Table of Contents
Introduction
Getting recognition for your startup is oftentimes one of the most strenuous tasks possible for a business owner. Taking that extra step towards garnering more attention for the business is forever going to be a task that most businesses can do easily. Often times you question your business plan and your ideas and worry that they just are not good enough. This is the story of the tech industry as well, especially when the world is at the peak of its technological journey.
Microsoft is an already established elite company, so are Apple, Facebook, and Amazon. How could you possibly compete against the elites with a populist worldview? They always seem to have the upper hand in the industry. In this article, we discuss this very dilemma and offer some tricks on how you can successfully exhibit your startup at a tech conference.
1. Be clear on what your goals are:
Keep in mind that exhibiting your startup at any conference or trade show costs money. Not only that, it keeps you out of work for around a week. Make sure that, as a new venture looking for investors, you make it worth your time and effort.
Here are some factors to consider measuring your return on investment-
- Exposure: Are potential investors and other end users going to end up learning about your venture?
- Contacts: Did you get an opportunity to network and meet with potential investors and partners?
- Leads: Did you find the quality of the attendees good enough to generate potential leads?
These are just some basic metrics; you can obviously choose your own metrics as well. These questions can be very important as they establish a sense of potential success for your startup. You get anyone of significance to show interest, and you have them on your bait; all you have to do now is pull.
2. Introducing yourself before the conference:
Believe it or not, the investors you are looking for are humans, and to do business with humans, you have to get along. First impressions are key in such conferences, so make sure you do prior research on the people who are going to attend the conference and learn about their values two weeks prior to the conference itself.
Once you have collected enough information on the most important people you want to impact, send them a personalized message a week prior to the conference, you should get positive responses from at least some of them.
Check if the conference has an app that provides such information; if not, they must have a directory somewhere. The better prepared you are, the better the outcomes are going to be for your venture.
3. Plan your attendance:
Most tech conferences have multiple sessions taking place concurrently. Make sure you decide which sessions you want to be a part of before the conference begins. And once you are in your desired session, take complete advantage of the social interactions and events taking place. Remember that the cornerstone to success in relationships, so do as much networking as you physically can.
It is no doubt hard to be everywhere you want to be in such conferences if you are the only one who is representing your company. Either make sure you attend sessions where you can meet your desired contacts face-to-face or bring along other representatives you can trust with the marketing of your venture.
If you decide to bring a team, divide the sessions accordingly and make sure you regroup daily and discuss the conversations you have with them.
4. Follow up:
Ah yes, the pillar to most social interactions. It isn’t enough to just get necessary contacts and leave it at that; you must follow up. What this does is it makes the opposite person feel included and makes them think that you care.
The best way to reach out to them once the conference ends is to ask them some personal questions to make them feel involved and engaged. Potential investors and partners like it when you add that personal touch; otherwise, if you start with business, they might just get annoyed and not be interested in your venture anymore.
Don’t leave it at just one follow-up, do this either weekly or monthly if they don’t seem to engage as often as you would like them to.
5. Everyone loves free things:
Make sure you set aside some of your budgets towards gifts to prospective investors and partners. The logic behind such gifts would be to gift them something they would practically use based on their livelihoods, and not just something they would just end up chucking in the bin.
Many startups have gotten good investors because of the sentiments that their gifts hold. At the end of the day, after the conference is over, you want people to remember your brand, don’t you?
And that was that those are some tips you can unitize to make an effective impact in tech conferences. It is tough; you may get rejected more than you think, even by important clients. But, remember one thing, if your brand is remembered after the conference, which is the biggest win for your startup.
Conclusion
Be confident in what you market to them; it may speak more for your business than you deem possible.
Like an escape room, it is always risky to spend so much money on such events, but if you can get even one person of interest on your site, it is totally worth the money spent.
Keep the important people from the conference engaged at all times, make sure you send in gifts, souvenirs, and follow up with them on a regular basis. After all, a good investor never denies a good business idea.
Author Bio:
Sophia Scott is a content creator at escaperoom.com. She’s a passionate young woman, mother to an amazing nine-year-old, and an avid reader. Over the years, writing has helped her explore and understand the world as well as her own self. She loves to travel, meet new people, and spend quality time with her daughter. You can find her on LinkedIn.
