Viral marketing has become a hot topic in the world of promotion, and for good reason. It's every company's dream to have some form of advertisement go viral, widely forwarded around the world, providing thousands of new customers with virtually no expense. This goal is pursued by many companies, yet few of them think about the offline techniques they can use to help achieve their online viral marketing goals. They don't incorporate elements like their trade show stand into their overall strategy, which is a mistake. When used properly, a trade show stand can be the inspiration for something that goes viral. At the very least, it can be a powerful conversation piece that starts people talking about your company.
What Is Viral?
When most companies think of viral, they are thinking of a video. In reality, virtually anything can go viral. It might be a video, but it could also be a song, a quote, a picture, or just a link. The quality that defines something that has gone viral is that it must be readily passed between people online, organically, spreading itself like a virus through the internet. Many are exposed, and in turn they pass it on, exposing more people. Your product is carried on this wave of seemingly spontaneous excitement, seen by hundreds of thousands, and maybe even millions. Not all of those people will become customers, but even at a very conservative conversion rate, those are very favorable numbers.
Starting A Revolution Online
In reality, getting a campaign to go viral is quite difficult. It's hard to convince people that you have something worthy of their attention if you're actively promoting it. To spread organically, people usually want to learn about something organically, from someone who is considered unaffiliated with the product or video. That's precisely why a trade show stand can be so useful; it becomes an offline point of contact that can start an online wave.
A Trade Show Stand As A Starting Point
A chance meeting between an excited staff member and a connected individual at a trade show stand can be the spark that sets off a wave of sharing throughout the internet. People want to feel connected to the products that they're talking about, and nothing can accomplish that goal like a trade show stand. When people are able to talk to staff and experience a product for themselves, they're much more likely to share information with others, both offline and online. If you've got a funny media clip with the potential to go viral and are able to showcase it at your trade show stand, even better.
Even if you're just showcasing your product, don't hesitate to talk with people. It's not only the funny things that become internet sensations. Alongside viral marketing, influencer marketing has emerged as a leader in new promotion techniques. Influencers are linked to the tidal waves of the web because they are the catalysts; change tends to spread through them to the rest of the internet. Influencers are also the predominant type of people who will visit a trade show stand, which makes it easy to recognize and court them. With their help, many a good product has experienced swift success online. They'll cheer you in blogs, on Twitter, and via Facebook, providing invaluable word-of-mouth recommendations that tend to drive sales like nothing else.
Viewing a trade show stand as an isolated, unconnected unit is an obsolete view. Your booth should be a meeting point where possible company cheerleaders can talk to your people and see your work. With real life interaction under their belt, these people can return to their computers and start the kind of online wave that you've been waiting for.
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