Trade shows have long been a staple of marketing a business, product or service in the current landscape. Participation can help garner targeted business leads, share and expose a brand to new audiences, show off potential solutions, and much more.
Much of this is powered by mobile apps, which help facilitate direct interactions with prospective customers. A visitor engagement app, for instance, might allow you to improve the in-person experience, and it’s all carried out through mobile. Making use of Bluetooth beacons, for example, will allow reps to share exclusive content with visitors, or even send out mobile alerts to a passerby.
So, what kind of apps can help improve the average trade show experience? How can you use mobile apps to build engagement at an event?
1. Before the Event
With trade shows, conferences and major events, the marketing work begins long before the actual fanfare. If no one knows you’ll be present at an event, for example, your attendance numbers will be much lower.
Trade show apps can be used to build hype before the event even kicks off, which is valuable for generating exposure but also getting everyone excited to attend. One way to use these apps by
mobile app company involves giving people reasons to show up. You can do this by telling them what you’ll offer in terms of freebies, what kind of exclusive benefits they might receive or what they can learn from visiting your booth. Pathable is a great example of this, but there are
many other event-based apps that offer similar functionality. It's definitely a feature to include if you're building an app of your own.
More importantly, most apps have a community and social element to them, which allows you to gather valuable feedback. You might realize, for instance, that few people are interested in what you’re planning, allowing you ample time to go back to the drawing board.
2. Consistent Always-on Marketing
The problem with most conventional forms of marketing — email blasts, signage, online promotions and more — is that they show up once or twice and are then forgotten. Even an ongoing promotion ends eventually, which can impact customer attention.
The nature of mobile apps, however, is that they are always on and always accessible. You can also tap into features like push notifications and mobile alerts, real-time insights and customer feedback. All of these things can be used to build a higher level of engagement leading up to the event, simply by creating a consistent marketing campaign through a mobile app.
Because apps are generally designed to accommodate the greater experience — through ticket and sales processing features, meeting and appointment tools, direct communications and more — customers tend to check back with them anyway. If you deliver a stream of continuous content and updates on top of all that, it’s a great way to build a more consistent and connected audience.
3. Social Media Integration
Many apps incorporate the most popular social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter or even Instagram. What this does is create a synergistic environment where public exposure and discussion is more openly encouraged. That alone boosts attention, but also helps to share with the greater world who may not have been clued in about the event before encountering social media discussions.
It also enables direct interactions with people and attendees in real-time during the event. Social media reps can police certain hashtags and trends related to a brand’s products or booth and respond accordingly.
4. Communication
Mobile apps centered around a community offer more robust communication opportunities not just between the business and customer, but between everyone. Like-minded customers and audiences can engage in discussions via mobile forums, offering another valuable space of feedback for the organization. It generates an active community surrounding the brand, which cannot be overstated in terms of value. In fact, community building is
one of the most important reasons why companies run or participate in an event in the first place.
But it’s also a way to build a more personal connection with individual customers, thanks to direct personalization and one-on-one communications. A discussion started before the event and online — as long as it’s done via the mobile app — can be carried through to the in-person experience at a booth, for instance. Brand reps already know where the discussion has been and have a better idea of where it’s going. When that person visits a booth, they can pick up right where the conversation left off, allowing for more targeted and effective experiences.
5. Future Value, After the Event
Almost always, it is necessary to follow-up after an event, whether to close a sale or to simply encourage future interactions. A mobile app can be used to this end to keep in touch with audiences after the conclusion of a major event.
It provides several unique opportunities to further communicate with audiences, and here are some examples:
- Mobile updates about a new product or service launch
- Exclusive coupons, discounts and promotional offers
- Important press release updates
- News about upcoming appearances and future events
- Synchronized follow-ups and experiential communications
Once the app is installed, it’s always there to engage with. That’s the key. You must build a reliable and open relationship with mobile customers so they continue to use the app and experience what you offer.
Native App or Third-Party App?
Ultimately, these are all great reasons for relying on a mobile app to improve the modern trade show experience, but they all lead to one final question — should you build the app yourself and deliver a proprietary experience or should you rely on a third-party solution?
The goods news is that there is no right or wrong answer here. It really depends on what you want to provide and how you want to get there. A third-party solution will be developed and supported through another brand, leaving you free to manage the most important elements. A proprietary app, however, is going to be much more costly and time-consuming but also allows for more direct control over what happens and what features are offered within.
There is an argument to be made, that standalone apps are difficult to build engagement and interest in — third-party solutions are often universal for an entire event.
E3’s official app, for example, includes a lot about the event itself but leaves something to be desired when it comes to individual companies and participants.
Either way, a mobile app is definitely one of the best ways to merge the modern in-person and digital experiences that are happening in today’s business landscape.
