Are exhibitions right for you and your business?
Marketing Week Live (MWL) is a two-day event in March, a free-to-attend conference, twinned with an exciting marketing exhibition. MWL brings marketing to life by covering all aspects of marketing from tech to brand engagement.
The mixture of hands on sessions and expert advice make an inviting combination for our stand at MWL. We are in a world which is constantly changing, and marketing is following suit. New channels and ways to engage with audiences are taking the lead!
Exhibitions are a big investment for most businesses and can provide long term benefits by turning leads into clients. It is important to pick the right event for your business, by intense research to ensure the event will reach your target market. Most high profile exhibitions have speakers lined up to talk about their industry and interactive seminars to get involved with- this can attract a wide range of professionals. Our very own Kirsty Dawe (Managing Director at Really B2B) will be running a session at MWL to talk all things B2B marketing. With over 18 years’ experience in the industry, Kirsty is an IDM lecturer and board member, as well as managing an award winning marketing agency, Really B2B. The session will explore Kirsty’s passion about the measurability of B2B marketing and delivering campaigns that are completely accountable, providing results right through to the bottom line.
Exhibitions are the perfect place to meet key personalities within your industry. These meetings (or leads as they may turn into) are the key to the success of your attendance at the event. Interact with as many visitors as possible by taking their business cards and engaging in a brief conversation about their company. This will be your golden ticket to building your client base and hitting your targets. Use the event as a research exercise by asking visitors their thoughts on your brand and/or product. It can be surprising the valuable responses you will receive.
Planning your event will maximise the opportunities that will arise from the event and can also ensure you don’t go over budget! Even the smallest of areas like considering which sales personnel to invite to the event, can be the deciding factor as to whether that decision-maker stops to look at your stand. What message do you want to project? Your message should be consistent throughout all sales material and your stand. This will ensure you are communicating clearly, letting your customers and prospects know who you are.
The post event follow up can be the most important step to making the event a success. The real work starts when you are back in the office with all of the business cards you collected at the event. Following up each lead and reconnecting with those you spoke to is vital. Data scanners or smart phone apps can be an efficient way of keeping track of the leads you have collected at the event and in most cases these can be sent straight back to the office so your team can deal with them accordingly. Your business needs to be in the forefront of visitors minds after the event. Staying in touch is a must even if it is just for a catch up.
With the correct planning, events and exhibitions can provide a great scale of data and leads for your team to follow up and convert into sales. These events are an excellent platform for building brand awareness and building a pipeline of new business opportunities.
