How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

30
How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs Tracy Garcia, CEM, Director of Exhibits, IFT Angela Carr, VP Professional Services, a2z, Inc.

description

Learn about tools your exhibitors can use to enhance their presence before, during & after the event Communicate options to your exhibitors to help advertise their participation. Tell your exhibitors why they want to engage their audiences pre-show to have a better trade show experience.

Transcript of How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Page 1: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Tracy Garcia, CEM, Director of Exhibits, IFTAngela Carr, VP Professional Services, a2z,

Inc.

Page 2: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Welcome!

Page 3: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Learning Outcomes

• Learn about tools your exhibitors can use to enhance their presence before, during & after the event

• Communicate options to your exhibitors to help advertise their participation

• Tell your exhibitors why they want to engage their audiences pre-show to have a better trade show experience.

Page 4: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

What do exhibitors want out of your trade show?

Why do attendees attend trade shows?

Perspective

Page 5: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Why exhibitors exhibit…

Source: Red 7 Media Research & Consulting

Page 6: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Why attendees attend…

http://www.expoweb.com/article/why-attendees-attend-and-exhibitors-exhibit#.UfGNtb7D8dU

Source: Red 7 Media Research & Consulting

Page 7: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

#1 Reason – The Show Floor!

Page 8: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

What are other events doing to attract attendees?

Attendance Acquisition and retention tactics with the worst returns:• Direct mail (67%)• Generic mass email• Telemarketing efforts• Social media• Lowering registration rates• List rental/acquisition• Print advertising

Page 9: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

What are other events doing to attract attendees?

http://www.lippmanconnects.com/files/ts_best_practices_2013.pdf- 64% of respondents give exhibitors tools to

invite their attendees- 27% are offering a hosted buyer program

Page 10: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

#1 Reason – The Show Floor!

Page 11: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Utilize your Assets!

Page 12: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Tools for Exhibitors to Engage their Audience and Enhance their Experience

Page 13: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

How?• Provide Attendee Acquisition Tools•Ask your exhibitors to include your event on their website.

Make it easy!• Provide event logo for their marketing materials• Provide email signature containing the event information• Provide complimentary exhibit hall only registration for their

customers• Provide canned marketing campaigns•Make available the event’s attendee marketing emails that the

exhibitors can download & send or so they can review the highlights

Page 14: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

How?

•Capitalize on word of mouth – social media•Provide the exhibitors with the event twitter hash tag

and the event Facebook page information– Encourage them to post– Pull the feeds onto the homepage of your event website.

•Provide rich content on your website so the exhibitors want to encourage their customers to visit the site•Have exhibitors promote the event mobile app•Use all the media channels you can, both traditional

and emerging

Page 15: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

How?

Attendee Acquisition Tools for Exhibitors

Page 17: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Attendee Acquisition Widget Marketing Campaign

3/12 - 22% open5/9 - 19% open6/26 - 18% open

Page 18: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

How?

Provide email signature containing the event

information

Page 19: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Exhibitor Email Signatures• Prior to registration opening

Plan to attend!2013 IFT Annual Meeting & Food ExpoJuly 13 – July 16, 2013 Chicago, IL

• Once registration opens

Register now! 2013 IFT Annual Meeting & Food ExpoJuly 13 – July 16, 2013 Chicago, IL

• After the event

‘Miss something at the 2013 Annual Meeting & Food Expo?Check out IFT Live for news and videos!

Page 20: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

How?

Create canned marketing campaigns

Page 21: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Marketing Campaign: Sample

Page 22: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

How?

Rich content on show website

Page 24: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Rich Content: Product Showcase

Page 26: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Mobile App Promotion: Sample

Page 28: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Tell Your Exhibitors Why They Want to Engage Their Audiences

• Because tradeshows are the most cost effective way for face-to-face interaction

• Makes them look like a partner to their existing customers

• Average attendee doesn’t see every exhibit – make sure you are one of them

• Overcome “bad booth location”

Page 29: How to Engage Your Audience to Engage Theirs

Communicate Options to Your Exhibitors to Help Advertise Their Participation

• Getting exhibitors to listen and take advantage of the tools offered is always the biggest challenge. Year-to-year continuity is key. Start helping them with future show right now.

• Develop a program aimed to communicate the exhibitor attendee acquisition tools you have available and how they're best used.

• Guide them toward your show's most meaningful programs so they know what to promote.

• Enlist the direct feedback of your exhibitors. Ask them what will work.