The way companies reach out to potential customers is in a state of flux. The internet has changed everything, and marketing and sales professionals are rethinking all their options for engaging and converting customers, and building brand awareness. We caught up with www.zoomdisplay.co.uk to take a look at one of the long-standing, effective approaches to marketing; trade show exhibiting.

Traditional Advertising Is Ineffective On the Internet

Traditional advertising doesn’t always work in the Internet world to build brand awareness. A firm could spend almost limitless amounts of cash on advertising for brand awareness but still never reach their target audience. The Internet is too large and unfocused. In order to get your message to the right people, you first have to determine where the right people are located. The largest concentration of willing listeners for your marketing pitch is bound to be at trade shows.

Trade Show Attract an Engaged Audience

Trade shows are by definition self-selecting groups of people. They’re designed to attract people who are interested in the sector the exhibitors are working in, and they are spending money and time with the sole intent of listening and looking at marketing materials. It would be almost impossible to gather a more motivated and sympathetic audience for your pitch. Even people who sign up for email marketing aren’t as interested in what you have to offer. Many marketing gurus suggest social media can act as a substitute for face to face interactions, but while social media is important, most people’s presence on them is superficial. Not many deals are struck on a Facebook page.

According to industry watchers, an incredible 81 percent of trade show attendees have buying authority at their firms. That compelling statistic alone demonstrates why trade show exhibiting still works to build brand awareness in exactly the right people. It’s valuable to market to people in your industry, but it’s many times more valuable to market directly to the person that decides to make the purchases.

Trade Shows Are Important for Exhibitors and Attendees

It can be expensive for visitors to attend trade show, but they’re considered important parts of a manager’s duties. If trade shows were unimportant, lower-level employees would be assigned to attend in their place. Managers often concentrate on face-to-face meetings with key personnel inside their own buildings, and they naturally seek out people at industry meetings for the same kind of interaction. If you’re not representing your firm at important industry trade shows, you’re missing a prime opportunity to attract the attention of interested parties, and to convert them immediately into customers. That’s an opportunity no smart marketing department can afford to miss.