PPB August 2020

Keeping It Going David Betke of Do Better Marketing creates a new virtual trade show and job fair platform to help keep more people employed during and after the pandemic. With event postponements and cancellations happening worldwide and affecting all industries, David Betke of distributor Do Better Marketing, LLC in Edmonton, Alberta, wanted to nd a way to keep people employed whose jobs may be affected by coronavirus-related changes in event schedules. While adhering to stay-at-home mandates and self-isolating at home in March and April, he created GreenShows™, a virtual trade show and job fair platform, and though it hasn’t of cially launched yet— there are currently demos booked in Australia, Indonesia, the U.S. and Canada, Betke says—it’s attracted a lot of buzz in the industry. And true to the distributor’s mission, there’s a giveback component, allowing attendees to help support the environment through their use of the platform. Betke shares details of GreenShows with PPB . PPB Tell us about GreenShows. For whom is the platform designed and how does it work? Betke GreenShows is our virtual trade show and job fair platform created to keep events, and the people who depend on them, working. Like a physical show, attendees register and are then granted access to the virtual show lobby, where they can search for exhibitors alphabetically, by category or by walking view. Then they can choose to ‘enter’ a booth or continue to the next. There are incentives to enter virtual booths and to engage with exhibitors. Exhibitors have access to better data and analytics than from the typical physical show. In the advanced virtual booth options, we can tell [exhibitors] precisely who took what from their virtual tables, so they can leave the show with a segmented list of leads to hand off to their sales teams. The result is a shortened sales cycle and a quicker time to revenue or recruitment. GreenShows also eliminates travel costs, printing costs and the high cost of shipping booths and print that apply to a physical show. We offer planners and organizers multiple revenue streams through virtual booth sales and sponsorships. We also take care of exhibitor booth builds, so organizers only have to focus on marketing their events. PPB Tell us about the give-back aspect of the platform. Betke As with everything we do at Do Better Marketing, we try to make a difference. In GreenShows, we included our Trees for Leads program, where we plant a tree for every speci ed number of people who sign up to an exhibitor’s mailing list at their virtual booth. We also replaced physical prizes with a dollar value that can be donated to the winner’s local charity of choice. We are also offering Pay What You Can and Pay It Forward options to organizers. For our rst two tiers of virtual booths, if the organizer wishes, we will help out struggling businesses by keeping them visible and reducing the costs of their virtual booths. If another company is doing well, they can “pay it forward” and cover the cost of another company’s booth. PPB During a time like the coronavirus pandemic, which caused widespread changes to affect all industries, what are some ways that GreenShows can serve as a unique and helpful tool for business? Betke GreenShows keeps businesses visible and connected with their clients, while some of their competition may be pulling back into survival mode. Times like these offer unique opportunities to gain market share. We make it easier for exhibitors with custom data segmentation and the ability to integrate with several marketing automation platforms. PPB Do you have plans to expand certain features or add new services to GreenShows in the future? Betke Yes, this is just 1.0. I am very responsive to customers’ needs and I am always improving the platform. I created GreenShows with customization in mind. It allows us to pivot to serve the individual needs of each different client. Read more about David Betke and Do Better Marketing, LLC in “Campaigning To Save The Environment” in the March 2020 issue of PPB . FIVE MINUTES WITH David Betke Principal, Do Better Marketing | AUGUST 2020 | 69 THINK