Julia Start is the Marketing Director at events agency Bray Leino Events, Part Of Marketing Agency Bray Leino.
Event Marketing Strategy: How to leverage conference marketing and exhibitions for your brand: Part TWO
Event Marketing Strategy: Promoting your conference, exhibition and event
Email announcements are a solid, traditional way to let people know you’ll be attending the event. But what other opportunities are there? Can you harness the social media buzz around the exhibition to build awareness? What are the PR opportunities? The show organisers are there to help you. Yes, they’re busy, they might not have a lot of time for you, but it’s in their interests for you to have a successful show, so develop a good working relationship with them, take advantage of the promotional opportunities they can offer and heed their advice.
Does your team have the right tools?
A common pitfall of exhibition or event marketing strategy is the failure to properly prepare exhibition stand staff for the physical, sensory and emotional assault of a big event. This is a sales environment like no other, so give your people every chance of succeeding. Standardise the information you gather from potential leads. Effective follow up will hinge on the quality of the data you collect.
For instance, a simple, streamlined set of questions could be; what’s their interest at the show? What are they looking for? What’s their line of business and which of your products might suit them?
Provide a full crib sheet that ensures there are no possible excuses for not being aware of product information, key marketing messages, important industry trends and themes, key event contacts and basic logistics information.
Developing your event marketing strategy
Make sure your people:
- Prepare for success, know the diary, know the conference content
- Remember the importance of first impressions
- Are aware of non-verbal communication, smiling and body language
- Ensure the stand is always tidy and presentable
- Prepare opening lines to engage visitors
- Gain commitment from visitors to a next action and agreed follow up
- Listen, are interested and interesting
And finally, yes, these are no-brainers, but they might just save someone’s life.
Don’t even think about wearing new shoes. Don’t even wear your smartest shoes unless they are also your most comfortable ones. It’s difficult to maintain enthusiasm for eight hours while negotiating blisters the size of goose eggs.
Carry breath-freshening potions; chewing gum, mints, mouthwash, whatever your preference. Your people will be talking to potential customers all day, so make sure minty breath is the standard.
Pack your toiletries separate from your business clothes. Toothpaste and shampoo in a suitcase, combined with over-enthusiastic luggage handlers, can make a pleasant-smelling but unsightly mess of your trousers.
Lip salve. Never, ever, go to an event without lip salve. These huge venues operate industrial-level air conditioning systems that suck the moisture out of everything, quickly resulting in chapped-lip agony that will definitely take the fun out of smiling all day.
Stay hydrated: Dehydration will make you stupid. Drink plenty of water if you want to stay on you’re a-game.
