Strutting Your Stuff

It is always interesting and sometimes even fun to attend industry conferences.  It is a good marketing opportunity for your firm and a good educational outreach.

You can attend a conference within your industry.  This would be a national organization that is I loved with what you sell or what service you provide.  These can be great opportunities to understand trends in your industry and see what the future might hold.  It can assist you with strategic planning for your company and reinforce actions you are already deploying or confirm which ones you should include.

You may also wish to attend a conference in an industry where you find customers.  This would be a marketing approach and paying for a vendor table or booth could likely boost both your brand awareness and your market intelligence.  It is a path to potentially landing more customers as well.  At the very minimum, it should impress your current customers in that industry by showing you are willing to support their conferences.  

If you do not pay to be a vendor but attend as a member or a guest of a member, be cognizant tha an organization aggressive marketing approach may not be perceived well.  Meet people and give them your business card but do not be handing out brochures or booklets.  There is a reason why vendors have to pay for their space.  Anything more than conversation and business card exchange really puts you in the vendor category and you should be paying for that opportunity.

Identify some conferences that make sense for your organization.  Then start the conversation while you are there and see how productive that dialogue can be.  In person marketing can be both educationally rewarding and profitable at the same time.  

Be well.