Tips to Maximize Chat at PACK EXPO Connects

During PACK EXPO Connects, exhibitors will have the opportunity to chat with prospective leads. Here are some tips that your team can implement to make sure you are capturing attendees’ attention.

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As exhibiting opportunities increasingly transition online, marketers are discovering that having the right strategy for chat can be integral to pipeline and lead management. PACK EXPO Connects presents two great opportunities for exhibitors: private one-on-one interactions and live Q&A group discussions during brief (under 15-minute) product demonstrations.

To get the most out of your team’s efforts, consider the following tips:

1-to-1 private conversations 
Be available. It may sound obvious, but you can’t interact with visitors if you don’t have someone standing by. Having a schedule of who is “manning” your chat is just as important as ensuring staff presence at a live event. Fortunately, at PACK EXPO Connects, this doesn’t mean sitting by your computer all day. The show has specific hours designated for chat, and exhibitors can even set alerts to notify their team of chat requests so that team members can be doing other things during chat hours.

Plan “conversation starters.” At PACK EXPO Connects, all private chats are initiated by attendees. As such, it’s important for exhibitors to be strategic about the information they feature. You’ll want to strike the right balance between supporting sufficient self-guided research by end users and teasing enough with your content that the visitor feels compelled to engage (and every chat tracks as a lead).

Some ideas to help foster engagement: 

Offer up your technical staff. PMMI Media Group research consistently shows one of the top “wants” of end users is access to engineers and other representatives with technical expertise. Use this desire to your advantage by featuring a varied bench of experts to man your chat.

Prime the pump with messaging that encourages visitors to “Ask us about X.” Just as with face-to-face interaction, it can be intimidating for some end users to initiate conversations. By making reference somewhere on your page to the typical questions you hear (“Ask us about our rapid install options” or “Ask us about our experience with printing in harsh environments,”) you’ll provide a subtle cue to visitors that they’re safe bringing up their similar questions or concerns. 

Don’t underestimate the power of a giveaway. Encourage visitors to jot you a quick note via chat if they would like to receive some sort of takeaway, such as material samples, a special discount code from the event, or perhaps your latest report on a hot topic. 

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