Participating in trade shows and other events related to your industry can be an incredibly cost-effective way to get your name and your company‘s name out in the marketplace. That participation may range from simply attending the event to setting up a booth as an exhibitor to signing on as a sponsor. It may also include a public speaking engagement where you can share your expertise and insights with other attendees.
Event organizers are always looking for qualified presenters to provide value for their attendees. Actively seeking such opportunities – even those where no compensation is involved – may be worth your time and effort if they provide access to audiences that are important to your business. Besides providing speakers and sessions for attendees, many events will have sponsors and exhibitors who help underwrite the expense of the event in return for access to the attendees. That access may include networking during sessions or cocktail hours, or getting contact information to follow up with attendees at a later date.
A common – and costly – mistake new businesses make is exhibiting at an event without first scoping it out as an attendee. It’s important to get a feel for the event and determine if it is on target for your business. Sadly, there are many stories of small businesses spending thousands of dollars to travel somewhere, have a booth built and set up, and then sit around for two or three days contemplating the scant attention their booth is getting from the trickle of attendees passing by. A smarter approach is to attend the event first, learn who the key players are, and determine whether exhibiting would truly provide value.
Getting a better idea of how an event works before spending money to exhibit can pay off in other ways. For example, you may see that certain areas have cocktail receptions or meals during the conference. These will be guaranteed to have higher traffic during the event, so booths in these areas might be a much better value when it comes to the ability to generate conversations.
There’s also an alternative approach to participating, where you go to an event and host a related function outside of the established conference. There is some risk involved. If, for example, you schedule a dinner or cocktail gathering during some open hours and then the event schedule changes, you may have to do some last-minute scrambling to salvage your function. But this approach can be worth it, as hosting an independent gathering will likely be tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than trying to do a sponsored dinner at an event.
In some cases, the specific sessions, keynote presentations and other formal content of an event may not be particularly valuable to you and your business. However, the fact that so many customers and prospects are gathered in one place at the same time can make attending worthwhile. Events are often the most time-efficient and cost-effective way to have a large number of face-to-face interactions. Empathy is a critical component in creating an effective strategy. Attending an event at least once or twice a year where you can get personal opinions from customers and prospects is your best opportunity to get honest, actionable feedback about how well you are addressing the needs of the market.
When determining your level of participation at an event, it’s also important to note that sponsors often get limited or full access to the attendee list. Odds are you are not going to have the chance to talk with all of the event attendees, so having the ability to make them some kind of offer at a later date may be a significant source of leads for you that validates the cost of your sponsorship.
This article is just scratching the surface on marketing with public speaking at trade events. To learn more, feel free to contact MFN to get your questions answered or get additional help with strategy. You can also learn more about the value of events here.
