Last year, as part of one of my last grad school classes I put together a comprehensive marketing plan for a regional digital signage integrator/reseller. My goal was to take what I knew about the digital signage industry and how companies from all levels were marketing digital signage networks and optimize the marketing for a mid-size business.

While I won't go into depth about the entire marketing strategy, one of the key facets was to target vertical industries. In my plan, this was specifically hospitality and restaurants, but it could be anything like financial services, healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, etc. (Click the "Research Center" tab on this website to get some more ideas.)

I was speaking with one of my contacts about NEC's recent presence at The Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) show in Pittsburgh, and I thought it would be a good idea to discuss the importance of marketing to verticals, especially for digital signage vendors.

In this industry, we do a lot of talking to ourselves. It's obvious that a lot of companies are investing big money in digital signage-oriented tradeshows and websites. And while most of those shows and pubs do a good job of pulling in potential buyers, their strategy is to pull buyers in.

Vertical marketing is more of a push mentality. You are still preaching your message, but it is on the home turf of the buyer, whether it's an advertisement in their trade publication, presenting at one of their tradeshows or networking at industry-specific events. There is no general rule for the composition of marketing mixes. Especially with digital signage, you have to do some research and trial and error to determine where your marketing sweet spots are.

I tapped some of my industry contacts to determine what they are doing when it comes to marketing digitals signage to verticals:

How do you rate importance of exhibiting your digital signage company in vertically-oriented tradeshows (outside of DSE, CETW, Screenmedia Expo, etc.)?

Tradeshows can be a bit hit and miss in terms of lead generation and attending vertical specific tradeshows gives us the opportunity to target visitors with a very specific message that meets their needs, thus increasing the chances of interactions leading to an actual sale. - Katrina Douglas - Symon Dacon, Ltd. (U.K)

Vertically-oriented events are actually more beneficial to us than the "normal" digital signage shows that we really "have to" participate in. Most of the time, the vertical shows provide a very high quality attendee and as an exhibitor are provided with more quality time with attendees. – Ashley Flaska, NEC Display Solutions

Specifically, what tradeshows or events have yielded results for you in the past?

In the restaurant vertical the NRA Show is a must. – Scott Sharon, Vertigo Digital Displays

Call Centre World, Berlin is always a great show for us that always yields a strong return in terms of sales. For hospitality we attend a lot of forums, speed-dating type events and conferences with a smaller trade show element. We've found these to be a lot more valuable than bigger hospitality tradeshows such as Equip Hotel, Paris. - Katrina Douglas - Symon Dacon, Ltd. (U.K)

I've enjoyed attending the In Store Marketing Expo (Retail) and Higgins Show (Medical Channel). I think these both are a good shows. - Jacky Lin – AOpen America

Are partnerships key to tackling verticals?

It's all about the kind of network you can build with your partner, vendor and supplier. They can effectively enable you to sell in specific vertical within a short time. - Hussain Ali, National Signs Ltd.

In the DS business, partnerships are extremely important because none of us can do everything. They are key in tackling a vertical your company does not already have a good market share in. – Scott Sharon, Vertigo Digital Displays

A lot of our tradeshow activity particularly within hospitality is connected with our partner activity. We tend to form strategic partnerships with organizations that already have a strong foothold in the markets that we are targeting such as the British Association of Hospitality Accountants (BAHA) and Wyndham who have annual conferences and forums attached their organizations. - Katrina Douglas - Symon Dacon Ltd. (U.K)

As a platform company, we worked with a group of alliance partners - by vertical market focused and in order to simplify to supply chain we kind of taking the position and served as a "General Contractor" - single point of contact to the end-users. We've found out the MFG rep's requirements also has shifted from blends of technology & market towards more market experienced driven - connecting you to the right people. - Jacky Lin – AOpen America

Companies can't be everything to everyone so it's best to select a few key verticals that work best with your offering and spend strategically on those verticals. Partnerships can help if there are synergies between the companies and if you can expand your reach through a partnership. - Ashley Flaska, NEC Display Solutions

Any vertical marketing best practices you’d like to share?

At Black Box, we sponsored a study on Effective Communications in Higher Education that markets to the C-level titles at the University and College level. After someone downloads, we send them a link to a few other resources including our "Digital Signage in Education" white paper. Based on the click thru and digital body language, one of our digital signage success manages will contact, qualify, assess level of interest and possibly offer an assessment. – Brian Kutchma, Black Box Network Services

A manufacturer, distributor, and reseller who does not segment their marketing approach is missing the mark in not targeting specific venues. The value proposition is different for each one and this must be conveyed. – Alan Brawn, Brawn Consulting

To be successful you first need to be an expert in your own industry, then you have to become an expert in the vertical you are trying to sell. It's almost impossible to obtain a good market share in a vertical you don't have expertise in. – Scott Sharon, Vertigo Digital Displays

Use digital signage to convey the message you want to send with innovative creative content – effectively allowing your signage to sell itself. - Katrina Douglas - Symon Dacon Ltd. (U.K)

What vertical-specific tradeshows have you participated in and seen a good ROI when it comes to marketing digital signage? Care to share some of your best practices for marketing to verticals? Please leave your comments below.