Should expos have a place in your marketing strategy?
Whether you’re a small start-up or a large enterprise, expos are a great channel to generate new interest and business for your company. Although expos aren’t the most economical marketing channel, the benefits of showcasing yourself and coming face-to-face with potential clientele is indispensable.
Networking:
This is a really important part of expos that can maximise your visibility on and offline. We had the pleasure of going to Festival of Marketing back in October, and the element of networking at such a big event is really useful in generating interest for your business.
On a B2B level, building relationships with other businesses can help with your brand recognition, and those new connections might one day turn into business leads. Check out our blog on post-event activity to find out more about this.
Staying ahead of current trends:
Only at expos will you find industry leaders all in one place. Exhibitions and events are a great place to take learnings to put into practice for your business. It’s no surprise that 2018 events were filled with talks and demonstrations of VR and AI, so the 2019 event calendar will be no different for highlighting what is current.
Knowing your competitors:
As important as it is to network and keep in touch with industry updates and trends, events are also a useful way of better understanding your market and recognising what businesses have similar offerings to you. This is important in your own business development, and can help your overall strategy become stronger.
Generating ROI:
Last but certainly not least is the value of speaking face-to-face with potential clients. As well as being a great learning experience, the aim of exhibitions is to generate ROI. As a telemarketing agency, we know that human interaction can, and does positively impact the sales process. Taking advantage of the attendee lists at events and using them as a way of putting yourself and your product in-front of your potential target market is the end goal.
It’s important to understand that all expos are different and you can expect to gain different things from each.
No matter what field you’re in, there will be an event for you. Some of the most popular business events include; the Business Travel Show, Travel Technology Europe, The Meetings Show and Employee Benefits. To find out more about exhibitions taking place in your industry, check major UK venues like Olympia London and ExCel London.
A few of the major events covered in the marketing industry include:
Marketing Week Live is one of the biggest marketing exhibitions in the UK and is used by marketers and businesses alike to get answers to their day-to-day pain points, and better understand their industry from experts in the field.
Research from Marketing Week Live 2018 shows that 80% of MWLive attendees have budget responsibility or influence within their organisation, meaning that your target market can be accessed in one place.
Festival of Marketing on the other hand is all about the experience! You only need to explore the Festival City, filled with different experience rooms hosted by some of the biggest names in the current industry to see that. As FoM state on their website, gaining ‘countless connections’ is one of the main focusses of the event, so networking and ‘those social media moments‘ are what makes this event a useful one to have in the calendar.
As well as the big players in marketing exhibitions, local, smaller events are useful for scoping out potential business in your area. Come and find us at the following events this year!
By Daisy Truman
Tags: B2B Marketing, expos, Lead Generation, marketing strategy, networking