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How Does Content Factor Into Your Trade Show Efforts?

November 17, 2015 Lead Generation 0 Comments

Content MarketingWhy should your staffing firm be concerned with content marketing? Does trade show content really have the ability to generate leads and bring in new business? How can content factor into your trade show efforts? When making a decision to attend and exhibit at a trade show, it is essential that you pay close attention to the collateral that you distribute to attendees. In order to realize a return on your investment (ROI), be sure that the material you hand out provides value to your target audience.

Build a Solid Foundation
Even before your staff members board the airplane, there is work to be done. Take the time to produce original content for your website, and set goals for increasing visitor traffic. Use your social media platforms as the basis to survey your target audience about what types of content they find valuable, as well as to promote your attendance at the upcoming conference. If done right, your content marketing efforts have the potential to position your staffing firm as a thought leader, draw attendees to your exhibit booth, and to build your brand.

Quality vs. Quantity
Don’t overwhelm attendees with too much information, no matter how valuable you perceive it to be. Review your staffing firm services and select trade show content to highlight those areas. Keep your booth display focused on the most important topics and brand-building information. Be selective about which collateral you bring to the trade show, and remind your staff to ensure that your handouts are laid out in a neat and organized manner. Display samples of your case studies and whitepapers, and actively collect the names and email addresses of those attendees who are interested in receiving copies. Trade shows represent a tremendous lead generation opportunity, so don’t miss out on a chance to gather contact information from your visitors.

Generate New Content
Trade shows not only provide a forum for you to distribute your content and brand message to attendees; they also offer a platform for creating new, original content to be used in your staffing firm marketing efforts. Interact with your booth visitors in order to find out what is important to them, and use this information to create a list of future blog article topics. Ask attendees to list their most challenging staffing obstacles, and address those specific points in a podcast. Conduct brief interviews with current clients and candidates, and film the exchange to generate promotional material for future blog posts or video testimonials for your website.

Take Center Stage
Take full advantage of your trade show experience by sponsoring a breakout session presentation. While the initial expense may appear to use up too much of your marketing budget, look at it as a content marketing investment. Work with the trade show organizers to film the session and edit the material for use in a future podcast or multimedia blog article. If you are feeling really daring, consider attracting attention for your brand by live blogging right from your trade show booth.

Track Everything
When it comes to trade show content, you need to pay close attention to the numbers. Make use of website tracking programs such as Google Analytics, and monitor your social media posts to determine what content pieces receive the most attention from your target audience. Use these insights to make decisions about which collateral to bring to your upcoming trade show, as well as to track how many of your booth visitors check out your website in the weeks following the trade show.

Key Takeaways for How Does Content Factor into your Trade Show Efforts:S.J.Hemley Marketing

  1. Promote your brand by publishing original content on your website and drawing attendees to your trade show booth
  2. Don’t overwhelm attendees with too much information
  3. Interview attendees in order to create new, original content to be used in your staffing firm marketing efforts
  4. Sponsor a breakout session and film your presentation for later use
  5. Carefully track all of your pre-show and post-show content marketing efforts

About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.



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