Why face-to-face meetings are important
As you’ve probably guessed by now, we’re big lovers of all things social media at TravelMedia.ie. We love learning about new updates, getting our hands on new social-media tools and generally interacting with the online world.
Yet, despite our social media passion, we still value real-life social interactions and firmly believe that, when it comes to networking, face-to-face meetings can’t be beaten, here’s why.
Why are face-to-face meetings so important?
In a world of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ it can be easy to believe that face-to-face meetings are something that should be left in the past. However, developing personal relationships can be rather difficult via these mediums and, as we all know, personal relationships are a key element in doing good business.
Although social media allows us to connect with lots of different people at once, it isn’t possible for us to be sure that our audience is actually engaging fully. For example, somebody could easily be doing a number of different tasks while using social media so, very often, we might not have their full attention. 
It is because of this that, ahead of events such as our Travel Industry Road Show, we like to take the time to go and meet with travel agents in person. Although we do use social media to promote the event, we feel that getting out on the road and interacting face-to-face helps us to better communicate what the event is all about. It also helps us to gauge reactions and let agents get to know us, and the work we do, much better.
Attending networking and industry events is also extremely important to us. These types of events allow us to connect with like-minded individuals and establish relationships that can be developed further later on. We have also found that by attending events such as TBEX Europe and World Travel Market, we have been able to meet a whole group of people that we might have never had the chance to meet otherwise.
Most importantly of all, face-to-face meetings help to build trust. Telling somebody via the internet about your product or the amazing services you can offer is great but demonstrating in person is far more effective. People trust things that are tangible, whether that be the product itself or you as a spokesperson- show them just how much you value them and pay them a visit!
How social media can help networking in real life
So we’ve explained why we love face-to-face meetings but let’s not forget how social media can help take these meetings, and any subsequent new connections made, to the next level.
LinkedIn is a great resource for helping to build on real life connections. Connecting with somebody on LinkedIn allows them to see what you, as an ambassador for your business, have done before. This helps to build trust. Similarly, your business’ Facebook and Twitter pages allow a client to learn more about your brand’s voice and vision and may give them the final push they need to start working with you.
Remember, somebody cannot find you on LinkedIn or your other social media networks unless they have your social media information. It’s important to print this clearly onto business cards and have them ready to give out at meetings and events to any potential new connections.
Social media can also be extremely helpful in letting your clients and connections know that you are going to be at a particular event so that you can schedule in any meetings in advance. Make sure to find out if the event has a hashtag and use it in any tweets or posts so that people can easily track you down. It is also a good idea to continuously post to social media while you are an event in case there are any potential new clients who decided to attend last minute and didn’t see your earlier updates.
If you want to find out more about how meetings can help your business, contact a member of the TravelMedia.ie team.