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If you’ve ever hosted a booth at a conference, you know it can be hard to stand out in a sea full of companies handing out the same swag and brochures. But there’s hope for getting people to notice you, remember you, and talk about you at these events.
Here’s how:
1. Get them to come back
2. Help them remember you
3. Give smarter swag
1. Get them to come back
At conferences, you typically have one chance to talk to each person: the first time they walk past your booth. After all, there’s so much more for them to see at these events. You have to give them a reason to come back. To get festival-goers to keep checking back at their booth, Ray-Ban created a mosaic mural, piece by piece, using their fans’ printed Instagram photos. That gave the company several opportunities to make an impression throughout the day (plus, it looked pretty cool).
2. Help them remember you
After a full day of talking to companies and learning stuff, how do you get people to remember meeting you? Try giving them photo evidence. BrainPop brings their beloved robot mascot to conferences. If attendees tweet photos with him using BrainPop’s hashtag, they’ll feature it in a slideshow at the conference. But your photo booth doesn’t have to be that hi-tech. Discount Tire took tons of pictures of fans at a four-wheeler rally with a wooden cutout. That’s an easy way to help people remember their experience.
3. Give smarter swag
Swag is a staple of every conference. But have you ever showed a friend a pen you got from one? At our sister brand, SocialMedia.org, some of our most remarkable swag involves the things people love to talk about the most: dogs and babies. We send members onesies when they’ve had a baby and hand out dog toys at our events. And since people love taking pictures of dogs and babies, most of the time, they’ll share photos of their loved ones wearing or playing with our branded stuff.
