your employees’ powerful social network to create a buzz around your event? The team at Absolute Venues Worldwide have put together their 3 top tips…

Create a check-in location 

Make sure people have checked in at your event, so that anyone following their posts will know where they’re interacting from. Create a Facebook check-in which is easy to remember – such as the name of your company and the event – and share this with your employees throughout the event to remind them to join in.
It’s important you create and publicise an official location, as it can be very easy for people to check into the wrong place, or just tag the venue without including your specific event. Consider sharing the check-in on your Facebook and Twitter page and emailing attendees beforehand with the information. Alternatively, you could include the check-in location on any print outs you provide. Ensuring your employees are checked into the right location means that you can keep your eye on their activities and comments throughout the event.

Use a dedicated hashtag 

On Twitter, you can create an event hashtag (#) which will serve a similar purpose to the Facebook check-in tool. Create a hashtag which is easy for users to remember and relevant to the company (e.g. ‘conferencename2015’) then you can monitor its usage and see what people are saying about your event.
Once you’ve decided on the hashtag you’ll be using, make use of it on all of the social content you post. Ensure you’ve advertised the correct hashtag wherever possible- on social media, screens at the event location, any printed materials used, or on the name badges handed to the delegates.
Create an incentive for attendees to tag themselves to your event by holding fun, flash giveaways throughout the day. Enter anyone who uses the Twitter hashtag into prize-draws throughout the day and announce winners during breaks or before sessions commence. Make sure you publicise well the fact that these prize-draws will be taking place (perhaps announce it at the beginning of the event). Not only will this add a lighthearted, personal touch to the day, it will encourage other attendees to get involved with your brand on social too.

Provide live coverage

If you want others to use social media at your event, set the precedent by making sure the company is using it too. Bring a staff member along whose job is to populate and monitor the company social feeds for the duration, so that you can ensure you’re providing a live, up-to-the-minute commentary on your event.
As key events take place- such as guest speakers taking to the stage or new company plans/strategies being unveiled, announce these on your social feeds. Don’t forget to use your hashtag on Twitter, and feel free to interact with others using it by replying to their comments or sharing their insights on your own page. Create a network of engaged attendees through the content you publish, and engage in conversations and debates.
So don’t underestimate the power of social media, and try integrating it into your next corporate event. Not only will live-sharing guarantee the engagement of your employees, it will also ensure that anyone missing the event can keep up-to-date with important information. Using social, you can build a picture of key takeaways and give an insightful overview of events as they happen, with much more impact than a reflective meeting or email would have on your employees.
We understand how stressful organising an event can be, and we’re here to take the stress of planning an event out of the equation. Whether you’re looking for the perfect conference venue or suitable speakers, we’ll strive to understand your businesses requirements to help your event to run as smoothly as possible.Get in touch today, we’ll be happy to help!
byBest Events
in , ,
4:00 PM

Making the most of Social Sharing at your Business Event

In today’s busy technological world, almost everyone has a smart phone connected to at least one social channel. For these people, it’s u...
Read More

Friday, April 3, 2015

MAR15_31_00003009583
Before mobile apps and new technology came into the picture, it was slightly more difficult to keep track of  track ROI milestones that are currently dark holes in most marketing budgets.
Event marketing is currently a very expensive and sloppy process in most firms because the relevant information is fragmented, difficult to assemble, and the “database” is often a pile of business cards. But it needn’t be that way. The means for more careful thinking about the big money you may already be spending is at your fingertips.
According to a report by the Convention Industry Council, about 225 million people attend more than 1.8 million events sponsored by companies and associations, including 270,000 conventions and 11,000 trade shows per year. In 2012, even in the midst of an anemic global economy and budget tightening at firms, the amount spent on these events worldwide was an estimated $565 billion. Hosting, attending, and exhibiting at events comprise a whopping 21% of corporate marketing budgets, and one analysis indicates that these meetings “contribute more to the [U.S.] GDP than the air transportation, motion picture, sound-recording, performing arts and spectator sport industries.”
But it’s far from moneyball when it comes to event marketing. Three of five marketers use no tools to measure event ROI, and most companies plan and execute events without specific business objectives. Yet, after sales force costs, events are the biggest line item in many marketing budgets, especially for B2B firms.
So consider what more productive event spending means for the bottom line. Technology to do this exists, and it has implications for what managers can do before, during, and after the events they sponsor or attend.
Before. There’s not just one rationale for events. Goals can range from lead generation or gaining access to decision makers to actually selling products or services — measured against the expense and opportunity cost of that event. But if you don’t know where you’re going or why, no road will take you there. No technology can help managers who are unable or unwilling to set goals.
Pre-event registration systems like Cvent or Eventbrite help organizers sell tickets, promote the event, and measure responses beyond the number of registrations. They provide data, like campaign impressions and email opens, which can track the relative effectiveness of various event promotion activities.
The technology will also help you make a a core decision: is attending, sponsoring, or exhibiting at this event worth it?
Salesforce addresses this question with potential attendees at Dreamforce, its annual event. The Dreamforce 2014 homepage had a calculator that provided users with the projected ROI that their respective companies would gain from their presence at the conference. It also had a template letter with relevant data that prospective attendees could send with the data to their supervisors, justifying the expense, and, in the process, establishing accountable metrics for follow-up evaluation.
During. At the event, new technologies provide cost-reduction and revenue opportunities for all stakeholders. Mobile platforms accessed by apps on smart phones or tablets replace paper agenda, venue maps, and other standard documents, saving on printing and personnel costs while enhancing sponsorship opportunities. Trade groups such as the Georgia Economic Developers Association use an app that lowers the cost and distribution hassle of print material while generating enough incremental sponsorship revenue to pay for the app entirely.
The apps also make real the often-cited but rarely-delivered promise of “engagement” via social media. Attendees, speakers, and event managers can communicate, participate in surveys, polls, and contests, share reactions and insights, and broaden the event’s reach by allowing people to link with others they might not otherwise have met. Beacon (location based) technology allows exhibitors or sponsors to direct interested attendees to their product or booth. Software from firms like Glisser or sli.do create more interaction in sessions and enable ongoing dialogue beyond the meeting room.
These services help oft-distracted attendees participate via a smart phone or tablet. They also you to create  communications and content that reflect the spirit of the event and your attendees, which is far better than generic materials prepared at headquarters.
Marketers can also quantify many traditionally amorphous goals. Networking can be done and tabulated via the app, allowing exhibitors to connect with prospects in a more targeted way. Lead generation is now more efficient and scalable with apps that provide an all-in-one lead scanner and note-taking platform which can be seamlessly uploaded to a CRM system for follow-up.
Remember that, when it comes to signaling interest in the topic of the event, attendees have already voted with their feet. So this is often more sales-ready data about buyers and their key concerns than the broad demographic data currently resident in most CRM systems.
After. The most common metrics for evaluating an event are the “smile sheets” distributed after a session or the ad hoc perceptions of people in the exhibitor’s booth. New technology goes further. Did the keynote speaker deliver? Find out based on the number of bookmarks, views, and comments as well as session ratings. Did sponsors get the level of exposure they hoped for? Impressions, click-throughs, and interaction with their content are relevant to this assessment. Did attendees find the event a good use of their time? That’s an important customer-satisfaction issue, and comments in the activity feed are often a better way to gauge that than polite comments during the cocktail reception.
Data also helps to close the loop. Event goals depend upon your objectives with current or potential customers. With current customers, your primary goal may be to maintain relationships, meet other decision makers or influencers, stimulate add-on sales, or get feedback about prototypes. With potential customers, your goal may involve making initial contact, establishing a brand presence, gathering competitive intelligence, or getting follow-up calls with relevant prospects. These goals have inherently different evaluation criteria. For account maintenance and enhancement, for example, cost per contact is less relevant than it is for acquiring new leads or post-event meetings with prospects.
Some companies are already using this type of event data to boost business. SAP, the global software firm, generates 60% of its revenues from events and uses app data to inform sales reps of prospects’ interests. In turn, this data allows the reps to tailor their conversations to those prospects’ interests and focus on the most appropriate bundle of products and services. SAP credits this approach withincreasing sales by as much as 25% where it has been used.
The benefits of event marketing are undeniable. But too many firms tend to mismanage their business-development expenditures, treat their events like de facto perks, and they refuse to change their ways because “that’s the way they’ve always done it.” It’s shame, really. Because with current technologies, there’s little excuse for that.
Source: Harvard Business Review
Liked this post? Please Comment, Like and Share! Get updates in your inbox by entering your email address below.

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner
byBest Events
in
12:00 PM

Event Spending Justified

Before mobile apps and new technology came into the picture, it was slightly more difficult to keep track of   track ROI milestones that ...
Read More

Friday, March 27, 2015

A new study on the viral impact of event marketing from FreemanXP and the Event Marketing Institute shows that 50% of those surveyed indicated that they set aside a specific budget for social media. The study also found that a majority (53%) are planning on increasing spending on social media when it comes to event marketing, and the same percentage also measure their viral impact on an event level.

IMPACT OF DIFFERENT SOCIAL NETWORKS

Another aspect of the study was in the identification of the likelihood of viral success, largely dependent on the type of social network used. Study participants reported that Facebook was the most effective pre and post-event, while Twitter was best used in real time, during the event:
most effective social channel for event marketing
In addition, when asked to list the overall most effective social media channel for event marketing, Facebook and Twitter were almost exactly equal:
social media with event marketing impact

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

The majority of those surveyed served either B2B or a combination of B2B/B2C marketers and were mainly in IT, medical, pharmaceutical, and financial services. This demographic is important to note when taking stock of the participants perceived effectiveness of their social media efforts when it comes to increasing viral impact and content sharing levels. The majority believed that they are at average effectiveness (36%), noting the fact that they know they could improve.
In the B2B-focused companies specifically, there is a significant need for improvement. 78% of B2B event marketers believe that attendees and visitors to their events share event content on social media; yet only 32% of those polled say they use social media to reach non-attendees during events.
Utilizing social media can help companies reach attendees and those not at the event itself, thus doubling impact.
Screenshots of study taken Feb 16, 2015
Source: KO Marketing Associates
Liked this post? Please Comment, Like and Share! Get updates in your inbox by entering your email address below.

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner
byBest Events
in
5:00 PM

Study Shows 50% of Event Marketers Specifically Budget for Social Media

A  new study  on the viral impact of event marketing from FreemanXP and the Event Marketing Institute shows that 50% of those surveyed ind...
Read More

Wednesday, October 8, 2014



As we enter the last Quarter (Q4) of 2014, wise business owners/marketing teams are starting to plan and lay out their Digital Marketing budget and strategies for the coming year 2015. Many would look back at what transpired during 2014, identifying which strategies worked and what did not in their digital marketing efforts. Apparently, recycling the same strategies which could have worked well in 2014 might not be the same for 2015. This is due to the rapid change in digital marketing trends that are influenced by online marketplace and proliferation of various channels, gadgets and devices where people retrieve information while on the go.

As more and more businesses grow more adept and more mature in digital marketing strategies, experts predict 2015 to be a very interesting year for interactive digital marketing. According to MNC’s research, experience and market sensitivity, these top 5 predicted digital marketing trends and strategies can help your brand, product or service get much more marketing mileage and reach even more targeted audiences – all potential customers in the upcoming year 2015 and beyond.

They are related to social customer relations management (Social CRM), targeted messaging, effective content management, mobile marketing, and social integration.

1. Authentic Engagement Builds Trust (Social CRM)
For any business, trust plays an important role in building customer growth and brand loyalty. In the last decade, it has become especially important for businesses and brands to invest in effective strategies that help build trust and loyalty among online customers. According to a study by MotiveQuest and Northwestern University, 53% of changes in online and offline sales can be attributed to changes in the number of people advocating for a brand online.

One of the ways you can build trust online in 2015 is by authentically engaging with your online communities on sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Before you enter into the New Year, think about setting aside time to develop a realistic, consistent, and authentic engagement plan that you can follow and use for all the online communities you plan to participate in.

“Marketing Departments will fall out of love with social media and responsibility for the medium will shift even further into other corners of the organization, such as PR and Customer Service. Of course, Facebook and Twitter still own too much of consumer time for marketers to ignore them, but a focus on paid media will increasingly eclipse earned media in marketing strategies. The drivers for this transition have been in place for years, from marketer frustration with low engagement rates on Facebook brand pages to hashtag campaigns that backfire to desperate social stunts like fake account hacks to auto-responder embarrassments.

The best value brands can provide in social is to listen, co-create with customers, integrate social into the product experience, furnish customer service, educate and evolve for the growth of the sharing economy, and in most cases, these are responsibilities that fall outside the marketing department.” (“Augie Ray, a former Forrester analyst and Voice of Customer professional. Source : Forbes”)

2. Targeted Messaging
“We are going to see a huge increase in at location-based marketing.  With the rapid proliferation of devices, and the explosion of the Internet of Things, people will be carrying, utilizing, and depending on their devices more than ever.  As part of the increased dependency, there is an increased expectation of services and personalization.” (“Nancy Bhagat, Vice President of Marketing Strategy at Intel”.
Source: Forbes.)

3. Content Driven Management
“The social, mobile web has digitized information and allowed us all to connect with anyone, anywhere. When we need information, we can find it instantly. But digital disruption is about more than just information. As brands, we need to kill promotional marketing messages and start providing customer-centric information that is helpful to our target customers.” (“Michael Brenner, Vice President of Global Marketing at SAP”. Source: Forbes)

4. Mobile Marketing
“Smartphones and tablets have effectively become the center—and integrating components—of consumers’ multiplatform lives. In that sense, though, mobile is more than “the new desktop.” It has a role with far greater significance than simply serving as a substitute computing device. This shift is reflected in quantitative terms—in the amount of time consumers spend on their mobile devices on a daily basis—and qualitatively in the way these devices have effectively become the remote control for consumers’ lives and work.
This shift has also affected the path to purchase in dramatic ways. As a result, marketers need to try and continually engage prospective buyers to consider their brand, product or store, whether the purchase ultimately takes place in a digital or physical venue.” (“Noah Elkin, Principal Analyst, eMarketer”. Source : Forbes)

5. Social Integration Is What Your Customers Expect
Social integration was important to online consumers in 2014, and it will continue to be important for them going into the New Year. When a prospective or returning customer visits a website, they expect to be able to find options that allow them to easily interact and share information with their social communities—without having to leave the site to do so. Examples of social integration on websites include links to social media pages created and managed by the business, social media share buttons (like, tweet, +1, share, etc.), and the ability to login or comment using a Facebook, Twitter, or Google account.

If you don’t yet have any of these options on your business website, it’s worth spending time adding them before the New Year. Doing so will help you keep your current social-savvy customers happy, and also give you more credibility when it comes time to convert a prospective buyer visiting your site for the first time.

“Competition in the digital space continues to grow as marketers seek out real-time opportunities and intensify their speed of interacting in “the moment.” The key disruptive digital trends we’ve seen successfully join the forces of mobile and social together to reach audiences at the heart of their digital usage. Images and videos have become the go-to viral tactic, and will continue to expand as brands can use visuals to interact with their consumers and the newest group of influencers–visual influencers.

Recently announced, Instagram is joining the playing field, alongside other messaging apps like Snapchat and WhatsApp, to compete for the main communication channel for consumers to share personable moments. Social networks are hungry for challenges and eager to disrupt the current trends to start a new innovation.”  (“Suzanne Fanning, President of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA)”. Source : Forbes)

Source: www.mnc.com.my


byBest Events
in ,
11:00 AM

Predictions of #DigitalMarketing Trends for Successful Event Campaigns 2015

As we enter the last Quarter (Q4) of 2014, wise business owners/marketing teams are starting to plan and lay out their Digital Marketing b...
Read More

Sunday, October 5, 2014

illustro-mastercardsymposium-005

Three big trends are reshaping how consumers interact with brands and while they are no secret, the point businesses often miss is that digital is not a marketing tool; it is essentially the new way for businesses to operate or run the risk losing out. Speakers at the MasterCard Symposium on Digital and Social held in Sydney reiterated this issue.

Here is a brief overview of these three changes:

The Zero Moment of Truth 

Historically, the first step for brands was to create stilmulus or awareness of the product which led to the first moment of truth- purchase- and eventually, the second moment of truth- consumers experiencing the product. Now, a crucial step has emerged before the first moment called the Zero moment of truth.

It’s when after being made aware of the product, the consumer searches the product online and seeks reviews and referrals before making the decision to purchase it. “Brands need to be prepared for this moment. If you and your marketing teams are only creating that stimulus, you are helping some other businesses, not yours,” Taru Jain, founder of Maxential said.

The Network Effect 

Social Media has given rise to the tremendous influence a consumer has online. Before you know it, a message has amplified multiple folds- a reach which even paid media can never offer (or at least not without a hefty spend!). Brands need to recognise this, especially in the Asia Pacific region where internet penetration and therefore, uptake of social media is unprecedented.

The Ability to Target the Right Audience at the Right Time. 

Technology such as programmatic buying has now enabled brands to target a very specific audience real-time. With the right kind of content, brands stand a chance to garner the attention of its audience almost instantly. An agile approach to marketing messages and campaigns, therefore, can move the needle real quickly as far as business objectives are concerned. “And if brands don’t get this right with the right kind of content, they can easily be labelled as spam,” Sam Ahmed, senior vice-president and group head of marketing for Asia Pacific at MasterCard said. So, the question arises why go digital now?

As Jain pointed out: “In the markets that many of you operate (referring to Asia pacific), that are your major growth areas, and source of revenue, 1.3 billion people are using the internet.” And that number is only growing. Every month nearly 11.5 million new users are coming online. “It is not a new or emerging media. It is fully emerged so if you are still toying with the idea of digital, this is how much opportunity you lose out every month,” he added. And what are the consumers doing online? They are shopping; eCommerce is growing at a staggering 30% in APAC. Lastlty, the world’s most social media active population is Asia Pacific. “As a business leader, and not just a marketer, your job has changed fundamentally. The time to wait has gone. The time to act is upon us,” Jain said. Therefore, there are three crucial things businesses need to prepare for and they are precision targeting, creating compelling content and invest in analytics.

Source: Marketing-interactive.com
byBest Events
in ,
5:04 PM

1.3 billion reasons why you can’t ignore digital

Three big trends are reshaping how consumers interact with brands and while they are no secret, the point businesses often miss is that di...
Read More

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Beacons are taking the world of mobile by storm. They are low-powered radio transmitters that can send signals to smartphones that enter their immediate vicinity, via Bluetooth Low Energy technology.  In the months and years to come, we’ll see beaconing applied in all kinds of valuable ways.

For marketers in particular, beacons are important because they allow more precise targeting of customers in a locale. A customer approaching a jewelry counter in a department store, for example, can receive a message from a battery-powered beacon installed there, offering information or a promotion that relates specifically to merchandise displayed there. In a different department of the same store, another beacon transmits a different message. Before beacons, marketers could use geofencing technology, so that a message, advertisement, or coupon could be sent to consumers when they were within a certain range of a geofenced area, such as within a one-block radius of a store. However, that technology typically relies on GPS tracking, which only works well outside the store. With beaconing, marketers can lead and direct customers to specific areas and products within a store or mall.

byBest Events
in ,
12:36 PM

How Beacons Are Changing the Shopping Experience

Beacons are taking the world of mobile by storm. They are low-powered radio transmitters that can send signals to smartphones that enter the...
Read More

Thursday, August 21, 2014

How can you help drive more attendee traffic to booths? This post by Julius Solaris gives you clever tactics to make your sales people happy!


Drive attendees exhibition
A Note on Methodology
- The tactics you’ll see below are mostly tech driven. After 6 years writing this blog, it is obvious I am a bit of a geek. There are tons of activities and ideas to drive attendees towards stands. I feel more entitled to suggest the tech driven ones.
- I loathe spam. I am not a fan of messages over Twitter or any other social network along the lines of: “Come visit us at booth 700B #eventname”. That is called spam. Clogging the event hashtag to just announce you are part of the exhibition is similar to shout you are awesome on the show floor. It may work for some but it is quite a bland practice.
- My advice is usually targeted to business to business environments. Nonetheless you’ll find some good ones for consumer exhibitions.
- I dislike initiatives that do not align with the product or brand. Call me old school but I quite dig common sense. Giving attendees a massage it’s usually meaningless unless you don’t provide massage services. Giving away an iPad in return for a tweet makes no sense unless you are Apple. Concentrating your strategy on branded pens is superfluous.
- I hate to think about footfall as the end result.
In most cases the game we play is how many leads we are able to generate and how many of these leads translate into customers. In the same spirit it can be important to look at how many mentions we are able to generate online and how many of these mentions translate into clients.
Trade shows are usually about trade, let’s not forget that.
- Case studies. I really made my homework with this post. I searched Twitter to present you real examples of most tactics. I must say this has been quite a daunting task. The amount of exhibitors spamming hashtags saying ‘please visit us’ or ‘remember to stop by’ is somewhat depressing. See it yourself.

1. Competitions

This is the most adopted and, dare I say, abused tactic to increase footfall at exhibitions. I believe there is a space for competitions but only for smart ones.
In line with my comments on methodology, competitions should be aligned with the product and/or brand. They should help to communicate the selling proposition of what is being promoted.
It is a smart idea to run competitions over social networks during the event rather than asking for the vintage ‘business card in a bowl’.
I am a big fan of those who offer services around their product as rewards. It is a great way to preserve the value of your core service while giving something away.
Here is an example:
View image on Twitter

2. Share Knowledge

One of the most effective online lead generation tactics in B2B is to share free knowledge in exchange for contact details.
White papers, ebooks, reports are just few of the traditionally valuable weapons to gain qualified leads.
I don’t see any reason why this tactic should not be similarly effective offline. The process is the same. Attendees get a copy of your quality piece of content, you get their data.
Delivery can happen via USB stick, NFC, RFID or email (as long as you remember to send it).

3. Offline Like

I started to talk about the value of offline/online interaction in 2010. I believe the industry is mature enough to start investing more heavily in these tools.
Inviting attendees to Like your product at exhibitions is a great way to generate long term value online.

4. Offline Tweet

Similarly effective is the offline Tweet. This is an even better tool to power competitions. It can be easily achieved with simple NFC tags or QR codes.
The key here is to make it super simple for the attendee to action the Tweet (or Like that is). If it takes more than 30 seconds I do not believe it is worth it.
If you are able to work out a simple process to get your attendees to tweet offline I believe you have quite a disruptive competitive advantage. I am sure fellow exhibitors are going to hate you.

5. Photo Booths

I told you in December that this was going to be the year of Photo Booths. I believe that I’ve seen one at each exhibition I’ve attended.
Taking pictures and streaming them online is a great start, but you are required to push it a bit to make an impression.
I believe that the Meet Mr Holland campaign, one of the best social media campaigns ever produced by the human kind, is a prime example of how to get this right.

6. Social Ads

A quick look at a random exhibition hashtag over Twitter will give you an immediate idea of how clogged hashtags are becoming.
‘Come and visit us, we are so cool’ messages flood the tiny screens of our mobiles while we try to make some sense of the intrinsic chaos of the showfloor.
Social advertising is a great way to gain competitive advantage and secure prime real estate in the event stream. I am thinking Twitter here but also Facebook.
Twitter Ads help you to target specific hashtags and audiences, making sure you focus only on relevant prospects. I believe this is an often overlooked opportunity with quite some potential.
That is if your message is not ‘come and visit us, we are so cool’. Not even ads will help you with such a weak message.

7. Wifi Party

It gives me shivers to think that in 2013 I am still writing this. Yet wifi connectivity is still a major issue in the industry. I actually can recall the only events where wifi worked and was reliable. It is probably 5 or 6 out of hundreds.
Smart exhibitors can capitalise on the lack of good coverage most exhibitions have by providing their own wifi for free to attendees.
Not being a fan of freebies, complimentary wifi needs to be tied in some way to your product and service. You can collect leads by giving free accounts and present branded splash screens to login to the service.

8. Tweetup

In 2012 I attended IMEX in Frankfurt. If you asked me what is the most memorable activity I did at the event, I must say it was the #eventprofs Tweetup.
It was a great gathering of like minded people. Once again Mr Holland was so nice to host the tweet up and provide free drinks for the chirpy crowd.
You already noticed how many times I mentioned Mr Holland. This proves the point that the more innovative and welcoming you are towards online communities and technology, the better the results.

9. Customer Service

Another powerful way to leverage on exhibitions’ weaknesses is to fill in their gaps. Despite introducing the role of the Event Cool-ordinator (or Twitter Concierge) a few years ago, this is a service rarely offered at large events.
Very few exhibitions are dedicated to provide customer service over social media. I believe this is a fantastic opportunity to help attendees at the event.
Practical information about the show floor, wifi, services, education program are just few ideas to get your tweeting on and get your brand recognised over social media.
It is your shortcut to amplification, reach and differentiation from the ‘come and visit us’ boredom.

10. Give Workspace and Plugs

Orange Telecom stand at Ad:Tech London 2009. This is how powerful giving plugs and comfy working stations is to attendees.
I still remember that booth, it was the only place where you could sit and spend some time working and relaxing. There was no staff from the company. Just the space.
Yet the message was so powerful and everyone at the exhibition knew that the Orange stand was the place to go to recharge physical and mental batteries.

11. Charity Giving

Donating to charity is such an amazing proposition. It immediately shifts perceptions and attitudes.
Why not asking for social actions in return for charity. 

12. Buy Premium Ads on Event Mobile App


With growing adoption of event mobile apps, this is a great way to secure precious advertising real estate in a very relevant and timely fashion.
Once again the message of that advertising placement needs to be carefully considered. A weak or merely promotional message will not add a lot of value.

13. Mini Live Knowledge Sharing

I can remember the first time I was passing by a super tiny booth and noticed the company arranged 2 lines of 4 chairs. A zealous speaker was running a seminar about what I guess was an interesting topic.
Curious bunnies started to flock to the stand and in a matter of minutes 30 people were listening.
The seminar was about 15 minutes long and it recurred every hour. What a great idea. It is in effect an alternative to share an ebook. It is quick, practical and to the point. Win-win.
In a consumer context, this can be achieved with special happenings featuring guest stars. See an example:

14. Vine Showcase

I still have to make my mind up about Vine or Instagram for events. I don’t jump on excitement bandwagons. I believe it just makes pundits look silly on the long term. Just search for articles on how Google Wave was going to change events forever.
Nonetheless I appreciated this example for a couple of reasons:

First it gives an idea of what to expect at the booth. This could release the ‘tension of the unexpected’ we all feel before reaching out to people we don’t know.
Secondly it outplays on the Twitter stream, giving you quite some real estate on the hashtag stream. Worth considering.

15. Product Sample

Giving away a little bit of your product or service is one of the most adopted exhibition tactics.
After all meeting your customers in person is a unique opportunity to get them to touch and feel your product.
This is a great incentive to drive more people to your stand that is completely in line with your product or brand. Here is a good example:

16. Product Launch

Exhibitions are a fantastic opportunity to make announcements or launch products. We all agree that one of the top reasons why we attend such events is to learn what’s new in an industry.
Giving the insider scoop may well be a great way to capture the attention of the otherwise bored prospect.
Here is a good example of product update announcement and looking at the number of retweets it is safe to say it was quite a successful one:

17. Build Momentum Pre-Event

Most of the time exhibitions are opportunities to gain new customers. Yet most companies ignore the potential of engaging with existing clients.
Few realise that engaging correctly with your existing audience before the event is the best way to secure an army of advocates on the show floor.
Make sure your customers know that you will be there and what your activities will be. It will be easier for them during the show to recognise and amplify your message.
This is a sound example of a company engaging with their existing audience before the event to build momentum:

18. Ask Questions

Another way to leverage social media is to engage with the exhibition audience online via questions or polls.
I think we all agree that the experience of walking through the show puts us in a quite passive role having to listen to pitches, collect bulky brochures and meaningless goodies.
Involving the event audience to actually give their opinion is a unique opportunity to soothe their frustration and get them to express themselves.
I am such a fan of this practice and here is your example:

19. Check in For The Win

Check ins are increasingly influential in the decisions we make when exploring a new environment. If I check in on Foursquare at the exhibition I will immediately recognise those companies that have been active on that channel.
They probably incentivised check ins at the stand, they left tips and created smart to-do lists.
On top of that several event mobile apps allow check ins therefore incentivising them (by means of competitions, charity or discounts) is a smart tactic to increase our exposure.

20. Visual Recording

I was desperate to find a number 20 for this round up and William Thomson was so kind to come to the rescue with quite an interesting one.
What about summarising what is being discussed at the education programme with the help of visual recorders?
You could then share the knowledge at the stand or via social means (think Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
Very smart.

In Conclusion

Driving attendees to exhibition stands is not an easy one. It requires creativity, smart communication and tech awareness.

byBest Events
in
8:13 PM

20 Tactics to Drive More Attendees to Exhibition Booths

How can you help drive more attendee traffic to booths? This post by Julius Solaris gives you clever tactics to make your sales people happ...
Read More

 

Best Events Blog © 2015 - Blogger Templates Designed by Templateism.com, Plugins By MyBloggerLab.com