Your 2016 Diggers & Dealers checklist

It’s that time of year again when Diggers & Dealers is just on the horizon, so Art Director Cameron Jones has put together of a helpful checklist to ensure you’re prepared.

Time to begin scratching your head and working out what needs to be created to make your company’s mark at the big event.

Do you do something similar to last year? Do you just update the numbers and the maps? Order some new pens? Or do you try something different?

Your booth

For any exhibitor, the booth is the lynchpin of your marketing strategy at Diggers & Dealers. It’s the physical address for your company over the few days of Diggers and you should treat it as such (like a mini-office for your company in the middle of an exhibition centre in Kalgoorlie!). Quite realistically, it could be the only experience somebody has with your company and it’s important to make an impression.

The experience somebody has in visiting your booth is much, much more important than the information on the walls. Key statistics and maps are obviously important tools for conversations, however, there needs to be a balance. We live in an age where somebody can find out everything about your company on their phone in 5 minutes. So use your space to sell your brand and leave them with a pleasant association of it.

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A reason to visit your booth

Just because you have a booth, it doesn’t mean people want to visit it.

Take risks. It’s an interesting opening statement, but every year at every conference, countless booths sit boring and unoccupied. At conferences, the big and bold always win out and bring attention.

With some of the biggest decision makers and brokers in the resources industry crammed into a small town for a few days on the edge of the desert, it’s probably unlikely you will find such a captive audience.

Create a reason to bring people to your booth and a reason for it to stand out amongst the others. Think new and interesting giveaways, eye catching graphics, fun or unique activities and ask yourself what you find interesting at conferences. Dare to step out from the pack.

(And remember, whilst a multi-coloured areomag map looks good, not every visitor will be a geologist or geophysicist who will understand it!)

Your presentation

Just because the information is in front of the viewer, doesn’t mean they will see it.

More information is far from better. Simple short points are easier for people to digest especially given the wide smorgasbord Diggers & Dealers provides. Keep your brand and key messages front and centre. If you have trouble explaining your key messages simply in a couple of seconds, then your target audience will struggle (especially the morning after a big night). Perhaps tie your message up with a slogan or catchy sentence. Get it right and you will easily be able to theme your presentation in a way that makes sense and sticks.

Sometimes things are not that simple. Complex processes or ideas need to be explained and to do so in words would bring confusion. In this scenario, a designed graphic may be a great option. It’s tempting to try and tackle it in PowerPoint every time, but there are cases when this won’t cut it. Think of each graphic as an asset in your communication toolbelt. The better the tool, the easier the job. Be prepared to pinpoint which graphics need that treatment and take the action.

What people take from your booth

The average person will only be able to take away a limited points and concepts from a visit to a booth. As the days of the conference continue these fade and can get confused or overshadowed by other conversations and material viewed.

Make sure you provide different channels for any contact you make at Diggers to contact you later and find out more. Make sure the basics are covered. Have you got enough business cards? Discovering you don’t the day before leaving won’t do you much good. Do you have a clean, succinct and professional factsheet? Is there a digital version you can forward on mid-conversation from your phone and turn a quick chat into an investment or joint venture opportunity?

Looking further afield, is the website you are pointing to worth the trip for them? Is it up-to-date? Will it work on their phone over the sponsored wifi? Or will they give up trying to find what they want then and there and move on? Times have changed and if somebody can’t find what they want from a website when they want, then they are not likely to try again.

In the upcoming weeks, we will look at how you can access the growing role social media plays at modern conferences, how to prepare well for presentations, networking well and the best practice in talking to new people who visit your booth.

Cameron Jones is the Art Director at leading strategic communications consultancy Purple. If you have any further questions or enquiries feel free to contact him direct at cjones@canningspurple.com.au

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