What do you need for a successful tradeshow?
Tradeshows can be an incredible opportunity to connect with prospects, potential partners and customers – when done well. But with everyone at the show trying to compete for attention, it can be challenging to cut through all of the visual clutter and messaging to have your brand stand out. We have outlined the 7 most important tradeshow marketing tips to help you succeed at your next show.
1. Start with a Strategy
It is important to start your tradeshow planning with a clear strategy.
Define who you are trying to reach. Is it decisions-makers, or maybe you are building a list of influencers? The more clearly you can define and understand the audience, the more likely your chances are of connecting with them in a meaningful way.
Set clear goals. Your goal may be to create awareness, leave with a list of names, leave with a list of leads, meet with key prospects or get media attention. Whatever your goals are, make sure that they are clearly defined and that your entire team is aware of the specific desired outcomes.
2. Create an Eye-Catching, Simple Booth Design
Your booth needs to grab attention from down the aisle or across a crowded room.
What to do:
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- Base the design and size of your display on the competition, and do what you must to stand out.
- This should be simple and only serve to grab attention.
- Clearly display your brand so that, if nothing else, it might create recall later.
- Create the right kind of positioning and intrigue so that your audience is attracted and wants to step forward and engage.
What not to do:
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- Don’t just go big and blow the budget without investing in professional design. Great design can have a better impact, even with a smaller booth.
- Do not turn your booth into a brochure by adding lots of bullets and service lists. Keep it simple or nothing will stand out.
3. You Need a Compelling Elevator Pitch
You have just seconds to connect with a prospect. Don’t figure this part out on the floor! Make sure that you have a clear pitch and that all of your team members have rehearsed it until it sounds natural.
4. Offer an Inexpensive Takeaway
Give attendees something branded for another touchpoint when they are going through their bags later.
What to do:
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- Choose inexpensive items that are strongly branded, such as pens, business cards, or brochures.
- Choose items for maximum brand impact and high-level messaging.
- Assume it will get a glance and be thrown away, so make it memorable.
What not to do:
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- Don’t blow the budget handing out expensive swag to every passerby and window shopper.
- Don’t lose the opportunity to speak with a great prospect by spending too much time with a window shopper.
- Don’t supply people with toys for their kids unless you sell to parents.
5. Collateral & Lead Capture for Serious Prospects
When you have a truly interested prospect – be ready with more information.
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- Keep larger information packets and higher quality collateral under the table and only bring it out for more serious leads.
- Make sure you capture their information in exchange for that packet. If you don’t have a badge scanner, ask for a card, connect on LinkedIn, or create a vcard on the spot.
- Set the expectation that you would like to keep the conversation going, and have a clear plan for a follow up.
6. Pre- and Post-Promotion
Extend the length of your visibility from a couple of days to a couple of months.
Pre-Promotion
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- Tell your audience that you will be at the event several times starting at least six weeks in advance.
- Use all of the channels available to you, and try to reach them several times via email, social media, social headers, signature lines and by any other means available.
- Let them know where your booth will be located and who from your team will be attending so that they can look out for you.
- Attract them to your booth with special promotions, contests, breaking info, demos, etc.
Post-Event Follow Up
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- Recap the event via email and social media.
- On social, tag people you connected and engaged with – organizations and sponsors are great, but people’s photos and tags receive more reach on social channels.
- Giving shoutouts to synergistic people and organizations will increase the chances of a share and increase visibility to a wider audience.
7. Try These Advanced Tradeshow Strategies for Maximum Impact
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- Digital Advertising and Custom Mailers – These forms of pre-promotion are meant to stand out more than a mass email or a series of social posts. They can be highly targeted and personalized for maximum impact.
- Presentations and Demos – Once you have identified a hot prospect, you will want to “show” them something. Keep in mind that 65% of people are visual learners and have something prepared that is eye-level and interesting to keep them in the booth longer. Don’t expect them to read a brochure and discuss it with you on the fly.
- Booth Draws – Create giveaways, in-booth contests, or activities that go beyond handing out pens or candy. A true booth draw is so compelling that someone will seek you out after seeing an email or social post, talking to a colleague, or just hearing the commotion from a crowd across the room.
- Sponsorship – Most events have numerous opportunities for sponsorship such as lanyards, coffee area, speakers, goodie bags. Take advantage of these sponsorships for extra visibility – they may even include the list of registered attendees.
- Private, Side Events – Host a private invite-only event to make your hottest prospects and key clients feel special. Do this at a nearby location that will have significant appeal for your specific audience. Have all of your sales people there to mix and mingle. This is a place to connect personally. If the audience will tolerate it, keep any sales messaging or presentations very brief and not the focus of the event.
- Scheduled Appointments – Your sales team gets extra credit if they can manage to do outreach to key customers and prospects and schedule fixed meeting times to engage with them in person at the event. This could be as formal as a meeting with a product demonstration in a designated part of your booth, or as informal as coffee meet up in the break area.
The Tradeshow Wrap-Up
Make your next tradeshow your best yet with some advanced planning, clear strategy and meaningful follow-up. If you need some additional help, our team is a call away and has several packages available to help you with your next event.