Why Trade Shows Are Here to Stay
Nov 29, 2013 | by admin | Category: Iconic Displays, Trade Show MarketingWith all of today’s technology and online communication tools, trade shows are the next things to disappear, right? Wrong. Across the country, trade shows are rising in popularity and much of this has to do with the one thing that everyone craves the most: human interaction. While many trade show exhibitors are use modern technology such as social media to market themselves, and there are tech savvy booths at most trade shows, they are not going away. They are here to stay. And there are five reasons why you can count on them sticking around.
Face to Face Interaction
There are only so many ways to look at a product online. Even if a company was clever enough to create a video on how it works, sometimes you just want to see the product in person. You want to be able to hold it, touch it, see it and ask questions about it. When you attend trade shows, there are companies with booths that make all of this possible. You don’t have to look up FAQs online or send an email. A representative is in the booth to talk to you about the product. This desire is part of human nature, so embrace it.
Whether you are buying or selling, you need this face to face interaction no matter how much you try and deny it. You have undoubtedly been in a position where you wanted to buy something online and were frustrated because you wanted to ask questions or wanted to see the product in person before you made a decision. Trade shows provide you with the physical element that can never be achieved online.
Networking
Social media may be the way that you network for most of the year, but you look forward to that one time of year when you can attend a trade show for your industry. You will be able to talk to people who are in your industry, hand out business cards, and even talk about a variety of topics. This interaction can add to your online network and allow you to meet people that you have been introduced to on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Being able to stand face to face with someone can be the best way to form a partnership or make a sale. You will be able to share more details and even be able to buy them a drink to talk business in further depth – something that you simply cannot do when you are limited by characters online.
Build Confidence
Have you ever gotten into a conflict with someone over your “tone” in an email? Texts, emails, and social media posts are the most impersonal form of communication because you cannot express a tone of voice or read body language. When you are trying to build confidence in yourself or your product and promote trust, you cannot rely on modern technology. Even Skype can be impersonal, which means you need to rely on trade shows to help build confidence within your brand.
Sometimes people are skeptical about what they see online. Whether they have been burned in the past or they simply want to know more about a company, a website is not always going to build confidence. You may have the best website in the history of websites and people will still be skeptical. The trade show builds confidence because they can see you, ask questions of you, and see that you have a real product to offer.
An Exhibit Tells a Story
No matter how great your website is and how much you tweet about your products, it can be impossible to tell the story about who you are and why their business would be better with you in it. Exhibits can provide you with the opportunity to interact face to face with customers and allow you to discuss why your products are better than the competitor’s products. Your booth and the people at your booth are what make you successful. While you try to put as much information as possible on your website, there is no way for you to talk to the people who visit your website to tell them all they want to know and all that will help close the sale. Trade shows are still the best way to close a deal because of that human interaction that is missing online.
The Captive Audience
Smartphones and other mobile devices have given everyone a case of A.D.D.. No one can stay focused on a single task anymore because they are on information overload. When a trade show is in town, you have a captive audience. Everyone at the conference is likely there because they have the same interests – and it’s likely that the product you have at your booth is capable of helping them. In due time, they will make their way to your booth – and if you have a compelling trade show booth and did your preshow marketing, you can be sure they arrive at your booth before going to someone else’s.
A trade show eliminates the need to be the best in SEO because you have a captive audience. Most people won’t make a decision right then and there about which product to buy, but they can obtain your information and you can make a lasting impression – one that doesn’t revolve around whether or not they can find your website on Google.
You don’t have to have the best website or the best SEO or even the best PPC marketing campaign. All you need is an attention getting trade show display, well trained booth staff, and a good sales pitch. These are all items that are within your control – unlike many elements of web marketing.
Trade shows also have the human element that social media sites and webpages don’t. No matter how much people rely on the Internet for almost everything they do, nothing can replace the human element of being face to face. Trade shows will forever be around because they offer the face to face human element better than anything else does