Networking As a Part of your Marketing Strategy

This past Wednesday evening, I attended and hosted a booth at the Mass Innovation Night here at The Boston Globe.  I met so many interesting people and had a great time introducing our Insights product to networkers at the event. Here are some of the pictures I took while hanging out with the interesting entrepreneurs and people from some of the most innovative companies in the area.

The purpose of this blog post is not only to show you the pictures I took at the event, but also to talk about the importance of networking. Although my background is in PR and social marketing, and I still believe wholly in both along with other online marketing tactics, I believe that networking is one of the best ways to market one's product. People respond well and understand well a product when they're introduced to it by a passionate person face-to-face. Promoting your product to a networking audience that is already interested in learning more about other people's work and products should be a part of your marketing strategy. Whether you're a part of a start-up or an established company, networking is a useful tactic for all marketers looking to reach a targeted and interested audience, and to promote a product or business offering.

If you're just starting to network, make sure you're attending events that attract your target audience, so you aren't wasting any of your valuable time. Also, look for events that will allow you to host a booth, so you have a physical space to show your product or business offerings. Lastly, do some research on networking events that are looking for speakers. It would be very beneficial to accomplishing marketing goals, if you could speak or present at a relevant networking event, so you can reach your target audience and gain hot prospective leads.

Any great networking events coming up in Boston that we should be at? Let us know!