When the pandemic hit everything about how we marketed our businesses, services and products changed.
In particular, industry events were big business. I’ve lost count of the number of clients who were relying on large scale events, such as expos and conferences, to build their networks and promote their services or products.
However, almost overnight, face-to-face events were halted, and everything had to go online which, whilst offering some advantages, is a very different environment in which to sell.
The online events are closer to the idea of community marketing, where the key is all about close interaction on a more personal basis.
According to a Salesforce State of the Connected customer report more than 84% of customers want to be treated like a person and not a number and this was an essential aspect of whether they did business with an organisation or not.[1]
Adapting to the new world of events
- Whilst it could be that with online events there will be less ‘footfall’ than at a large expo, it is however likely that the audience will be more targeted and could therefore be a better fit for your business. This means however, that your message will also have to be far more targeted, not only to your ideal client but also to the specific needs of the attendees of these topical online gatherings.
- Rather than being able to dazzle event attendees with fancy fliers and freebees, in an online environment it is down more to being highly organised and people skills.
- Think also about how to facilitate the ‘browsing’ interaction which then turns into more interest once the prospect has had a chance to consider. How did people interact with your stand previously and what can you do differently to accommodate this in a virtual or hybrid situation? Video, webinars and other multimedia have become the starts of the show.
Performing well at large events or in smaller, targeted online events requires a completely different skill set but one that business owners and marketing teams need to learn in order to progress in this new world.
If you would like some help in getting your message and your audience right, call +44 1235 606077 or info@priddeymarketing.co.uk . We can ensure that your next industry event is as successful as the three-day exhibition manning a stand.
[1] https://www.salesforce.com/content/dam/web/en_us/www/documents/e-books/state-of-the-connected-customer-report-second-edition2018.pdf