Trade shows are an effective way to generate leads and build your business. However, if you don’t have a plan for the event, chances are you’ll leave with nothing more than brochures and flyers. In this post, we’ll walk through the steps to maximize lead generation at your next trade show exhibition so you can get the most out of it!
Understand Who You Are
Before you think about how and where questions, it’s important to understand who you are and your goals. You need to ask yourself the following questions and get their answers to understand who you are.
- Who is your target audience? Be specific. Are you targeting men aged 35-44 that live in New Jersey? Or are you targeting women aged 25-34 who live within a 50-mile radius of Manhattan? The more detail that goes into this question, the better off you will be when it comes time to execute your plan.
- What is your brand’s value proposition, and how does it differ from competitors’ offerings? Your value proposition is what makes people want to buy from you instead of someone else—so make sure yours stands out!
- What do you stand for as an organization or individual? Bring out your business’s core values in front of the audience. You need to create a compelling story about your company for this one and convey the right message to the booth visitors.
Build A Valuable Offer
To ensure your offer is well-received, you must build a valuable one. An excellent first step is to ensure that any offer you make is relevant and valuable to your target audience. After all, if they don’t find it useful, then what’s the point?
Another important consideration when crafting an effective trade show incentive includes ease of use. If attendees can’t use the product or service you are offering easily or don’t understand how it works, they won’t see its value either. If a customer has questions about how something works, then he or she will likely pass on taking advantage of your business’ promotion entirely—not just once but many times over!
The best way around this problem is by ensuring that whatever promotional materials are used are as clear and straightforward as possible while also being visually appealing enough to avoid turning potential buyers away from buying into everything else that goes along with these offers.
Get Your Design And Messaging Right
The devil’s in the details regarding trade show marketing materials and the exhibits. You want to make sure you’re getting your design and messaging right.
For starters, don’t be afraid to use a consistent design across your marketing materials (your booth design and signage should match). Your goal is to convey a clear message that resonates with attendees, ensuring everything from the color palette to font communicates what you’re doing for them.
And if you’re going for something bold and exciting? Make sure that excitement carries through from one piece of marketing material to another—that way, when potential clients see each piece again once they’ve visited your booth, they’ll be reminded why they liked it so much in the first place.
Another important consideration is the exhibit’s design. Having a standard design won’t have a lasting impression on the visitors. Hence, it is best to have a custom design. Choose from the best custom trade show exhibits that you’ll love and create a remembrance in the attendees’ minds.
When your booth’s design and messaging blend well, the exhibition visitors will likely get your message. This will help them understand your products and services while making lasting brand recognition.
Optimize Your Exhibition Space For Lead Generation And Data Capture
Optimizing your booth space is essential to maximize lead generation and data capture at your next trade show exhibition. Here are three tips to help you get the most out of your next event:
- Use signage to direct people to your booth. If people can’t find you, they won’t stick around! Make sure there is a clear path from the entrance of the show floor to where you’re located.
- Set up a data capture form. Have a form ready so visitors can fill it out while waiting in line at your booth. This way, they don’t have time to lose interest and walk away before filling it out (which happens frequently). A quick survey will help ensure that visitors are getting all of their questions answered by staff members who are present at all times during exhibit hours.
- Your exhibit stand should have ample space to accommodate inquiries and potential leads. Not everyone attending the exhibition will be a potential lead, but that does not mean you can deny answering their questions. For example, if your target audience is in the age group 20-50, but a senior person comes and inquires about your product, you still have to answer the questions asked. On the other hand, if a potential lead arrives, you would need to have some dedicated space where you can explain your products and services in detail. Hence, it is vital to have a custom trade show exhibit accommodating all types of attendees.
Promote Your Offer Before, During, And After The Trade Show
Promotion is a critical part of lead generation. Promoting your offer before, during, and after the trade show is essential – even if you aren’t involved in the exhibition itself.
There are many ways to promote your offer before the exhibition:
- Create a list of people who will attend the trade show, e.g., past attendees or exhibitors, and reach out to them with a customized offer that includes an incentive for joining your mailing list or attending a webinar or seminar at another time.
- Use social media channels such as LinkedIn or Facebook Business Pages or Groups to share images of products/services that attendees might be interested in checking out at future exhibitions.
Follow Up With Leads Promptly
You’ve done the hard work of generating leads. Now it’s time to make sure they stay warm and engaged. One of the best ways to do that is by following up with them as soon as possible after their visit.
Using CRM (customer relationship management) software like Salesforce, you can set up a specific follow-up plan that automatically sends emails or texts when a lead enters or exits the sales funnel.
Each email should be personalized depending on where they are in the funnel. If they’re still in your prospecting stage, maybe thank them for stopping by and inviting them to an event. If they’re further along in their journey but haven’t converted yet, try offering additional resources or incentives that would help move them toward making a purchase decision. If someone has just made an online purchase from your site, send out an immediate “thank you” email with details about tracking orders and expected delivery times.
Analyze Your Trade Show Results To Maximize Future Performance
Once you’ve completed your trade show, you must follow up with all of the leads you gathered. Don’t just let them slip away into oblivion! You can help maximize your lead generation by following up with these potential customers on their terms, not yours.
To be successful at this, you need a well-thought-out plan for what you want to accomplish and how much time it will take. Take a look at our example below:
Here are some tips for creating an effective follow-up plan:
- Be specific about what actions each person should take before they can expect another communication from you
- Set targets for response times and completion dates so that everyone knows when they should expect something from someone else
Conclusion
Planning and maximizing your lead generation capabilities can yield great results at an expo or trade show. The more thought that goes into the planning process, the better prepared you will be for the exhibition. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new event, but if you plan, gather information about past shows, and work with an experienced team who knows how to maximize your investment in time and money, then there is no reason why you cannot achieve success at these events.
