Conference Marketing

If you attend a conference as a professional, you are probably marketing either yourself, your company, or your product. As you probably know, there are many ways to go about said marketing. Talking to attendees, handing out business cards, paying for a booth, or maybe even sponsoring a portion of the event. All of these can be appropriate in the right context.

What you don’t want to do is interject yourself where you don’t belong. For instance, if you introduce yourself to a group of people, do you wait to see what the conversation is about and add to things when appropriate? Or do you foist yourself on the group, not even waiting to see if the people you’re speaking with are the audience you seek?

In order to be seen as a professional, you be a professional.

1) Be aware of who you’re handing information to.

By all means, hand out business cards or free samples. But don’t just try to hand out your quota. Find out if you have the appropriate audience. There’s nothing like handing a baby toy to a woman without kids — or one who’s still trying to have them. It’s possible you’ll get more backlash than you intended.

2) Find the appropriate time to talk to people.

You’ll want to talk to fellow conference attendees, find out more about them. But you don’t want to just jump into the middle of a conversation, thrust cards or brochures in someone’s face, and then leave. Nor should you accost someone in the restroom. Use good judgment. Sometimes it’s better to make a connection with someone — without any marketing push.

3) Act like a professional.

It’s easy to succumb to temptation to let loose and relax, especially when there’s plenty of alcohol available. But getting drunk and dancing on tables isn’t exactly going to get you new customers most of the time. You’re there to represent your brand. You should act accordingly.

Be friendly, but not pushy. Give out freebies if it’s appropriate, but make sure your audience is receptive. Get your brand out there, but please don’t be annoying. At a conference, attendees are there for many reasons and not all of them will be open to your pitch. If you back off when they’re not interested, you’ll be more likely to get another chance later.

image: sxc.hu