Three Tricks To Hack A Conference

KITCHENER, Ontario - April 28, 2015 - PRLog -- William Zhou, CEO of education technology startup Chalk.com gets great conference placement, and always walks out with new business leads. Three simple hacks can help any business get the most out of conference season.

Get free prime floor space
It can be difficult to secure good booth placement at a conference as a startup that can’t afford big sponsorship deals, but there are other ways to provide sponsor-like value. Chalk.com is expanding the marketing reach of the upcoming CONNECT 2015 education technology conference in Niagara Falls, by inviting their own user base. The result is a good partnership for both parties - prime floor space for the startup, and free marketing for the conference. The trick is providing the right value to the conference, in exchange for floor placement on their end.

Automate connections
Running a booth results in a lot of new faces and too many names to count, especially when trying to follow up with new contacts. Using email automation software like ToutApp allows anyone to input a new email address and begin a triggered email series. This is especially useful when trying to meet up with people at or after a conference, since emails can be customized to any message. Even if you don’t end up meeting with a new contact, the automated emails ensure that they get some communication from you to carry the relationship forward.

Be the memorable brand
Most booths have free contest giveaways, flashy banners, and product demonstrations, but very few companies become the memorable brands of the conference. Exposure is key to becoming the most noticed and remembered booth, by getting your logo in front of as many faces as possible with associated value. Often the easiest method to accomplish this is by providing free swag with your logo all over it. The secret, however, is to give the most unique swag, and differentiate from the other swag-givers. If everyone is giving free hand bags, give free shoulder bags. Free branded sunglasses or bandanas get people wearing your logo, and promoting your booth.

Aside from the swag it takes just a little networking and some clever marketing for any startup to become the talk of the conference, and capturing more qualified leads.