Events: my tip for 2012

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Peter van der Sluijs

2012 shows no slackening in the number of exhibitions, conferences and events, at least in the two industries in which Neesham is a PR specialist: semiconductors and digital signage.

It is an electronica year and this event will be as big and brash as ever. Our client Screen Events is all set to grow: Internet Retailing in March, Screen Media Expo, for digital signage and DooH in May, and the Social Media Influence conference in London in June.

Attending industry events continues to be key to B2B marketing, and the smart marketers are increasingly arranging ‘must attend’ events of their own to help them build real rather than just virtual relationships with their customers.

Online interaction complements and reinforces face to face relationships rather than replaces them. If you’ve watched ‘The Social Network’, you’ll know that Mark Zukerberg first built Facebook by connecting students at specific US colleges. Social networking feeds off and facilities relationships in the real world, it doesn’t replace them.

That’s why event marketers lead in the effective use of social media to reach a B2B audience – using Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to build communities before the event, and to extend the interaction after its close. Over the five years that we’ve worked with Screen Events, social media has formed an increasingly important part of the program.

So my thought for 2012 is: “Get off the Internet and meet the people you’d like to do business with.”

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