Exhibiting at a Trade Show? Use this digital engagement checklist for greater success

Transcription

1 Exhibiting at a Trade Show? Use this digital engagement checklist for greater success

2 Exhibiting at a Trade Show? Use this digital engagement checklist for greater success Negotiating, Closing and Announcing Deals at the Big Show Digital marketing makes it entirely possible to generate, qualify and nurture leads online - well in advance of your next trade show - so that your sales team can spend more time negotiating, closing, and announcing deals at the show. Use this preshow digital engagement checklist to help you improve results (and ROI) at your next trade show. Kick start your sales cycle - and beat competitors to the leads. Knowing that pharma clients have sophisticated and sometimes complex requirements, we understand that sales cycles can span many months. Traditionally, trade shows tend to focus on lead generation and short-term follow-up - on initiating the sales cycle. Digital engagement in advance of your next trade show presents opportunities for: Establishing and building relationships, instead of waiting for the show Positioning your company as a credible source of industry insight - and your solution(s) for early consideration Generating and nurturing leads well in advance of the show - and ahead of your competitors Pre-Show Digital Engagement Checklist 1. Review and update your website Ensure that content is up to date, that all links are functioning - and that visitors can easily find what they are looking for. Provide visitors with show details, including how to find your exhibit. Identify or create landing pages for your pre-show lead generation campaign. Page 1

3 2. Arm yourself with knowledge Connecting online, through social spaces such as Twitter and LinkedIn can be a first step towards establishing a relationship with your prospects. Getting to know them ahead of time helps you share valuable information about your products and services ahead of the show. Engaging ahead of time helps you understand what is important to them. Search LinkedIn and twitter user profiles for customer-related keywords, and job titles you should target. Follow all suitable candidates. Listen daily, paying attention to content they are sharing, conversations and group discussions they are having. Read, and re-share only quality content posted by your prospects or customers, with or without insightful comment. Thank people who share your content. Ask their opinion the big issues, like What are Pharma s biggest challenges, from your perspective? Comment on blog posts and engage directly with your audience whenever you recognize an opportunity to add valuable insight. Save the selling for qualified leads. Plan out a series of announcements to blog about, to customers, and post to your social networks. Always link to related content and, whenever possible, end your post with an engaging question. Offer your online audience an invitation to connect at the show - whether it s a promo code, an incentive or a survey, give your audience a reason to stop by. Page 2

4 During Show Digital Engagement Checklist 1. Plan to capture and share content from the show floor During the show your marketing team can easily capture fresh, timely and relevant content during show and use it to continue to generate online leads - from the show floor and in post-show campaigns. Ensure everyone on the team is or gets comfortable recording, uploading and posting social status updates from a smartphone. Videos, pictures, on site interviews, and tweets all provide interesting and engaging content for those who couldn t attend. Create opportunities to capture s and build your digital connections Arrive having done your Listening homework (see well above) - in order to be able to engage in dialogue and answer questions about current industry trends, and having identified any influencers you d like to meet. Post Show Digital Engagement Checklist 1. Have your post show follow-up ready to roll Research shows that 35-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first, so be ready to follow-up with leads immediately with an campaign (or campaigns, if you are segmenting leads by product interest, etc). Personalized thank you campaign - personalizing a thank you campaign heightens the customer experience, differentiating you from competitors and streamlining follow-up. Just bear in mind that it also takes careful planning and systems for lead capture. See what the show offers, and/or what smartphone apps are currently available. If you have the budget, consider having a custom app built. Follow-up blog post(s), newsletter and social shares - share pictures and video from the show, thank your visitors once again, invite them to download your content, in exchange for progressive profiling data. Page 3

5 Want more? Follow Digital Giants on and on LinkedIn for timely, relevant digital marketing trends, insights, and updates. Thank You For Downloading Who We Are What We Do We craft digital marketing solutions that inspire action, deliver profitability and create limitless opportunity. We are vibrant, open, fun, and fearless. We are connected. We are a full service digital marketing firm. We work with our clients to create and develop their online brand. We strengthen their brand image and web presence by providing four key services: Digital Strategy Social Media Marketing Content Marketing Search Marketing CONTACT: Marc Hill, CEO marc@bedigitalgiants.com WEBSITE: Page 4