Ways to make #virtual trade shows a sales success.

Hello and welcome to this episode of Speak PR. This is the podcast for business owners and leaders who know they've got value to unlock in their own organizations and they're just looking for creative and low-cost ways to do that with their audiences. And today I'm delighted to be joined with Nazzy Hamidi, who's based in Atlanta. Nazzy, welcome.

Thanks, Jim. Happy to be here.

Now, Nazzy, you and I have met because you're a former client actually at a big industrial company in America, looking to build the brand in China. Now tell us what you're doing now.

Well, I am headed back into corporate America. I'm going to be head of marketing for a large chemical company. But we've been working together recently on a few of your clients who've been trying to bring their brands from Asia Pacific to the US.

And we've been chatting and you've been sharing some really interesting things. One of the conversations have been around trust, and trust in the media. So wanted to share with our listeners, the view of how perceptions have changed of the media in America.

Yeah, it's really interesting. You can turn on the television here in the US. And it doesn't matter what channel you have on, the news, the evening news will run the same stories, the exact same stories, with the same message points. And there have been numerous polls, regardless of political affiliation or the political party that you support, that most Americans right now do not trust the media. And part of that has to do with the, you know, the same message that gets delivered. I think that this lack of trust, you know, spans more on political views than it does business views, but sometimes it spills over into do we or do we not believe what's happening with the US economy.

Media relations is a fundamental part of a strategy to engage with the audience in America. Does that mean that the mainstream media that might have been, you know, a trusted platform is not being used by businesses? I mean, vertical trade media might be, but are people then shying away from the sort of editorial opportunity on CNN, for example, or CNBC, or Fox?

Well, I think people are shying away from you know, trying to politicize their business. And there you've seen probably some of the US companies take a stance. And what's happening is, you know, some companies will come out and say something very positive about, you know, we support Black Lives Matter or, you know, ending police brutality, things like that. But the consumer and their customer and their employees will look for action, not words. And that's been highly criticized that companies come out and make these grandiose statements, but then they don't change their behavior. From an editorial standpoint though, I do see businesses still trying to, in their niche, in their industries, promote editorial because that in itself, their technology, their process, their products, and what value it brings to their customers, especially in B2B, That is generally, you know, not political. A lot of those companies don't pay attention too much to social media and haven't been tapping into the potential to grab their customers' attention using social media.

The message then seems to be it's kind of business as usual for businesses in America, or even like British companies, for example, trying to get into America, especially with Brexit on the horizon. So is the economy then still motoring ahead and what we're seeing in the news is really is just kind of soundbite, but the general business environment is still a positive one?

Well, and this gets back to the trust or lack of trust that Americans have in the media. So, you know, Americans are very motivated right now to bring the economy back. You know, in March when COVID hit and everything went into lockdown, there were, you know, tons of people lost their job. And then, you know, slowly we started to come back. And I've read that and heard numerous sources that in the last— in August, 1.4 million jobs were brought back in the US. And so it took the unemployment rate down from something like over 10% to just a little over 8%, which is a huge move in one month. So that I think most Americans are very motivated to get their jobs back, get the economy rolling. and be able to make money. And what's really interesting right now is, you know, absent any stimulus that the government is providing, you know, through unemployment relief and so on, because of COVID there's this, you know, phenomenon happening where interest rates are so low. So you have, you know, a good portion of the US economy refinancing their homes. And that could mean as much as, you know, an extra $500 a month for some families just from purely refinancing. So, you know, the consumer is going to be in better shape, right, because of that. The businesses are making products again, right, you know, and creating new jobs. And so these 2 things together are really good for our economy in spite of maybe uncertainty because of the election.

And then what about some of the issues around sort of trade and international trade? If it's a foreign company wanting to work in America or sell its products in America, any advice about positioning?

I think, you know, I think now is a good time to try to do business in the US. There are many entrepreneurs who are looking to provide value to, you know, entire segments. And there are entire manufacturing segments who had their supply chain largely anchored on China. And as you know, there's quite a bit, you know, happening in our government with trying to shift things back to, you know, being either being made in the USA or being just less reliant on China. So if another, you know, foreign country, foreign manufacturer can come into play for a US company as offering an alternative to China. You know, I think there's— this is definitely a good time to be looking at that.

And if a company is working on sort of getting more business in America, how would they do it? In the past, for example, we would ship equipment in the music industry to New York and go to a trade show. and then work with the print publications. How has that changed?

Well, I think that some of those activities are still happening. It's just virtual. And this is where the power of your network comes into play. And you have to have, you know, either a sponsor, a distributor, or some connections into the US market. And so what I would do is if I were a, you know, a European or Asian company trying to get into the US market, I would position myself with partners. I would try and get some media coverage. So maybe the printed publications are no longer, but, you know, many of them still are printing things and, and they're also having a great online following. And then their trade shows that they would originally, you know, usually sponsor are now going virtual. And so this is a brand new field for everybody, not only the organizers but the participants. And at least where I come from in the industrial manufacturing world, that's very B2B, those trade shows were invaluable to identify new customers, to further solidify relationships with existing customers, to launch new products. You know, a lot of deals, a lot of orders were taken at trade shows. And so this should still go on, but it's just all virtual. And this is where, you know, it's really important that you have great content to put into your virtual booth, a great pitch to talk to your customers about new products and what value it brings to them. And so it's— the virtual show, I think, is going to bring much more focus into content and value than maybe a physical trade show where there was a lot of entertaining each other and a lot of just, you know, kind of talking, schmoozing, eating.

Yeah.

And building relationships. I think now we're gonna see, you know, content is of utmost importance. People have limited time to be at a virtual trade show because they need to jump to another Zoom call or so on. And so it's gonna be really important that your message is succinct and that your materials are clear and there's a reason for a customer to come meet with you.

Yeah, it used to be that, you know, the size of your trade show booth gave you sort of an impression of the quality and scale of your company, wasn't it? I remember the sort of the bigger the booth, but now everyone's in a way got the same real estate to play with, haven't they? They've got the same screen size.

Exactly, and no longer are there these things that are, you know, 2-story monstrous booths, and only if you know, you know, some executive or are a really big customer do you get invited to the second story where they have the really good drinks, you know. That's not going to happen anymore.

So what would be some of the sort of hallmarks? You mentioned quality. What would be some of the hallmarks of great quality?

So yeah, it's depending on the virtual show and how extensive their tools are, you're going to be somewhat limited. I think the, you know, the superstars will stand out because of the content. And by content, I mean, you know, Interactive tools that customers can, you know, play around with, or demonstration tools that you can use video to demonstrate how the product is used, calculators to show, you know, your customers if you, if you're using this product in your process, you know, here it may cost more than, than the competitor's product, but it's going to actually save you money in the long run, right? and run you through that kind of calculation, allow you to put in your own inputs if you were to use that product. I think it's those kind of, you know, show me, show me visually, show me with a demo, show me a video of, you know, something that catches my attention and something that shows that you can respond quickly, you can produce quickly, you can— you can save me money. I think there's, you know, especially in this economy where everybody's trying to get back to the growth path that we were on, better than GDP, I think customers are still very interested, at least in B2B, in, you know, saving money, right? How can I produce more by using less? How can I produce more by using less energy? All of those things are very important, and being able to visually show that You know, videos, calculators, demos— those are the kinds of things I think that will catch customers' eyes.

And then what about the old thing was, you know, the personality of the salesperson on the booth? You know, there used to be the sort of the meet and greet. How do you think people can build a personality at the trade show? Because the rest is the great sort of marketing pitch, but then there has to be someone to come and kind of close the deal. How are they going to do that, do you think, in the virtual trade show situation?

So we still need those people, right? We all have sales teams where there's a couple people that are comfortable talking to strangers, and, you know, they're the same people that are usually comfortable cold calling. And I think we still need those people to put them out there during the virtual show to woo people in. But I also think that, you know, we need the heavy hitter on the sales team who is really good at closing deals. I think what you'll see is not as much ordering that happens during a virtual show because the time is going to be much more limited, you know, to a couple hours on, you know, a day here or there. versus, you know, 3 days at— so I think what you're gonna see is the follow-up that happens after the show and more comparing and contrasting to the different exhibitors that were met at the show. And so that's why I think, you know, the skills of the salespeople are still needed, but they have to be comfortable working in a virtual setting and working with virtual demonstration tools and— really showing the value of the products and services.

And you mentioned earlier on sort of some key overarching themes. Are there some narratives that people are looking for particularly in America? You mentioned, for example, things like sustainability or the Black Lives Matter, this social responsibility.

So those social drivers, I think, most everybody, most Americans believe in. I think you see them in our news media presented in different ways, but I think if you were to ask most Americans regardless of their race or gender, you know, most people believe in equality of all Americans, right? And I don't think most people would argue with that. From a sustainability standpoint, you know, there's again high, you know, it has been for a while high interest in sustainability, but you will find most manufacturers will, you know, will embrace sustainability if it doesn't cost them more. I think there's still a theme there. You know, I think a B2C company tends to be more embracing of sustainability than B2B. But the, you know, the real theme is let's just get the economy going and let's get back to business and let's get our lives, you know, back to normal and I think many parts of the US are very comfortable, you know, doing their normal, you know, personal and business routine, but just wearing masks, right, and doing their best to social distance. And unfortunately, in other parts of the US, it's not like that. It's still very, you know, very hands-off and work from home. But I think, you know, most Americans just want to get the economy you know, going again. And that's a huge thing. And most Americans are looking forward to the election being behind us. Like, let's get that all out of the way and get it figured out and over with. And let's get back to business.

Okay. And so the view is that the election will be sort of an interruption, but won't fundamentally change the American economy. Is that the view?

I think there's different theories on whether it'll change the economy. But I mean, what we're seeing right now is we're starting to create more jobs. The stock market, you know, is picking back up, although there, you know, may be a little correction here and there. There always is, you know, some kind of pause in the— in our stock market somewhere around the election time. But, you know, the theme is most Americans just want to get their life back to normal, right, and get in and keep riding on an economy that is growing. that makes everybody prosperous. And that's really, I think, fundamentally, most Americans kind of believe in the same thing, right? Let's make a great place to live and work. And let's leave a place that's better for our children.

And it sounds as though, coming all the way back, that one of the initial sort of instruments of that message was the media in America. And that seems to have really suffered probably an irreparable harm to its own reputation.

Yeah, I think mainstream media really has a cloud over it right now. But I would separate that from maybe what you and I, where you and I are used to working with, the business media, you know, publications that are industry-specific and, you know, different than the CNNs and Fox News and so on. But yes, mainstream media really has a big cloud over it and social media has added to that. And, you know, I think if you ask most Americans, they don't know what to believe. They just don't believe everything that is in mainstream media.

Okay, so it's actually an opportunity then for brands to build their own community and their own loyal following directly.

Absolutely. There is plenty of opportunity for that. And especially with, you know, being virtual. A lot of us working from home, you know, not being able to travel and sit in front of a customer. You know, lots of opportunities, especially for these, you know, industrial B2B businesses who had not built their brand on social media or invested in virtual tools. Now is a great time to do that and, you know, to really kind of throw at it what you would have been spending in travel and, you know, the face-to-face time.

Nazzy, it's wonderful to have face-to-face with you, even though it's over Zoom. If people want to find out more about you, how can they find you?

Well, I'm on LinkedIn, Nazzy Hamidi, and I am also doing a little bit of consulting working with Jim at East West PR and soon to be working as head of marketing for a large chemical company. So looking forward to that.

Nazzy, it's been a pleasure working with you even for the briefest of time we've been able to do that. So thank you for joining me today on Speak PR.

Thanks, Jim.

So you've been listening to the Speak PR podcast. Today we've been talking with Nazih Hamidi, who's in Atlanta, really talking about the impact of technology and corona on virtual trade shows and really the opportunity that still exists in America. Thank you for listening to this episode of Speak PR.