Face-to-face marketing

September 4, 2:49 PMB2B Marketing ExaminerCamberley Bates

This highlights the ongoing need for merging the value of social media, with networking and relationships. An executive may have over 500+ contacts on LinkedIn, but the inner circle importance continues to increase as the world becomes more and more dispersed. A company can access people, but access does not translate into trust. Trust, becomes the delivery of consistency and belief in the company and the person representing the business.

Perhaps this is why there is a rise in the success of local events, lunch ‘n learns, regional tradeshows. As budgets have been cut, and large tradeshow attendance is down, vendors have been encouraged by the success of these local intimate venues. It gives the professional a chance to socialize with peers while learning. For the vendor, there is an opportunity to meet in a more relaxed setting without competing with email or web surfing (common among those attending webinars).

The key to these events is providing professional value, not a vendor pitch. To hear peers talk about business problems or a panel discuss approaches to the issues is much more attractive than a product presentation. Most events will still contain an element of product content, but given within the context of how a problem was solved.

This is called creating a community. Mix social media with the creation of community. The world needs face-to-face contact.