With the spotlight shining brighter than ever before on leveraging the Internet for growth and profit, entrepreneurs and companies can do themselves a big favor when they consider adding a conference or live event into the mix of their ongoing content strategy.
Conferences are big business and for a big reason:
They work.
On many levels.
Here are three reasons why conferences or live events need to be a part of your content strategy:
1. Conferences provide your business an opportunity to showcase your content in front of established customers while attracting new ones into your mix. Whether you sponsor a table at an event like the Oregon Tradeswomen just did at the annual OAME business showcase held at the Oregon Convention Center, or you are a featured speaker on the stage of a conference or seminar, being in front of a live audience with your content has many advantages the virtual world doesn’t afford. Namely, being able to have a real conversation with a real person in real time about what they like, don’t like, want, etc. This approach may seem counter intuitive in our data-driven world, but a lot can be said for simply talking face to face when it comes to gaining insights into your target audience and then building content to make that target audience happy.
2. Conferences give you immediate insights into what competing or parallel companies are currently investing in their content marketing efforts. Seeing first hand who is putting hard-earned dollars into getting content exposure can be golden information for entrepreneurs looking to work with larger companies, as well as for corporations wanting to keep tabs on their competition. The range of content on display at live events is vast — everything from giving away twenty different types of swag to floor-to-ceiling banners featuring the latest and greatest company content offering to workshops and breakout sessions teaching participants the latest trend or skill.
3. When done right, conferences become a community of their own, further fostering feelings of goodwill that can have the ripple effect of generating future business. In our highly digitized world, online communities like ones started on Facebook and LinkedIn certainly have their place for sharing and showcasing content with the intention of gaining traction for our products, services, or cause. But as I pointed out in #1 above, nothing beats being face to face with the people who have the authority and credibility to help move along a plan, initiative, or sale. Speed to table can and often is amplified because of relationships formed at a live event. While touted as efficient and streamlined, the online process of emails, Tweets, and posts to attract attention can actually be a much, much slower path to getting the results you want.
As with anything to do with content and your business, thinking through how a conference could be aligned with your sales and marketing goals is important to consider before rushing out to sponsor or attend a live event. Approached strategically, the pay off can be huge. Done for the sake of simply doing it? That’s another story all together.
What’s your conference experience been like when it comes to content marketing? Leave your comments below!
