Ten Marketing Tips for Attending Exhibitions and Events

Despite the explosion of online marketing tools now available to us, there are times when face-to-face is simply the best way to reach your target audience. In the UK, there are around 1000 national business exhibitions up and down the country each year and many more local and regional events that are on your door-step. You can find them on websites like exhibitions.co.uk - a real eye opener as there is an event for everything!

Marketing at an event is often outside of our usual marketing plan, probably because it tends to be a once a year or less type of occurrence, especially if you're a small business. For that reason it benefits from its own mini marketing plan, and these Event and Exhibition marketing tips might help.

1. Plan well ahead if you're exhibiting especially if you need a display stand. Event organisers will provide dimensions for your exhibition space to help. It's very hard to exhibit without a professional display unless you want to stand out for the wrong reasons, so it's worth spending the money on something you can use again.
2. What can you giveaway? Anything that's free, including gadgets, samples and even value added content like reports and white papers (good if you're a service-based B2B) - in exchange for email addresses, business cards and any contact details. Then you've got a database of interested parties for your next e-newsletter or communication.
   
3. Take plenty of your own business cards. One of the best things about business events is the opportunity to network with other businesses in your sector, even potential suppliers and of course any potential customers.
   
4. Organise in advance for producing special offers or specific information for the event. This could be a flyer, coupon or discount for a limited period around the event date.
   
5. Create a plan of action for the event. If there's more than one of you, who does what on the stand e.g. one to greet, the other to talk through product information. Always make sure there's little or no barrier to people coming into your stand. If it's unavoidable, one of you can stand in front of the table or barrier to engage with passers-by.
6. Before the event use your website and social networks to let customers know you're going to be there. Tell them where you'll be and consider offering an incentive for them to visit your stand. And think about taking a video camera for when you're there so you can post it onto your networks when you get back.
   
7. Find out beforehand if your event has already been allocated a Twitter Hashtag. This is a word or label on Twitter with a # in front of it so that Twitter users can follow a common thread. Find out more about Hashtags at Twitter. If there is, tweet while you're there so your Twitter followers can learn more and follow other delegates to get first hand reviews and thoughts as they happen.
   
8. If your space allows, target specific existing customers for some corporate hospitality before the exhibition to visit your stand for a glass of champagne/cup of coffee/whatever is appropriate and use the time as an opportunity to catch up with them.
9. Event "goody bags" and programmes - if the organisers provide visitors with a pack or goody bag, can you provide something to go in it (voucher/or incentive to visit your stand) or is there an opportunity to sponsor a part of the event so your name is on the programme? This is often less expensive than you might think but great for exposure.
10. Stand location. The earlier you can choose your space the better as it can make or break a successful event. It's often a higher cost to have a more prominent stand (near the entrance for example, or by the refreshments so you're the first stand visitors see when they come in) but worth considering if the footfall is likely to be worthwhile.
    

When you get back, don't forget to follow up leads and do some quick analysis on the return on your investment. Measurement this time will help you to make the right decision next time an exhibition opportunity comes up and help to plan ahead for future marketing activity.

Karen McNulty
www.MarketingPlanWiz.co.uk and www.BusinessPlanWiz.com

Marketing Your Event

This is the time of year when there events start to be on all over the place (a lot outdoors if the British weather doesn't let us down) so we thought it was time we pulled together a few tips for marketing an event, as by their nature events are often one-off activities away from your mainstream marketing.

1. Business to Business events – where your delegates are other businesses. These often take the form of training, informing or networking and occasionally awards ceremonies or conferences. If this is your target audience here are our top tips:

1. Dig out existing customers' details so that you tell them first
2. Make sure you give people plenty of notice to get it in their diaries, we recommend at least one month in advance, preferably two.
3. Think of an innovative way to let your target audience know about the event – a quirky hand delivered invite or special voucher incentives for people to bring along with them work well. And email marketing makes it easy to send out invites while being able to track who opened the email and whether or not they clicked through to your website.
   
4. Don't miss all of the obvious opportunities to market your business event: On your website (do you have a news section?), on the bottom of your invoices; posters near or in your premises (if you have them) or at the venue where the event will be held (if you don't) and at any business networking that you do
5. Give them an irresistible reason to attend! Can you get a high profile guest speaker perhaps or offer expertise that's topical and cutting edge?
6. Make sure you've got a good reason to follow up afterwards, perhaps post your slides on Slideshare and sent out the url by email, or invite them to fill in a feedback form where they can indicate interest for your products or services.
7. If you video the event, post a snapshot on YouTube the next day. That way your event will still be found after it's all over - with a link back to your website.
8. Set up a "hashtag" on Twitter so people can track all mentions of your event and tweet using it as a reference. (More on hashtags at Twitter).
   

2. Consumer Events – marketing to the general public. These are often more fun as you can be more creative if you've got a budget. The reasons for events might be different but the principles are the same, so whether you're planning a festival in a local farmers field or an open evening in a shop, here are our top tips for success:

1. More “in your face” tends to be more effective – if you've got the budget for a celebrity that can work a treat to attract visitors, if you don't can you call in a favour or book an unusual act?
2. Promotion needs to be as public as you can make it but doesn't always have to be expensive– get in touch with the local newspapers, local radio stations, tourist offices, schools and libraries to see if you can post the details on their websites, in their outlets or even outside their premises.
3. Get some banners (as big as you can) made to publicise the date and time anywhere people will let you put one up. Try your local council for permission to use bridges and roundabouts, otherwise approach owners of buildings direct. Try a local printer for good prices for a batch of banners.
4. Create some instant PR with a good press release to local papers with headline information and top reasons to come to your event.
5. If you've got the budget, look at AA or RAC road signs up to a week before the event and while it's on. If you don't, get your own lamp-post signs made (you may need to check with the local council before you put them up)
6. Mention the event in all of your social networks, both personal and business, with a link back to your website.
7. Investigate local community websites that will let you post your event details on for free and take advantage of their website traffic.
   
8. Book a photographer and get some video footage if you can. This will be great for adding to your website afterwards and posting into your social networks.
   

Events are often fun to promote because you can use a few more techniques from your marketing toolbox than you might normally. The most important thing is usually to get bums on seats, so spreading the word as far as you can is the best thing you can do. The Internet makes that easier than ever, and if your event can go viral you might be surprised by the response!

Karen McNulty
www.MarketingPlanWiz.co.uk