This week, Exantia is launching a new blog series which will provide hints, tips and advice to help you to ensure that your marketing budget is well spent, and that the conferences and tradeshows that you exhibit at deliver the anticipated results.
Before you confirm your attendance at any event, ensure it supports your marketing objectives. Consider the reasons why your company wants to attend – are they consistent with your overall marketing strategy and objectives, and is the event the most appropriate and cost-effective channel to meet those objectives?
Here are 7 reasons why companies typically attend a conference or exhibition, and ways in which you can ensure these objectives are met. It is of course possible for one event to fulfil all of these objectives:
1. Thought leadership: Can you get one of your management team on the conference programme? Conference organisers are always looking for good speakers. There may also be opportunities to run a workshop the day before or after the event, or even during the event itself.
2. Increase your profile: What are the sponsorship options? There will be a huge number of opportunities to get your brand in front of exhibition visitors – this is only limited by your budget.
3. Attract new customers: What is the exhibition visitor profile in terms of job title, industry, geography and purchasing responsibility? Ensure it matches your target customer.
4. Meet existing customers: Do your existing customers plan to attend, and can you get them complimentary exhibition passes? If you have an international customer base, an event can present the perfect opportunity to organise additional meetings, whilst your team and customers are in the same city.
5. Launch a new product: Will your product launch get the attention it deserves? Remember, the largest players in your industry will almost definitely be launching new products, which may dominate press attention. If you are a launching a niche product, what can you do to stand out from the crowd and get the attention you deserve?
6. Keep up with competitors: Will they be attending this year? Don’t assume that because they were there last year, they will be again. If this is your only reason for attending, you should question your decision.
7. Meet the press: Which journalists are going? Can you get the press list in advance and arrange meetings? It’s the perfect opportunity to build personal relationships with industry journalists and to secure coverage in the months after the event has finished.
Once you have decided that the event is the right one for you, the next step is to book your exhibition space. In next month’s blog, we’ll provide you with a checklist to help you choose the best exhibition space for your company.
