Trade Shows

Despite webinars becoming incredibly popular during the pandemic, there is still huge demand for face-to-face trade shows and conferences. Attending an in-person event can be very expensive as an exhibitor, so you need to make sure you optimise the number of leads you generate to ensure a great return on investment.

65. Use giveaways to gather leads

We all love a bit of free swag! It's always good to have something to offer in exchange for a badge scan or business card. Branded giveaways have been proven to work over decades. We recommend giveaways that will either sit on the recipient's desk or be played with by their children as being the most likely to continue to remind them of your brand.

66. Business cards are still useful

People still carry business cards! Although badge scanners have largely replaced business cards as a way to gather leads during events, some people still prefer to leave a business card, so make sure you have a glass jar or something similar to collect them.

67. Scan in business cards

It's easy to forget about the pile of business cards you collect at an event. However, there are lots of apps that will scan in business cards to your phone and provide an uploadable file for your CRM or marketing automation system. Make use of these tools and scan in business cards as quickly as possible so you can ensure your nurture campaign runs in a timely fashion.

68. Competitions can gather lots of leads

You've probably seen many trade show booths that have some sort of prize draw. Although it's true that sometimes these competitions generate lower quality leads, having a competition can increase the number of contacts and generate good qualified leads if you primarily offer it to the people who are already on your booth.

69. Make sure salespeople don’t “steal” leads

Salespeople can be sneaky! We've seen many of them put the business card or contact details of the best leads from an event into their pocket rather than feed it through the Marketing team. Making sure the salespeople see that your follow up process is effective is crucial to gaining their confidence and make sure they don't slip away with the best leads from the event.

70. Have follow-up emails prepared before the event

If you generate leads at trade shows, you'll want to nurture them with follow up emails. Make sure you generate these emails well in advance of the event. If you leave it to the last minute, inevitably the event itself will absorb all your time and you won't get the emails written, resulting in less effective nurturing because your campaign will run some considerable time after the contact details were collected.

72. Badge scanners are a good idea

Exhibition organisers charge an extortionate amount for the privilege of using badge scanners. Don't try to cut corners: if you want to generate leads, the most effective way is to scan someone’s badge and you have little alternative but to pay the price demanded by the organisers.

73. Get guest speakers where possible

If you're running your own event, guest speakers are generally more effective for attracting attendees than your own team. Guest speakers give the appearance of independence and credibility, significantly enhancing the impression given to potential attendees.

74. Involve customers to provide testimonials

At events, having customers speak and talk about successful projects with your organisation is incredibly powerful. Don't feel that you can only use customers who had the perfect experience: often tales of how you helped them overcome problems can be the most compelling stories to potential customers.

71. Invite trade show contacts to engage with other content

The previous tip mentioned nurturing the contacts you gather after the event. At the time, it can be hard to record exactly what any individual was interested in, so encouraging them to engage with additional content after the event will not only help qualify the lead, but also provide more information about topics that interest them.

75. Make events fun

You're running an event because you want to sell something. But don't forget that the emotional response to the event is incredibly important. Make events fun and enjoyable, and your customer will be more likely to buy.

76. Make events and webinars educational

Your customers’ time is extremely valuable, so make your events and webinars as educational as possible. If they feel they gained value from attending, they will be much more open to sales conversations if they felt the event worthwhile.

77. Send multiple invites

You might think your event is the most important thing in the world, but prospects and customers probably don't think the same way. They might not reply to the first e-mail they receive about your event or webinar. In fact they might also ignore the second! Send several invites and reminders before the event to maximise attendance.

78. Promote events on multiple channels

Like other marketing campaigns, events should be promoted across multiple channels. Think about who you want to reach, and which channel might be most effective. For example, if you want to attract existing customers, then getting sales people to share the event on social media is likely to be highly effective. However, organic social media is less likely to reach an audience that is not already engaged with your brand.

79. Partner to attract new prospects

To increase attendance, think about partnering with complementary suppliers. It's amazing how often this approach benefits both sides because, although you're both working in the same market, you probably have very different customer bases.