How to Quickly Empower Your Tradeshow Marketing

The quickest way to a sale, especially in the B2B arena, is through in-person communication.image - trade shows use in-person communications

In fact, most marketers, a healthy sixty-nine percent of them, continue to select in-person communication as the most effective method.

Tradeshows are one of the best in-person communication forums, yet there’s a wide gap in the number of closers and qualified leads generated to the amount of tradeshows B2B companies attend.

Chances are you’ve been to a tradeshow, if you’re a marketer, part of a company or an attendee, you’ll agree when you read that some booths sizzle with lively crowds and are filled with constant chatter while others are manned by a couple employees who are bored and uninterested because no one’s coming to their booth, which lacks a few essential elements.

They’re also probably envious of the crowded booths!

Companies can definitely benefit from tradeshows, but that depends on whether they strategized their time and money correctly in order for their investments to bear fruit.

Here is a game plan to ensure the success of your investment and putting new life into your B2B tradeshow marketing.

Plan Ahead

If you want to get your marketing money’s worth, it’s important to plan in advance much ahead of the actual tradeshow. That might include booking travel and stay for you and your staff, but it’s much more than that.

Planning ahead in this case would also mean thinking in a strategic manner, everything from travel plans to marketing campaigns months to day before the show to effective follow-ups and everything in between.

Be thorough in your strategy. This is where it counts because every dollar will be spent for its maximum use.

Make Goals

This segues into the next aspect – making goals.

Examining your goals in advance as part of planning ahead will help you mold and hone your strategy.

Instead of spending wasted hours and dollars, you’ll have worked out a strategy that works in relation to your goals. Take into consideration the reasons behind the attendance of this tradeshow.

Is it to bring awareness to the brand, new products or services, connect with new clients or obtain qualified leads and have meetings with prospective partners?

It could be a combination of these or something else entirely – the objective is to set your goals in as detailed a manner as possible and set deadlines for each step in order to achieve those goals. This will keep your marketing on track and team on top of things.

Select the Right Space

Find a location within the tradeshow event that is within your budget.

Moreover, the ideal space has to ensure large foot traffic and is inviting to your prospects and as spacious as possible. Again, this ties back to planning in advance so that you can select the ideal location for your company.

Design the Booth

Create a booth and plan for events and giveaways. This includes games, prizes, and demos, if possible.

MultiQuad 20 x 20 Island modular trade show panel display

MultiQuad 20 x 20 Island modular trade show panel display

Make sure your trade show booth design creates a billboard, rather than a brochure, when it comes to the actual design, logos, fonts and displays for the exhibition displays.

Think inviting colors that are coherent with your brand and displays that are image-heavy.

Remember – a billboard, not a brochure!

Pre-Event Marketing

You should always be engaging your followers, fans, subscribers, clients, and partners.

When it comes to marketing an upcoming trade show, plan your blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts, LinkedIn updates, and e-mails accordingly – keep your audience engaged and get the hype started.

Talk about events, demos, revealing new products or services in each message you can to reinforce how important it will be for your prospects to visit your booth.

Create a Booth Strategy

Plan for how you’re going to engage attendees at the trade show booth, including bringing them there and keeping their attention.

Plan discussions, pitches and conversation starters that will give a positive vibe to your prospects, clients and partners.

Modified eSmart ECO-4008 Sustainable Island Exhibit with Meeting room, Hanging Aero Sign, Counter Top LED Lighting, Large Backlit Graphics, and (3) Storage Counters

Modified eSmart ECO-4008 Sustainable Island Exhibit with Meeting room, Hanging Aero Sign, Counter Top LED Lighting, Large Backlit Graphics, and (3) Storage Counters

Consider the logistics of your demos and presentation and the space for your audience and events.

Strategize a process for your pitches and discussions that end with you achieving the goals you had set before the show.

Post-Event Campaign

Once you’ve attended the tradeshow, following up is crucial.

You’ll already have a plan for follow-ups in your plans, so be sure to follow it as you intended.

Follow up with every attendee that provided his or her contact information.

Start off with an e-mail thanking them for attending your booth and provide a download of your presentation that they had seen at the booth to refresh their memory.

Those who have subscribed are those you follow-up with further with requests to call and set up meetings to have them make a sales decision.

Remember also to keep the general buzz of your followers et al on all social media platforms with post-event pictures, videos, updates and articles.

Post-Show Analysis

Once the show is over and you’ve followed up with your prospects and closed sales, now’s the time to analyze and contemplate with your teams.

Be objective in your analysis and list out what goals were met on time, what had delays, and what were never achieved.

Learn from the failures, understand the delays and celebrate your success with your team.

The analysis should be reviewed periodically, even months after the show to remind the team how to do better at the next event!

With this game plan, you’ll be able to pump new blood into your strategies. Understanding the importance of planning, goal-setting, strategizing marketing throughout the process, and analyzing your successes and failures as a team will enable your company’s booth to be the star of the next tradeshow.

Moreover, your success rate will improve when it comes to closing deals with qualified leads that are interested, provided you follow-up via the abovementioned approaches. Feel free to customize this game plan to your needs and may your next event be a greater success!

Download 7 Tips for Follow Ups