How to promote IT solutions to a bored audience?

IT solutions are complex systems that require detailed explanation and presentation. But turning everything into boring lectures about "control, automation, and notifications" is not useful for a new product.

My name is Damir Gibadullin, product manager of the "Digital Headquarters" system, and I propose a different approach: to surprise, engage, and make sure that the topic of the presentation is revealed, and the audience is looking forward to the next meeting. My experience in selling IT solutions (hard, soft, new vendors or services) and broad outlook have combined and crystallized into an unconventional presentation option.

The main idea is to abandon conventional thinking and look broader. Researchers of the "creative flow" state found that at moments when the brain "lets go" of strict control, a person becomes more creative. This confirms the theory that scattered attention and freedom of thought play a key role in the creative process. And since promoting IT products is exactly such a process, it is important for specialists not to limit themselves in ideas.

I will tell you how to achieve this with examples from personal experience.

1. Add something personal to the presentations

Presentations are not just numbers and tables, it is your communication with the audience. The more trustful the contact is, the easier it is to convey the main idea.

A proven way to engage people is to use personal examples and unexpected parallels. Your hobby can come to the rescue here: from forging blades to spinning fishing.

In my presentations, I use slides about golf - I have been passionate about this sport for a long time, and therefore I can act as an informed amateur. There are three mechanisms that can be activated by the following techniques.

Specification. It helps people better understand complex concepts because it translates them into a more tangible form that is easier for our minds to perceive. The complex structure of an IT system or product is often difficult to imagine, so I draw an analogy with golf. For example, to illustrate the resilience of the system, I use the fact that a golf ball deforms by 20% during a hit but instantly restores its shape.

Curiosity. A fact from a previously unknown topic arouses people's interest, and thus this information is better remembered. For example, in a presentation, I explain why a golf ball has dimples. Almost everyone has seen them, but rarely thinks about their purpose. This fact is now firmly associated with another quality of the product - detailing and event analysis.

Excitement. The set of tools included in the "Digital Headquarters" I compare to a golfer's clubs. Their number used to reach 26, now according to the competition rules athletes can have no more than 14. To engage the audience, I conduct a small quiz on this topic. The one who answers closest gets a prize from me - a branded golf ball.

A logical question arises - if the listeners are not interested in golf, then the presentation did not achieve its goal? In fact, in a product presentation, information about golf takes no more than 5-7% of the time. The attention of the listeners is not diverted to another topic, but is simply supplemented with such interesting hooks.

2. Stay visible constantly

Promoting IT products is a marathon, not a sprint. To be remembered, it is important to regularly remind about yourself. I highlight three main directions on how this can be done.

Conferences to look forward to

If customers do not see you for a long time, they start to forget about your company and products. Of course, there are formal meetings and industry conferences. But truly good contact can be achieved through emotional components as well.

For example, for VIP customers in B2B (the very 20% of clients who bring 80% of the profit), I held closed conferences in nature. Usually, this happened in late spring: everyone was tired of indoor meetings during the winter, so we organized two-day trips to nature. The first day was vendor presentations, the second was informal communication at a round table plus mandatory outdoor sports activities.

In B2C, the approach can be more large-scale. I came up with the idea to combine different game tournaments under one roof — this is how the intellectual games festival "Popular Technologies" was born in Samara. The first tournament was held in 2005 in preference in collaboration with APC and Microsoft. I actively attracted various sponsors, including Fujitsu, Intel, ACER, Philips, and other well-known IT manufacturers. As a result, the festival expanded its geography and was regularly held in Samara, Ufa, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. For sponsor partners, the event was an excellent way to support an original socially important project, and the audience remembered these companies and were more loyal to them in the future.

Interesting events are also relevant for journalists and media representatives. So, I held special chess tournaments for them, which everyone gladly attended not only to play but also to communicate. The warm friendly atmosphere, prize fund from sponsor partners allowed getting PR in the press with minimal costs.

Digests and other regular formats

One of the simple but effective tools is thematic digests. The Innostage team releases them every month to remind clients about themselves. The materials are not only useful for customers but also become good support for the sales department.

All this allows you to keep the audience's attention even when it is not possible to organize large events.

3. Create an impression

Clients often forget template presentations and gifted souvenirs. To stand out, you need to create an emotional response.

Unusual merch

Good merch should always be in sight, convenient, and make you want to say "give me another one" to pass on to your colleagues or manager. And from the point of view of the "merch issuer," it should also be quite budget-friendly.

At one of the customer conferences, instead of standard notebooks and pens, I chose claw hammers. I saw them in an ordinary hardware store—a good, convenient, and functional tool. For my target audience—men over 30—there is a 99% chance that a hammer is needed in the household, and often more than one. In a special printing house, I had the company logo laser-engraved, and here it is—the perfect merch. We handed them out to all the conference participants, and they left the event like in this picture.

Five managers of a large oil company in suits, shirts, and ties return to the capital after an IT conference. When another leather briefcase passed through the introscope control, the airport workers were shocked. What kind of team of white-collar locksmiths is this?

Do not be afraid to experiment and look wider. This helps to find extraordinary solutions. Recently, we held a small private event in a restaurant hall where it was forbidden to bring your own food, but the kitchen could not offer us anything for a coffee break. We made edible merch: gingerbread with logos and thematic plots: budget-friendly and appetizing.

To promote IT products, retain the attention of your audience and be memorable to them, you need to abandon the usual paradigm and think more broadly. The main thing is to simply remind yourself, surprise and leave vivid impressions.