The Apple iPad has taken the computing world by storm, selling over 13 million units in 2010, which has led to the introduction of several slate PC competitors including the HP TouchPad, Samsung Galaxy, and Dell Streak, just to name a few.
Gartner Group, projects that sale of Tablet PCs to reach 55 million this year and by 2013, approximately 80% of the workforce will be using tablet technology.
So how is this all changing the face of Tradeshow event planning and what is the benefit of iPad technology over current technology products?
Over the last several years, most event meeting services planners have attended tradeshows and engaged in face-to-face selling with the booth exhibitor. This has always been a hit-or-miss proposition for the exhibitor because when they are talking to one prospect, another may be getting away. The way they have solved this issue in the past, was to have more sales people in the booth. Given today’s economic climate with travel and time away from the office, upper management is reluctant to send a slew of people to the show in hopes of meeting the right prospects. So many exhibitors now have large plasma display rentals with a running video loop. Again, this is about as effective as a commercial; it may hold the person for 30 to 60 seconds, but they are going to move on if they don’t interact with a person. So what is a company to do?
Why not make the booth more interactive with fewer people and bring the message to the attendee instead of waiting for them to come to the booth?
Below are a few ways an iPad rental can help:
- Video Demonstrations & eMarketing The iPad can be loaded with video demonstrations of the product or service the exhibitor is offering and the sales personnel can utilize the portibility and touchscreen of the iPad to go out to the masses and customize the presentation to prospect’s needs. At a point of interest, with one touch and a few clicks, the booth sales rep can email marketing materials, presentations, quotes, or contact information right to the prospect and they will have the information upon returning to the office. The emails will be collected in a very non-threatening way from the attendee and they will only be receiving the information requested.
- Computer Kiosk By putting the iPad on a stand, attendees can self-guide themselves through the demonstations and read the marketing material. This is a great option if the booth personnel are short handed. Many times, a giveaway is part of the video loop, enabling the exhibitor to collect emails, even if they never have an opportunity to talk to the prospect.
- Lead Generation and Retrevial iLeads is a software package for the iPad and iPhone that allows tradeshow exhibitors to gather data from the attendees badge, quickly and easily. It also allows the exhibitor to tally how many leads have been gathered and search for a specific name, after it is entered. All leads are uploaded to the Cloud, maximizing security and minimizing hardware dependancy.