Face-to-Face Marketing in a Digital World

Social media and online advertising are certainly proving to be the wave of the future. We’re more connected than ever before, yet there is still disconnect when it comes to marketing. In many instances digital marketing is a super convenient way to get your brand and products in front of a large target audience, but not without some challenges. Overcrowding on some social media platforms tends to make it difficult for brands to engage without increasing their marketing budget.

In reality, having a presence online and face-to-face should both be an essential part of your marketing strategy. However, when trying to instill value in your product or service there’s only one technique that works time and time again…networking. Yes, good ol’ fashion, face-to-face networking! And can you guess where the easiest place to do this is? Well, a trade show of course!

NETWORKING WORKS, PERIOD.

Maybe you love it or hate it, embrace it or avoid it, networking is quite possibly one of the simplest, most effective tools to market yourself or business. But, the effectiveness is up to you! Many of us approach networking with good intentions – think of that stack of business cards from your last trade show collecting dust in your desk that you haven’t touched. Or the hundreds of LinkedIn contacts you’ve actually never met (or chatted with for that matter).

Don’t worry you’re not alone! We all know how incredibly important face-to-face marketing is, along with community involvement, yet we all try so hard to avoid it. The hard truth is it’s possible networking might be the missing piece your marketing strategy needs to boost your efforts and see a spike in sales.

FACT: 74% of trade show attendees say that they have a more
positive opinion about the company, brand, product or service
being promoted after the event.
Source: EventMarketer.com

Have you considered attending or exhibiting at a trade show yet? Trade shows are all about building relationships – simply getting to know someone. Asking questions and really listening to determine if they are in fact the potential client you’ve been looking for. There’s something special about being present, making eye contact with someone and showing them the confidence you have in your company.

Rather than try to cut through all the social media noise, start by attending a few local events or business-to-business trade shows. Just remember to keep an open mind – you’re creating long term business relationships here, so it won’t be a fast process.

BUT BE SOCIAL ONLINE, TOO.

There’s no better place to network than at a trade show. So by combining the social aspect of marketing before or after your trade show can most certainly benefit you as well. Here’s a few examples:

Before the trade show: connect with your existing clients online or on social media to let them know you’ll be attending and would like to meet up.
At the trade show: take a pictures with clients (new and old) at your booth to build awareness about your show presence.
Before the trade show: Use social networks to gauge your clients most pressing needs and interests.
At the trade show: Speak with clients about these needs to create a more valuable in-person experience.

Digital communication provides a great opportunity to keep customers and prospects engaged long after the trade show doors have closed.

FINAL THOUGHTS.

Whether its online or social, marketing should always be consistent and always follow through on your brand awareness. Consistency builds trust, and in turn a long lasting business relationship. It’s this constant communication that will keep the dialogue with prospects and customers fresh and lively year-round.

In the end it all comes down to positive audience engagement, both digitally and in-person.


DID YOU KNOW: YOU ONLY HAVE 3 SECONDS TO CAPTURE THE ATTENTION OF ATTENDEES?

Now’s your chance to get creative! Since 1994, our family owned company offers quality trade show display products, providing exceptional customer service to each and every one of our customers worldwide. Lucky for you we have “all things trade show” in one convenient place online – www.AffordableDisplays.com.

So start envisioning your own trade show display today. And the best part is we’ll be here to guide you throughout the entire process!