BackWe all know smart phones and tablets are both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand you can’t escape them and you are always connected but on the other hand they provide valuable information and have thousands of apps to make life easier. So with this in mind we put together the best apps for exhibiting at your next outdoor event or exhibition. We have excluded the usual suspects Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn etc not because they don’t have great apps but most people are aware of what they are and their importance for attendee engagement.
MailChimp
One of the industry standards for designing and sending email marketing messages. It has an easy to use template for designing your email campaigns, advanced analytics and integrations with other apps like Salesforce, Google, Twitter and Shopify. Great for sending both invitations to your next exhibition or following up on exhibition attendees and leads. MailChimp has a number of pricing plans from free Starter to paid Pro Marketeer. www.mailchimp.com
Eventbrite
A great app if you plan to run workshops at your next event. Allows you to create customised event pages including multiple ticket types, discount codes and allows your attendees to pay online. You can also choose from a variety of promotional tools, manage tickets and have instant access to reporting and analytics. www.eventbrite.co.uk
MailChimp Subscribe
MailChimp also have a great mobile app that lets you create simple sign up forms on your tablet. MailChimp Subscribe even works when you don’t have an internet connection, this is a killer feature for those who know how problematic data connections can be at some exhibition and event venues. MailChimp Subscribe can be customised for different data fields, lists, opt in settings and appearance. It also integrates with your MailChimp account. http://mailchimp.com/features/mailchimp-subscribe/
SurveyMonkey
Need to do some simple market research at your next exhibition or event? SurveyMonkey lets you create any type of survey to measure awareness or get customer feed back to help make smarter data driven decisions. Get attendee feedback before, during and after your event to make your next one even better. Create different question types, custom branding and integrate with MailChimp and Eventbrite. www.surveymonkey.co.uk
PODIO
We love the simplicity of PODIO’s CRM. Perfect for tracking your exhibition leads and sales, PODIO is both lightweight and easy to use. The fully customisable web forms will fit into your sales process to capture capture contact information, organise who’s responsible for each lead, track your pipeline and create sales reports. PODIO is also more than just a CRM, it is a full work management solution including automated workflows, project management, intranet, file sharing and messenger. www.podio.com
PayPal Here
Great if you are retailing directly from your exhibition stand, PayPal Here is a secure mobile app and card reader that allows you to accept card payments anywhere. It comes comes equipped with contactless technology, chip and pin and customers can even pay via NFC devices including smart phones and smart watches. Receipts can be printed, emailed or sent via sms. www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/credit-card-reader
Box
Box is a cloud platform that helps you securely store, share and manage all your files. Another great app for exhibitions, you can access all your sales and technical documents without having to lug it all to the exhibition hall. It has a great offline feature to access important documents when your not connected. www.box.com
So there we have it our best apps for exhibiting. If you need any help with exhibition stands or outdoor event stands please call us on 01536 265823
