Any Ideas for SEO opportunities at an electronics convention (CES)?

[EHuhn3]

Hello All,

I'm currently helping someone that sells a unique 35mm slide scanner with his digital presence. For a quick explanation, it scans much faster than it's competition and targets photography/scanning businesses. The owner will have part of a booth at CES (large electronics convention) to display the product, and will also have time to network with others within this industry and many others.

At last years convention, there was a good in-person response and a few articles written about the product, but that is about it. I would like to send him to the show with a more digital mindset, so I am wondering if anyone has any ideas for link-bait, promotions, or really anything that will help the website rank higher/get more traffic.

We have tons of content ideas and other ideas that are "online" to drive traffic, but when it comes to a in-person event I am drawing a big old blank (but I feel there must be some opportunities that I am missing). If you have any ideas and would like to share, it would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!

• Eric

[SamuelScott]

Eric, thanks for the question -- I wish I had seen this a lot earlier! But for your client's next event or anyone else who's reading, here's what I would do for an event: public relations. This is the best way to build the client's brand, obtain exposure, and "earn" quality, authoritative links indirectly.

My post at Moz here goes into the basics of PR strategy in a digital context, but I'll add some thoughts here specifically for your context.

1. Goal identification -- I presume, in the end, that the goal is consumer sales of this product?

2. Audience Research -- What types of people would be interested in such a product? What interests them? What is their demographic profile?

3. Positioning and Messaging -- How can you position and brand your company and product in a way that would appeal to that audience? How can you take that general positioning and then create messaging (text, images, and so on) to communicate that positioning?

4. Media List Creation -- Here's where the conference comes in. I'd do the research to answer this question: What news outlets, publications, and blogs both are read by the target audience and will attend the conference? Who are the specific reporters and writers that will be at the conference.

5. Press Release Development & Pitching -- Before the conference, craft news releases, media kits, and more based on your positioning and messaging. Pitch to the journalists beforehand and invite them to the booth for an interview. In some contexts, you may want to grant an exclusive to the biggest outlet on your media list in exchange for a guarantee that they will write about you prominently.

I know that it may seem weird to talk about PR on a site that focuses mainly on online marketing, but I'm personally starting to feel that the "SEO" world is rapidly moving away from keywords and links and more towards just doing traditional "marketing." And part of that involves PR.

I hope this may help!