The ABC marketing guide to Mobile World Congress 16

Updated 12 Jan 16

Would you believe it’s only weeks away? Here’s a checklist of things you should have done (you might still have time to do a few) for Mobile World Congress 16 (or MWC16).

MWC16 is on from 22 – 25 February 2016 in Barcelona. Here’s the ABC marketing guide to Mobile World Congress 16.

• Analysts: Do you know who your key analysts are? Gartner, Forrester, Berg Insight, ABI Research all attend this event and it is a fantastic opportunity to meet them.
• Brochures: Product sheets, company overview, datasheets – are they up to date?
• Case studies: These provide real life examples of how your solution can benefit mobile operators and are perfect for events (as well as lots of other things).
• Demos: Have you got a product demo ready? Are your exhibition staff trained on how to use it?
• Email: You need to let your customers, prospects and partners know you are going to be there – and arrange to meet them – email marketing is the best way to do this.
• Follow up: How will you follow up on the leads post event and who is going to do it?
• Giveaways: Everybody expects freebies and it’s a great opportunity to ensure your brand is in front of prospects long after February. Have you got something that will actually stay within view or use of your prospect and not given to their kids?
• Hotels: Who’s attending and where are they going to sleep? A lot of hotels are full at this stage. Book your hotel and flights now to keep costs down. Or find an apartment for the team.
• Information: What are you going to talk about with your visitors? What will you display on your flat screen? What graphics will you use in the presentation that will tie in with your stand design?
• Kit: Is there specialised demo equipment that you need to rent or purchase? Or perhaps it needs to be shipped separately? If so, get some quotes.
• Lead capture: How are you planning on capturing attendees’ details?
• Mobile: Is your website mobile responsive – that’s a must nowadays. Test your website here (compliments of Google)
• Newsletter: Newsletters are a key element of your email and digital marketing activities.
• Press : Are you planning on making any press announcements? All the big companies will be, so anything but major news may be drowned out. But it’s still worth it as you can circulate these releases yourselves directly to your target publications and use them in newsletters.
• Reception: Who should you invite to the EI organised reception? This is a good one to invite the analysts to.
• Social media: You should be tweeting and blogging about this event before, during and after. Don’t forget LinkedIn – it’s the most important social media for B2B tech companies.
• Twitter: Also very important for B2B tech companies. Use hashtag #MWC16 to be involved with the MWC conversation. Follow Enterprise Ireland on the MWC Twitter account @Ireland_MWC
• Vine: The 6 second video sharing social media owned by Twitter. Creative use of this can help your branding.
• Website: Is your website up to date? Does it need new content or even an entire makeover?

These are just some of the key aspects to running a marketing campaign around Mobile World Congress 16.  I have worked with a number of clients on this event and so know it well.

Contact me to be part of your MWC16 team.

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