Nothing, especially in the business-to-business world, beats a trade show. You get to actually meet and shake hands with people, answer questions in real time, present your products and your message exactly how you want to present them, and meet new people who could very well become customers in the future. Here are some tips to help ensure that your trade show goes smoothly.
1. Drive traffic to your trade show booth BEFORE the show
It’s in the trade show’s best interest to drive people to the show. Once attendees are there, it’s up to you to get them to come to your booth. You can use any channel of marketing to assist you with this goal. Many trade shows offer a direct mail list of pre-registrants that you can rent as part of your show package.
But there are also a lot of more creative ways to get people to your booth. Notify your Facebook fans that fans who show up at the booth will be entered into a special drawing. Send personalized messages to your most loyal customers and invite them to visit your booth where they’ll receive some sort of VIP treatment.
2. Generating realistic leads
Everyone at a trade show wears a badge, and when you scan that badge you get that particular attendee’s contact information. Scanning any badge that comes along does not mean you are getting qualified leads. Decide on how you will qualify your leads. When you come back to work with new contacts, you should be able to explain, generally, why those people were considered leads. Not only will this give you a more accurate idea of how the show performed for you but it will also help you establish how you want to nurture those leads.
3. Have a plan to follow up with leads
Knowing how you are going to nurture the leads you generate at the show should be part of your pre-show conversation. As people return to their offices after a show they’re going to be playing catch-up from the work they missed while attending the conference. Soon, their interest in your company will wane if there is no follow-up. We recommend making sure that your customer service department, your sales department, and your marketing department are all on the same page.
Incidentally, following up with existing customers who visited you is not a bad idea either. Making them feel special by acknowledging that you saw them and appreciated their presence could go a long way towards building customer loyalty.
4. Exhibit with professional marketing materials
A trade show booth is like a real-life website homepage. You are standing in an aisle and you want people to see all of the things you feel are most important about your company. Professional literature and booth graphics represent a bigger investment, but when you are trying to make a powerful first impression, isn’t it important to put your best possible foot forward? Your booth graphics, your literature, your business cards, and anything else you present will be how people perceive you as they walk by. Make it a good first impression.
Think creatively from your efforts to drive traffic to your booth to the way you interact with people at your booth and through the process of following up with leads. For more information on designing a creative trade show booth, contact The Exhibit Source.
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