Connecting Face to Face Part II

Posted: July 24th, 2009 | Author: aly | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off

So this is long overdue. Blame it on summer slowness? okay, we’ll do that. A little while ago I posted a blog about the importance of including face time as part of your communications strategy. We’re so hyperfocused on connecting online and using tools that keep us from needing to interact, that we’ve seem to forgotten how effective a face to face meeting can be. Here are just a few face-time strategies that should be included in your marketing plans:

  • Networking — Sounds so simple. Get out and go to a networking event. For small businesses especially, this can be a goldmine. If potential customers have heard about your business but haven’t been motivated to check it out, sometimes all it takes is having a conversation with someone, in person, to get them to consider buying. If you’re on a super-tight marketing budget, then this is even more beneficial to you. Customers aren’t hearing about you as often as they should through other marketing so you need to spread the word yourself. Just like any other marketing strategy, have some patience with networking. You probably won’t get business from going to one event every couple of months. You have to be consistent to see the payoffs. Pick a couple professional groups and then commit to going to their events once a month for at least three months.
  • Tradeshows and Events — Whether it’s the local BtoB conference or the national user group conference, tradeshows are a really important place to show your goods to customers, press, analysts and partners. This can be an expensive proposition for many companies so take the time to really think about where you’re going to get the most bang for your buck. Maybe it’s just two shows a year, but the audience is so highly relevant (meaning, concentrated with your potential customers) that its worth the expense. If you can afford it, make the commitment to exhibit at the show and not just attend. Doing this gives the you opportunity to demo your wares to attendees (press too!). A lot of conferences also allow exhibitors to lead workshops, speak or sit on panel discussions — another great way to showoff.
  • Ask ‘em to lunch — Again, seems so simple yet it’s so underused. If there’s someone you really want to get in front of, send ‘em a note asking them to lunch (or coffee). It gives you one-on-one interaction, hopefully without distractions. Like with networking events, you may not make a sale with one meeting, but you will be on this person’s radar (and hopefully top of mind) so when the time is right, they’ll think of your company to fit their needs. BTW, I’ve rarely had someone say no to me buying them lunch. And every client we have right now I can tie back to a casual meeting over lattes at some point. uh-huh.

We could get a lot deeper with this topic, but for many entrepreneurs, it’s adding just a few simple face-to-face tactics like this into the game plan that makes all the difference. Don’t think for a minute that this strategy are any less important than media relations, social media, or any other part of your communications plan.

More from Ubiquity

Ubiquity Recommends

Ubiquity: Ubiquitous Blog has content marketing with Arkayne Socialize.

Comments are closed.