In a world where businesses largely interact with customers through virtual mediums, a trade show or event is the perfect opportunity to have memorable, face-to-face connections. However, this doesn’t mean you should abandon the use of technology altogether.
When used properly, technology can support you before, during, and after an event, helping you capture leads and create an excellent customer experience. Of course, you can’t just throw some technology into your booth and hope it serves your goals well. Like everything else in your trade show marketing strategy, your use of technology should be strategic, seamless, and simple.
Strategic Technology Helps You Sell
In order to gather leads and close more deals, you have to demonstrate how your product or service solves problems. As you consider which technologies to use at an event, filter your decisions through this question: Will this tool help the customer experience and add value?
Video walls, holography, and virtual reality are all cutting-edge opportunities to demonstrate the power of your offering in a memorable way. Tablet kiosks are also great tools for inviting prospects to participate in interactive demonstrations or customize your offering to fit their business. Remember that you still want to form personal connections with as many potential customers as possible, so don’t just point visitors to technology and walk away. Stay close by to answer questions, point out benefits, and ensure you capture the lead. Customers won’t soon forget an experience that combines interactive technology with personal attention from your team.
Seamless Technology Widens Your Impact
Technology in a trade show event should be seamless in two ways. First, as mentioned above, whatever tools you use should contribute to the customer’s overall experience. Prospects who are interacting with your technology should still feel noticed and valued through meaningful interactions.
Another way to create a seamless experience through technology is to invite your prospects to connect on social media. Invite visitors to participate in a social media contest to win a prize in order to increase your online presence. Make your brand known by interacting online with anyone who uses the event’s hashtag. Strategies like these allow you to tap into the power of social media to attract more people and, at the same time, invite new leads to continue following you and getting to know you long after the event is over.
Second, technology can and should be a seamless piece of your larger and ongoing marketing strategy. For example, you may have a target number of leads you’d like to generate at your next trade show. Lead tracking apps can help you measure leads in real-time to keep you on track. After the event, you can sync the information to your CRM to immediately enter your new prospects into your sales funnel.
Simple Technology Increases Conversions
Brand new technology can sometimes seem complicated or overwhelming, but the real goal behind using these tools is to make the sales process simpler for both you and your customers. Sit down as a team and brainstorm a list of common barriers to conversions for your prospects. Then, consider how technology can help you minimize or eliminate those barriers.
You’ll find that there are many ways you can use technology to make it easier for customers to share their information with you. Using tablets or badge scanners to capture leads can be far more effective than asking visitors to fill out a paper survey. Plus, strategic tools like the interactive technologies discussed above make it much simpler for prospects to imagine themselves benefiting from your product or service.
You can also look for creative opportunities to attract visitors by using technology to make their lives easier right away. For example, cell phone charging stations can be a great way to attract people to your booth. As their phone charges, you can engage them in conversation and guide them through the experience you’ve created.
Using Strategic, Seamless, and Simple Technology at Your Next Event
Trade show displays and the technologies they use should be strategic, seamless and simple. When they are, you’ll capture more leads, create more memorable customer experiences, and ultimately close more deals..
If you’d like to learn how you can apply these ideas to your specific industry for your next trade show or event, we can help. Contact us today to speak with one of our trade show consultants.
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