Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
I wanted to build a little on my earlier post, 5 things conference speakers can do to make their sessions better, and talk about vendors who have little exhibition stalls at the conferences in hopes of generating leads, awareness or whatever the business goal is.
1) Have a demo
I meet vendors who’re able to explain to me what they do in abstract terms, but I really want to have a feel of doing it myself without the pitching and fluff. Provide it.
2) Provide case studies
It’s nice to hear “25,000 companies are using our platform”, but when I ask “like who?” and you can’t name a brand? It sounds a little suspicious. Showcase some successes or experiments and give me a feel of how it works.
3) Give me something to take away
Sometimes it isn’t a tangible product, sometimes it’s a service. Lewis PR had this tongue-in-cheek collateral on how to comment on a blog and it was just something fun to take away.
4) Give me a trial
Knowing about your product/service in theory doesn’t do much. We all know how the marketing funnel works, get me down to the trial stage and maybe it’ll help push me towards a purchase decision if the product speaks for itself.
5) Be genuine
Too often I get vendors who squint at my nametag and try to determine if it’s worth their time to talk to me or not. I’ve mentioned this before in going for the sale vs going for the customer. Be genuine and the rest works itself out.
Those are my thoughts, what would you suggest vendors do to make their exhibitions more accessible?
Disclaimer: Any brands and products mentioned are my own personal interactions with them and do not represent endorsements by either myself or my employer, I’m simply using them for illustrative purposes.
Tags: being genuine, conference speakers, conference vendors, exhibitions, generating awareness, lead generation, provide case studies, trial
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Sunday, April 26th, 2009
As any marketer should know, the adoption process, or steps that people go through before a purchasing decision, works like this:
Awareness –> Trial –> Purchase/Usage
Unfortunately, when it comes to campaigns or initiatives, awareness is all too often the focus, but the linkage between awaerness and conversion or a purchase is so far away, that it doesn’t always work out well for the brand. Trial is just a step that is way too underrated in the marketing process.
Let’s put it this way: Awareness is sitting at the pub watching an ad on the sports channel for a different beer than what you’re drinking. Trial is your buddy next to you asking you to try his beer, which is also a different beer than what you’re drinking. Which is more likely to work better (assuming the beer doesn’t taste foul)?
With a freemium feature (one where basic features are available for free, but extra features are paid for), you incorporate awareness and trial all at once, and that’s something iPhone app creators are doing to gain users in a really competitive and swamped marketplace.
Let’s see how it works:
Awareness
I’m subscribed to App Shopper and a few other blogs that do nothing but aggregate and share the new apps available on the iTunes app store daily. This is where app developers go to to try to get awareness.
Trial
If someone notices an app from any one of these aggregators, the next step would be to download it from the App Store and try it out. I did this recently with Airport Mania and Best of 101 Dog Tricks, and really liked the free versions, though the features were really limited for the free version.
Purchase/Usage
If the apps blow the consumer away (and if they’re good, they will), then purchase is just one click away. From the company’s perspective, there’s nothing to lose. The more people get it free to try, the more people are aware of it and could pass it on to other people willing to buy.
There are so many apps out there (or products, or services) and it’s hard to make a decision to shell out $1.99 (or $19.99 or $199.99) for your offering when all I have to go on is awareness. Offer something that proves your product is kick-ass and worth paying for, and consumers pretty much will do just that.
Tags: adoption process, advertising campaign, aggregator, airport mania, app shopper, awareness, best of 101 dog tricks, competitive marketplace, conversion, induces trial, inducing trial, initiatives, iphone app, itunes app store, marketer, Marketing, purchase, purchasing decision, trial, usage
Posted in Marketing, case studies | No Comments »
