Your marketing strategy begins well before you set foot on the show floor. It’s important to plan ahead and make sure you have the right materials, strategies, and planning to meet your goals. Here are some tips:
Choosing the right trade show to showcase your brand, product, or service can significantly impact your business success. The best event for your company is one that aligns with your objectives, reaches your target audience, fits within your budget, and has the potential to deliver a satisfactory return on investment (ROI).
Here are key considerations that should guide your decision:
Be a trade show attendee first before exhibiting to get a better understanding of the event and if it will be a good fit for your business.
Setting clear, measurable goals for your event is an essential step in your preparation. These goals can pertain to various aspects, such as the number of leads you aim to attract, the amount of sales you wish to generate, or the level of brand awareness you seek to create. Having defined objectives will guide your strategies and help you measure your effectiveness.
Your goals should be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, instead of merely aiming to 'generate leads,' a SMART goal would be to ‘collect the contact details of at least 25 potential customers during the duration of the show.'
Attending a trade show can result in a substantial ROI. However, expenses incur quickly without the proper plan. Think ahead by planning a realistic budget for common costs such as:
Your booth space typically accounts for 30-35% of your budget. You can expect your total investment to be about three times the cost of your exhibit. Prices differ for each event, but the average cost is about $150-$250 per square foot of floor space.
This means a 10’x10’ (100 square feet) booth space at $150 per square foot would cost 100 x $150 = $15,000.
Your budget should be this cost multiplied by three, or $15,000 x 3 = $45,000
This is just an average expectation for the total budget. Do your best to determine the exact costs of your particular event and budgetary needs.
Trade show displays are a critical aspect of your exhibit. It's your chance to attract visitors and make your booth the talk of the show. A successful display goes beyond looking good; it creates an immersive, memorable experience that communicates the value of your product/service to your target audience.
When designing your display, consider the following:
The most overlooked part of trade show planning is preparing your team for the live event. Without ample preparation, even the most baked-out strategies will fail. Most companies forget to practice greeting people, don’t test-run their booth setup, and don’t enforce an appropriate dress code for the show.
Proper attire will vary depending on the industry, the type of show, and your brand. For instance, you would most likely wear a suit to a technology event compared to branded apparel at an industrial show.
Here are a few tips for preparing your team:
Use this checklist to create and execute an effective trade show plan in minimal time.
The key to successful pre-show marketing is to start early, personalize your approach, and maintain consistent communication with your target audience. Here are some effective marketing tactics to implement before your event begins.
When utilized correctly, your sales team can be an invaluable asset in pre-event marketing. They have a direct line to your customers and prospects and can leverage these relationships to promote your trade show presence. Encourage them to reach out to their contacts, share information about the event, and invite them to your booth at the show.
Before your event, ask your sales reps to arrange in-person meetings with important prospects during the show. This ensures dedicated time to engage with these important contacts and increases the likelihood of productive conversations.
Social media is a powerful tool for creating buzz around your participation. Use relevant event hashtags, post regular updates, and engage with your followers. Consider sharing sneak peeks of your booth or products to generate interest.
The event sponsor often provides a list of attendees that you can import into your customer relationship management (CRM) software in advance. Use a CRM like HubSpot to store this information and segment your contacts into categories such as industry, job title, persona, etc. Then, tailor your pre-show communication to each segment to increase effectiveness.
List building before the show will facilitate email marketing efforts and help you target the right people when it comes time to follow up after the event.
Email marketing is a highly effective way to reach out to existing clients and potential attendees. Send personalized emails to your subscriber list, highlighting your participation at the event and what they can expect at your booth. You could also offer incentives like exclusive product previews or special offers to encourage visits to your booth.
Before the event, it's crucial to prepare professionally printed marketing materials that will draw attendees to your booth and provide them with valuable information about your brand, products, or services. Each piece should align with your brand identity and key messaging to ensure a consistent brand experience. The goal is not just to inform, but to engage and excite potential customers about what you have to offer.
Here are a few notable examples of effective trade show marketing materials:
If there's room in your budget, send targeted direct mail to your clients and prospects, encouraging them to attend the show and visit your booth. This proactive outreach helps you reach your contacts through different channels. Consider sending gift redemption cards that recipients can bring to your booth in exchange for free trade show swag. This will create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) that may persuade prospects to visit your booth.
Direct mail can be an effective tactic, but to ensure a positive ROI, it's important to ensure every recipient is qualified and likely to purchase or learn more about what you have to offer.
Guest blogging is an excellent way to reach new audiences before a trade show. By writing articles for industry-related blogs, you can share your expertise, promote your upcoming presence at the show, and direct readers back to your website or event landing page. It's essentially free advertising if the blog has a large audience.
Make sure your content is informative and engaging, providing real value to the blog's audience. Don't make your post a hard sell, but do include a call to action encouraging readers to visit your booth at the show.
Here are some effective marketing tactics to use during the event.
Offering unique trade show giveaways is a great way to draw people to your area, especially in a crowded event where attendees have numerous booths to choose from. High-quality trade show promotional items serve as conversation starters, providing an opportunity for your team to engage with visitors.
Company swag doesn’t need to be expensive to be effective. Expect to budget between $2-$8 per item. If you want to include special gifts, we recommend $10 or more per item. If you choose to hand out more expensive items, you might want to require attendees to fill out a form or provide a business card to receive the giveaway. This way, you can secure valuable contact information to facilitate follow-up communication after the event.
Here are a few tips to help you choose the best trade show giveaways:
Check out a few of our curated product collections to help you get started.
If you need guidance, speak to a GoDelta Brand Consultant. We’ll work closely with you to select and design the best items for your next event.
The most popular booths are the ones that are interactive. The goal is to create an engaging experience that encourages attendees to spend more time at your booth and learn more about your products and services.
You can achieve this by having some type of entertainment or activity for people to take part in. This could be a fun game, refreshments, or contest. Whatever you choose for your booth, just be sure it isn’t sales-related or focused on you (this approach could deter attendees). Instead, think about your target audience and what they find interesting and enjoyable.
Here are a few ideas for transforming your booth into an interactive experience your visitors won’t soon forget.
Counting Contest - Ask visitors to guess how many items are in a container and have them write their guess on the back of their business cards. By announcing the winner at the end of the event, you ensure participants will return to your booth.
Photo Booth - Setting up a photo booth allows attendees to express themselves and receive a branded souvenir they’ll actually keep. Plus, it gives you user-generated content (UGC) to share on social media.
Product/Service Trivia - Games attract visitors, create buzz, and, when used effectively, educate visitors about your capabilities. Conduct trivia where you ask questions related to your products or services. If a participant answers correctly, they get to spin a prize wheel.
Throughout the trade show, there are plenty of opportunities to be active on social media. Follow and use the trade show’s hashtag and create one of your own. Let people know where you are, what you’re doing, and what you’re giving away.
Here are a few trade show social media engagement ideas:
Geofencing involves setting up a virtual boundary around a specific location – in this case, the show venue – and sending targeted messages to people within this area. This can be a highly effective way to attract attendees to your booth. For example, you could send a push notification inviting them to visit your booth for a special demonstration or to pick up a free giveaway. Just remember to provide value in your messages to increase the chances of a positive response.
Trade shows are all about generating leads. Use lead capture technology like a business card scanner to make this process much more efficient. A business card scanner is an app that examines business cards and converts them as contact records into your CRM. The app ensures contact information is entered accurately and quickly. By streamlining the lead capture process, you can ensure that no potential leads slip through the cracks and that your follow-up efforts are as effective as possible.
Here are some effective marketing tactics to implement after the trade show concludes.
After the show, enter your newly acquired leads into your CRM system. This ensures that all contact information and relevant notes about interactions during the event are stored and organized in one place. By doing this, you can easily segment these leads based on various parameters such as their interest level, product preference, or potential deal size. This makes it easier to tailor your follow-up communication and increases the chances of conversion.
Reach out to the leads you've captured as soon as possible while your brand and interaction are still fresh in their minds. This could be a personalized email, a phone call, or a proposal based on the discussions you had at the event. The key is to make them feel valued and keep the conversation going, thereby gradually nudging them towards a purchase decision.
If you decide to send personalized emails, make sure to direct them to educational resources and articulate how your solutions can soothe their pain points. Here’s a post-show email template you can use for lead follow-up:
Content marketing is an effective way to nurture leads after the trade show. Share relevant blogs, case studies, or whitepapers with your leads to provide them with valuable information and keep them engaged with your brand. This helps position your company as a thought leader in the industry and keeps your leads warm until they are ready to make a purchase decision.
