DMEXCO is the meeting place and a community for the key players in digital business, marketing, and innovation. Each year, an event attracts about 41,000 visitors, 1,000 exhibitors, and more than 550 speakers from around the world. Here you can expect seminars, debates, and expositions outlining the future of the digital economy.
This year, Attention Insight team took part in this digital madness (in a good way). If you are considering to visit DMEXCO next year, keep on reading. What should you know before entering the event? Here are some insights based on our DMEXCO experience.
Doing business in DMEXCO: How to plan meetings when you are not an exhibitor?
- Go to the Exhibitors Guide section on DMEXCO website. Here you will find the exhibitors list. Use filter to find relevant partners or clients.
- Use DMEXCO app to identify who is representing the company during the event. Find people in the most relevant positions.
- Invite representatives to connect through DMEXCO app. Use personalized invitations.
- After connecting you will receive an email of the representative. Next step – schedule the meetings.
- People are not approving your invitation on APP? Reach out to them via LinkedIn or Xing and invite them to meet for cup of coffee
Networking during the event
Let’s imagine, you are in this kind of situation: you want to make the most out of the conference but you still have free time in your schedule. As the event has already started, there is no better time to find the persons of the interest.
- Look through the exhibitors list once again. Mark 10 the most interesting ones in the map and check a full name of a person you want to talk with.
- Approach the hostess and ask if that person is around. If the booth is big, they will have at least one person who is responsible for greeting people. Before that, prepare a short one-liner explaining what is the goal of your meeting. For example, I’d like to speak with Jon about the methods his data science team use for user analytics.
- Once you meet a person, make sure to ask Is it a right time to talk? People have a lot of meetings planned these days.
- When you already have a person for 10 min, try to be as clear as possible. Tell your company’s unique selling proposition in a catchy and short way. Highlight the benefits – time or budget saving, etc.
- End the meeting with a clear next step. For example, schedule a call, demo, the next meeting. Or ask for a referral to a colleague, you could discuss the things further with.
Networking: Cocktail Hour
Be sure to attend Networking / Cocktail Hour events. They start around 5 PM in various booths. Prioritize the parties of the companies you want to connect with.
Meeting a right person might be a bit tricky. Try to identify people from the company based on their clothes – the participants usually wear t-shirts, neckbands or other company merchandise. Ask them to connect you with a right person.
Marketer attending the conference: Hunting trends
Let’s say, your company send you to DMEXCO to discover the latest innovations as well as industry trends and bring back the knowledge to your in-house clients. Where should you start?
#1 Explore the conference program.
The speakers usually cover the latest industry trends. Besides, DMEXCO team announces highlights of the program on their website.
#2 Collect practical knowledge.
Don’t miss a chance to attend Seminars and Demo Area interactions, where you’ll get an opportunity to see the latest innovations in action.
#3 Visit the Innovation Park.
Allocate at least 1 hour to browse through a start-up area. Usually there you can meet the latest innovations. Try them out and get special deals for demos.
#4 Meet industry leaders.
During the event, Google, LinkedIn, Spotify, Facebook and other key players host talks / workshops and have ready to talk experts. Stop by their booths and find out what are the next hot features they are working on. For example, this year, Facebook focused on direct messaging as a platform to reach your local customers.
#5 Don’t miss DMEXCO day 1.
At least 10 networking events are organized from 5 to 9 PM on the first day. Usually they are hosted by bigger companies: Google, Spotify, Twitch, etc. Stop by and network, enjoy live DJ, snacks from the bar or grab a glass of home brewed beer. Also, you can catch up with people you were aiming to meet – possibly they will be more relaxed after a few beers.
#6 Merchandising.
Bring the spirit of the conference back to the office. All booths have their gadgets – t-shirts, water bottles, bags, pens, etc. Take it home.
Hope, you will find it useful. See you at DMEXCO 2020!
