8 Reasons Why Roadshows Are the Best Face-to-Face Option
How long can you afford to wait before you launch or demo your next product? Summer 2021? Early 2022?
For most businesses, a frightening prospect is emerging: face-to-face events might still be another 18 months from anything like a return to normality.
If you’re one of the tens of thousands of brands caught in today’s perfect storm of cancelled exhibitions, virtual event fatigue and emptying sales funnels, the pressure is on.
Finding the only sensible Covid secure face-to-face event solution
Many agency clients and brand finance directors are still reeling from the time and money they sunk into their last event... only to see it wiped out with nothing in return.
Just imagine today trying to sell the idea of an exhibition stand.
You’ll have to commit huge resources into planning, travel, hotels, stands – the list goes on. Yet there’s still no real confidence these traditional gatherings will come back anytime soon.
So how do you revive lead generation event marketing when the risks are so high?
Covid-secure face-to-face event solutions do exist
Online marketing only goes so far: 90% of respondents in an Explori survey said virtual events are not as effective as live events.
That finding supports complaints we’ve heard, with some companies revealing their new leads are down 90% since March, partly because they can’t get face-to-face with their prospects.
Today, truck roadshows are the only face-to-face event solution that delivers creativity, quality, safety – and all the assurance you’ll need to get your budgets signed off.
Truck roadshows allow you to:
1. Target key individuals face-to-face with your brand message. Harvard Business Review says an average of 5.4 people are involved in B2B sales. But only two or three from any company will travel to an exhibition. A roadshow takes you direct to their door, enabling everyone to be in the same room at the same time. And, if someone isn’t able to attend on the day, we have technology on board to hold hybrid events, so anyone can dial in, if needed.
2. Plan in uncertain times, because you know your campaign is guaranteed. Truck roadshows put you in control. They eliminate your prospects’ travel risks and wipe out your reliance on an exhibition being able to function.
3. Redirect your route if Covid restrictions surge back. In the UK alone, we’ve already seen local lockdowns affecting big cities like Manchester. If that trend continues, those who’ve been smart enough to invest in truck roadshows can simply divert elsewhere.
4. Activate your campaign quickly. Typical lead times are just six to eight weeks. Once your truck is fitted out, it can be deployed at a moment’s notice. Simply drive it to your chosen exhibition, event – or even directly to your target’s offices. Only one person is needed on site and average set-up times are just two hours.
5. Offer a controlled and consistent environment. All our trucks are Covid-secure, with floor markers indicating social distancing in line with governmental or World Health Organization guidance. Guests will also be reassured by PPE, digital thermometers, air purifiers, fogging machines and remote booking apps.
6. Cut through the noise of a saturated digital space. When everyone has moved to online marketing, a roadshow breaks the monotony and positions you differently in the eyes of your key targets.
7. Take advantage of heightened senses with a unique experiential environment. There’s only so much depth you can get by sitting in front of a monitor. Live events give your targets something to immerse themselves in. After the last few months, the enjoyment of something real won’t be forgotten.
8. Execute an affordable way to revive your sales funnel and get back to face-to-face activity. Two-thirds of companies that exhibit at trade shows say Covid-related event cancellations have had a “detrimental impact” on their business. Some brands have even told us that the costs they have paid for one exhibition stand for a few days, equates to a roadshow truck activation for a full year, so it’s a no-brainer.
To find out more about how a roadshow truck could turbocharge your face-to-face event marketing, contact Andy Morris today for a friendly, no-obligation chat.
