Best Practices for Using Tablets for Marketing at Events and Trade Shows

Google’s Eric Schmidt recently claimed: “The trend has been that mobile was winning. It’s won now”. Where have mobile tablets won and for whom? At trade shows, events and conferences, mobile is the way to go for event marketers. In recent years, mobile devices have significantly increased in use at marketing events.

You certainly should join in and use your mobile device in order to look like an in-the-know marketer. In order to discover an insight into tablet use at events, here are some very worthwhile tips for tablet use at events as follows.

Tips For Tablet Use at Marketing Events

Do your homework: Tablet use doesn’t have to be more overpowering than it really is. You can develop an expertise in tablet use by experimenting and testing various apps to determine which will work best for your needs. This should be done before the event, trade show or conference you will be using the tablet at.

Be prepared with an App with offline capability: Connectivity is all too often an issue at most conferences and trade shows. The Wi-Fi of the event is often unstable, inconvenient, expensive and limiting in reliability of tablet usage. These obstacles make it difficult to implement tablet use at events. However, if you use offline apps to store the information collected on a tablet device, you can then upload the information to a profile online. Since web-based apps often work inside an internet browser, they cause many problems. These problems are caused by the web-based apps requiring a constant connection to the internet in order to function.

Engage your audience: You can engage your audience as they enter an Expo or trade show. By implementing iBeacon technology, you can do this by setting up a number of iPad kiosks where attendees can input their information. You can send push notifications to attendees’ mobile phones as they approach your booth. These notifications will post options to forward a response by email, scan a code or print on site. This will allow a direct connection to get in touch with you. This was done at a CeBIT Expo in Hannover, Germany. The push notifications were new job offers sent to candidates as they approached the CeBIT booth. The candidates could then apply for jobs directly to the employers.

Be creative to inspire: Instead of handing out brochures, binders or other paper material, give away something like a Samsung tablet to registered attendees. As the prices of tablets go down and the quality gets better, this is something that will be done more often.

iPad and Tablet Use at Events and Trade Shows

Every marketing event or trade show needs fresh ideas created by cool trends and hot happenings. With enormous numbers of iPads and tablets being sold globally, incorporating them into your marketing event or trade show expo is a natural way to market your product or service. Two of Kristen Veach’s ideas will certainly give you inspiration for your next event.

Intel’s “Virtual Partner Pavilion”

Tablets and iPads can provide a wide variety of entertaining, fun and meaningful, in-booth activities. With the creation of a “Virtual Partner Pavilion,” Intel established their leadership in intelligent systems at the world’s biggest embedded technologies exhibition. In order to understand the reach and power of embedded intelligent systems, tablets were used by attendees to launch Augmented Reality (AR) sequences at several participating partner booths throughout the exhibit hall.

Specifics of this event:

• Attendees were led by a professional engager to 9 participating partner booths.
• The professional engager told the story of each participating partner. At the same time, the professional engager enhanced the story visually with custom Augmented Reality infographics seen on the tablets carried by guests from one booth to another.
• Pointing rear-facing cameras on tablets that were loaded with the custom app “graphic markers” in the partner booths triggered the AR sequences.
• Ear buds allowed attendees to hear the audio.
• As attendees walked through the show carrying tablets, this AR interactive tour highlighted Intel’s leadership and partner capabilities.

Crane Aerospace & Electronics Uses Off-the-Shelf Game App

You don’t need to create your own custom app for your booth at a trade show or marketing event. An off-the-shelf app can be an economical and repeatable activity for your booth. For example, Crane Aerospace & Electronics used a game app that was related to their industry with an engagement strategy.

Specifics of this event:

• Attendees were welcomed by a professional engager who asked two quick questions to qualify.
• Game play on the app was facilitated by the engager for the guest.
• If the game was complete and the guest was qualified, the engager then connected the prospect to a staffer at a Crane booth.

At a small show with one-on-one interactions, this activity works well.

Things You Might Not Think About, But Are Essential for Success

Enable efforts of lead gathering: No matter what the role of tablets will be at your booth, make sure it is easy for your booth staff to use the tablet to gather lead data information for contact by using either a simple form set up on the tablet or a scanner app. This can be done with our TOP RATED email address & social media collection app.

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Evaluate card processing service providers: Before you choose a provider for credit card transactions for your booth, review several different options. You should compare equipment fees, transaction fees, compatibility of device and security.

Charging options will be needed: Make sure electrical outlets are available for a charging station. An extension cord with multiple sockets would be handy. You should also consider having a couple of backup tablets.

Keep tablets clean: Your tablets will most likely get dirty after being handled by many human hands. Therefore, you should keep many clean cloths and hand sanitizers handy. Make sure your booth staff cleans tablets regularly.

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