With the right ideas, B2B marketers can leverage trade show attendance to refill their sales funnel, bring in new customers and boost sales revenue.
The #1 objective for trade show attendance is lead generation.
How you approach trade shows depends on your overall strategy. Once you have a solid strategy in place, knowing which tactics to employ becomes easier.
We broke down the ideas into 5 broad areas, which are ideal for B2B marketers planning their trade show marketing:
1. Show Selection – Just because you’ve been to a show before does not mean that you should keep returning. And you might want to consider other shows you haven’t attended. Some of the best ideas that apply to B2B marketers include:
Go to fewer trade shows, but put more effort into the trade show booth staff preparation and promotions for each remaining show.
Track leads to determine and expand in the shows with the best ROI.
2. Trade Show Exhibit Design – Don’t think of your trade show exhibit as just a booth, but rather as a communications medium in and of itself. At trade shows, there are many distinctive exhibits. However, there are often also exhibits so similar to one another that they are essentially invisible. Some exhibit design ideas from the list:
Design your exhibit to more boldly, and clearly say why attendees will benefit from working with you.
Put fewer elements on your trade show display, but make the remaining images and messages bigger and more concise.
3. Pre-show Promotions – If you don’t start driving traffic to your site before the show, you’re at a disadvantage from the beginning.
Use social media to reach more attendees.
Send half of something of value to attendees before the show, and promise to give the other half in your booth.
4. At-show Promotions and Activities – It’s easier to stand out at a trade show than you think!
Run presentations or video loops on large video monitors.
Get someone from your company to be a speaker at the show.
5. Booth Staffing – An investment of time and money in training your booth personnel may pay the largest dividends. Two more ideas:
Hold a contest to reward the staffers who take the highest quantity of qualified leads.
Prepare your booth staffers with several good engaging questions.
And to the author’s excellent 100 ideas I add just one more: follow up after the show!
To create the best trade show exhibit at the show, contact The Exhibit Source.
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