Learn how to
stay competitive
while marketing your brand and message…
when you don’t have the time, energy, or expertise!
So often we hear about the best ways to push our offer digitally.
It’s true that leveraging digital solutions is key for all modern businesses.
But face-to-face interactions are not dead!
On the contrary, people are looking forward to getting back to speaking and networking events. As more events become possible again, members of your target audience are looking to attend.
According to one study from Oxford Economics, networking is one essential tool for both attracting and retaining customers. Better yet, 75% of consumers prefer in-person meetings.
Clearly, these in-person events can do wonders for your brand.
However, there is one challenge you must consider. How can you get the people from the event to your next offer?
Maybe you are speaking on stage and looking to gather information for your prospects in the audience. Or imagine that you are at a networking event and you meet a potential client and you need to quickly get their information to send them a lead magnet or your current offer (maybe it is a 2-day program).
Bridging the gap between face-to-face interaction and your (digital) offer can be a challenge.
Business cards may seem like a great idea, but 88% end up in the garbage within 7 days. A lot of them probably won’t even make it out of the event hall, or worse, they’ll get trapped in a stuffed wallet for years.
Fortunately, there are now many helpful tools for getting quick signups during your next in-person engagement. These strategies will help you quickly capture the prospect’s information so you can move them to the next stage in your funnel.
Let’s take a look at a few ideas!
One great strategy is an SMS text shortcode. You could leverage this during a presentation or during a one-on-one interaction. The idea is that you display a number for the audience to immediately text a shortcode.
Your system can then either send them an offer directly or send them a form etc. There are really endless ways to implement this strategy. Furthermore, you could use the same number with different codes for different purposes.
Consider this example. You are at a networking event. You engage in a very promising conversation with a potential client, partner, etc. This is a key opportunity to collect their information, and the easier it is the better. You could simply have them text one number with your shortcode, and the code could be related to the offer you discussed.
A simple one would be an eBook lead magnet. They could text your number with “EBOOK” as the code and then receive an automated link with the contact collection and download link.
A QR code is another great way to quickly engage your audience and collect their information. Again, QR codes work well for presentations and/or more personal events.
When you display the QR code, people simply hover over it with their phone camera, and then they are taken to the landing page associated with the code. The great thing about QR codes is that you could integrate several different ones throughout a presentation that all lead to different pages. This is ideal for segmenting your audience and bringing in prospects at different points in the funnel.
Consider using a QR code during a presentation/ speaking engagement with an audience. On a slide talking about what you do, you could have a QR code where people could go to learn more. This is ideal for those in the earliest stages of the funnel. In the same presentation, you may talk about a certain offer you have right now (whether it’s a deal or a limited-time product/ service, etc). You could display a QR code where they could go to sign up for or download the offer.
As you can see, you could integrate several QR codes into your presentation. They are fairly subtle if you want them to be, but they give your audience a quick, easy way to engage. This means they give you a great strategy for getting them to sign up or progress through your funnel.
Social media is also a great way to quickly connect and move an in-person conversation to a digital one. You can leverage several different platforms, but an ideal one to consider for business purposes in LinkedIn.
You could include your LinkedIn handle in your presentation and urge people to connect to learn more or claim the offer etc. Likewise, when speaking in person you could simply ask for their LinkedIn page. Moving forward, you can even contact them directly on the platform to discuss or share your offer.
While it may be challenging to quickly grab your prospect’s information during in-person events, the strategies above can help. Of course, to ensure maximum engagement and effectiveness, you want to integrate them with your current funnel and digital solutions.
That’s where our experienced team at Engage 2 Engage can be a big help. We have the expertise it takes to seamlessly integrate strategies like these into your offer. We help small businesses and entrepreneurs with all aspects of digital marketing, including bringing in-person interactions to the digital world to promote your offer. Learn more about how we can help today by checking out our Marketing Programs!
while marketing your brand and message…
when you don’t have the time, energy, or expertise!