Why Digital Promotions Are Better for Trade Shows

Digital promotions are replacing — or should be — the traditional trade show tchotchkes and giveaways we've been subjected to over the years. Maybe it's because I'm in the digital promotions business, or because I've got enough cheap plastic pens to last two lifetimes, but I really think these digital promotion campaigns are going to be the wave of the trade show future.

For one thing, the effectiveness of digital promotions, like music downloads, ringtones, or even online gift cards, are easy to prove. Basically, I can track whenever someone downloads a song or ringtone using one of my promotions. In fact, I can tell you exactly who downloaded it and when. If it's someone important, I can know to the second when they accessed their digital promotion, and make the appropriate followup.

Digital Promotions are Targeted

For another thing, I can target my digital promotions. Rather than buying 5000 flashlights and handing them out to anyone who walks past my booth, I can purchase the list of show attendees and send them an invitation to stop by the booth where they'll receive a free music download card. I can pick and choose who will receive my invitation, and then keep track of who stopped by.

Or I can come at this from the other end and email a special download to everyone who stopped by my booth. This way, I can send my giveaways only to potential customers, rather than giving one out to everyone who stopped by looking for a freebie.

Digital Promotions are Green

Believe it or not, you're helping the environment by giving away digital promotions items. Rather than creating one more plastic widget (pollution), which needs to be shipped (oil and gas), and will sit forgotten until it dries up and you pitch it (landfill), a digital promotions campaign doesn't need any sort of offline promotion if you don't want it. You can promote your digital freebies by email, Twitter, and Facebook if you want. Or you can use offline promotional methods using some of the different green technology out there.

They also don't require a lot of distribution efforts. I can give out my digital promotions by giving away a stack of cards to people who visit my booth, or just by emailing everyone on my list. There are benefits to both. If I hand them out, I can talk to the people I'm giving them to. This lets me make a sales contact, and tell the person about my product or service. But emailing them is free, and a big time saver. Rather than giving the same message over and over to a handful of people, I can reach dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of customers. And best of all, by using variable data, I can keep track of who received it, took advantage of it, and then converted into a paying customer. Handing out 5,000 flashlights won't let me do it with the same accuracy and ease as digital promotions do.

Digital Promotions are Immediate and Efficient

Like I said in a previous postdigital promotions provide your customers instant gratification. People can redeem their giveaway immediately or at their convenience. They're also easy to redeem. They don't take up space in the customer's luggage, they're not forgotten or given away to their kids, where your customer never sees them again. If it's a song, they'll hear it on their MP3 player, and remember where they got it. If it's a ringtone, they'll think of you whenever their phone rings. Not like a stress ball, Frisbee, or funny hat, which I've seen at previous trade shows.

--Julie Ann Ross

Why Digital Promotions Are Better for Trade Shows

Digital promotions are replacing — or should be — the traditional trade show tchotchkes and giveaways we've been subjected to over the years. Maybe it's because I'm in the digital promotions business, or because I've got enough cheap plastic pens to last two lifetimes, but I really think these digital promotion campaigns are going to be the wave of the trade show future.

For one thing, the effectiveness of digital promotions, like music downloads, ringtones, or even online gift cards, are easy to prove. Basically, I can track whenever someone downloads a song or ringtone using one of my promotions. In fact, I can tell you exactly who downloaded it and when. If it's someone important, I can know to the second when they accessed their digital promotion, and make the appropriate followup.

Digital Promotions are Targeted

For another thing, I can target my digital promotions. Rather than buying 5000 flashlights and handing them out to anyone who walks past my booth, I can purchase the list of show attendees and send them an invitation to stop by the booth where they'll receive a free music download card. I can pick and choose who will receive my invitation, and then keep track of who stopped by.

Or I can come at this from the other end and email a special download to everyone who stopped by my booth. This way, I can send my giveaways only to potential customers, rather than giving one out to everyone who stopped by looking for a freebie.

Digital Promotions are Green

Believe it or not, you're helping the environment by giving away digital promotions items. Rather than creating one more plastic widget (pollution), which needs to be shipped (oil and gas), and will sit forgotten until it dries up and you pitch it (landfill), a digital promotions campaign doesn't need any sort of offline promotion if you don't want it. You can promote your digital freebies by email, Twitter, and Facebook if you want. Or you can use offline promotional methods using some of the different green technology out there.

They also don't require a lot of distribution efforts. I can give out my digital promotions by giving away a stack of cards to people who visit my booth, or just by emailing everyone on my list. There are benefits to both. If I hand them out, I can talk to the people I'm giving them to. This lets me make a sales contact, and tell the person about my product or service. But emailing them is free, and a big time saver. Rather than giving the same message over and over to a handful of people, I can reach dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of customers. And best of all, by using variable data, I can keep track of who received it, took advantage of it, and then converted into a paying customer. Handing out 5,000 flashlights won't let me do it with the same accuracy and ease as digital promotions do.

Digital Promotions are Immediate and Efficient

Like I said in a previous postdigital promotions provide your customers instant gratification. People can redeem their giveaway immediately or at their convenience. They're also easy to redeem. They don't take up space in the customer's luggage, they're not forgotten or given away to their kids, where your customer never sees them again. If it's a song, they'll hear it on their MP3 player, and remember where they got it. If it's a ringtone, they'll think of you whenever their phone rings. Not like a stress ball, Frisbee, or funny hat, which I've seen at previous trade shows.

Customer Loyalty Programs Using Promotional Risk Coverage

Your promotion budget can be fixed to increase customer loyalty with digital promotions including promotional risk coverage. It is worth the risk, but you don't have to take it. Promotional risk coverage protects your promotion budget from over redemption and assists you in fixing your advertising and marketing budget. Promotional Currency is THE leading digital promotions firm, merging digital technology, artist licensing and promotional risk coverage to deliver turnkey, fixed-cost solutions for the promotional marketplace. Ask us why you can afford large prize offerings including digital promotions on a budget. Fix your promotion budget with Promotional Currency, THE Digital Promotions Authority. http://www.promotionalcurrency.com

Promotions Using Promotional Risk Coverage to Build Customer Loyalty

Promotions budget solution to increase customer loyalty starts with digital promotions including promotional risk coverage. It is worth the risk, but you don't have to take it. Promotional risk coverage protects your promotion budget from over redemption and assists you in fixing your advertising and marketing budget. Promotional Currency is THE leading digital promotions firm, merging digital technology, artist licensing and promotional risk coverage to deliver turnkey, fixed-cost solutions for the promotional marketplace. Ask us why you can afford large prize offerings including digital promotions on a budget. Fix your promotion budget with Promotional Currency, THE Digital Promotions Authority. http://www.promotionalcurrency.com

Brand Promotions Using Digital Media Reach Generation Y

Digital brand promotions are a great way to reach Generation Y. In fact, some Gen Y marketing experts will tell you digital brand promotions may be the only real way to reach them.


This is important, because Gen Y — born between 1977 and 1994 — are worth $200 billion in spending per year, and they affect another $300 - $400 billion in family spending (i.e. restaurants, clothing, and even cars). But they're ignoring ads on traditional media, choosing instead to consume media online and on their cell phones, the home of digital brand promotions. So they're not actually seeing your TV commercials, hearing your radio spots, or reading your newspaper ads.


This will actually make life easier for the brand promotions manager. As Generation Y consumes more media online, your digital brand promotions can be quickly created, easily tracked, and changed or dropped when you find something is working.


Gone are the days of traditional brand promotions through TV ads and radio campaigns, where you had to wait until the end of the sales quarter to see if your efforts had any effect. Gone are the days of guessing whether it was your billboards or the TV spots that resulted in the most sales. With digital promotions, you can get real-time results and see if people are buying, watching, or downloading whatever product or service you're selling. If they're not, change a few of the creative variables and see if that makes a difference.


Social media sites like Facebook and MySpace are a great way to reach Gen Yers and effective avenues to build a database for your brand promotions campaign. Purchase digital ads that are delivered to people who your target demographic. For example, you could promote an upcoming concert by selecting people between the ages of 18 - 24 in the cities on the tour. Brand managers collect names to build a marketing database, by offering social media users free music downloads or ringtones to people who register for the promotional giveaway.


You can further enhance your concert brand promotions by offering prizes or swag to the fans who promote the concert to their friends, asking them to forward it to their friends. Then, collect everyone's information, and you're also building a future contact list of fans where you can promote future concerts, upcoming albums, and merchandise. Gen Y is responding to digital promotions and prize offerings in a big way.



Text messaging is another great way to reach Generation Y, because they're texting like crazy. A recent report on NielsenWire says the average teenager is texting 3,146 times per month. So your digital brand promotions should include texting. Text promotions reach these consumers in their element.


Whether you're creating an opt-in text club, or including ads as part of a service, like sports scores or news updates, people are more willing to accept brand promotions messages as a part of a service. And the more useful your service is, the more often they'll see your ad. In fact, according to an article in the New York Times, during the 2008 NFL draft, Coors sent text messages about draft pick updates and put Coors branding on each message.


Generation Y is also skipping the TV in order to watch YouTube and Hulu videos instead. If you got the brand promotions budget for it, consider placing ads on Hulu videos, rather than buying a TV commercial. Since Hulu will only show 3 or 4 commercials per 30 minute show, people are more willing to sit through them, rather than getting up or flipping around. Several of our friends have watched shows on Hulu, and actually even taken the time to rate commercials, rather than ignore them.


In short, Generation Y is online, and they're responding to those brands that communicate directly with them. Rather than trying to reach them through traditional promotions, give digital brand promotions a try instead. Communicating with Gen Y through relationship marketing is a surefire way to reach them and get them to respond to you.

--Julie Ross, Rostin Ventures