Trade shows can be a very effective way to meet potential clients face to face, but it can be hard to stand out amongst competitors. Use these trade show tips to get the best return on investment at your next trade show.
First Impressions Matter.
When choosing a setup for your booth, let your booth design simply describe who you are and what you do. Don’t make people guess or make assumptions about your company. When people approach the booth they should have an idea of what you’re all about before you even speak with them.
Be Interactive.
First-hand engagement creates more draw to your booth, so let potential customers interact with your products and services. People are more likely to remember you when they have more than one of their senses involved. Go beyond the standard visuals and add interactive touch-points and sounds whenever possible. Play a game, enter a drawing, hand out drinks, provide a charging station- Get creative.
Be Active & Present.
Most booth spaces you register for comes with a table and chairs. Often times using the given setup creates a barrier and makes you less engaged. Ditch the chairs, welcome people into your space. Be warm and inviting.
Have A Strategic Plan Ahead Of Time.
If you spend the money and time to go to a tradeshow or conference, but didn’t come with a Lead Generation strategy you’re starting out of the gate with a disadvantage. It’s important to think about who your target audience will be at the conference. From there you can determine which products or services will be the best to market to that audience. Once you have your target audience locked down, you can design your entire booth and experience based on those specific products or service. Then you can create a Lead Capture Plan. To have an effective Lead Capture Plan, you’ll want to determine what you would consider a Hot Lead vs a Warm Lead. Conferences occasionally provide you with a lead generation device, but more often than not this will not give you all the information you need. Create a plan of how you will capture data aside from the “provided” device. Need help here? Let’s talk
Creative Lead Capture.
Every booth at the event will be asking people for their information. Give them a good reason to give it to you. One way to do this is to create a contest or giveaway where people give their contact info to enter to win. If you do a contest, in addition to a prize whether a tech gift or gift card, offer a value-add that ties back to your service or product i.e. a follow-up webinar, a video series, a coupon code etc.
Use Your Network.
If you’re going to a trade show, let your network know you are going to be there! Invite them to join you and ask them to reach out to their network. This can help you gain traction since people are already anticipating seeing you at the event. You can also give your contacts incentive to share with their network through a referral program. By offering discounts, gifts or rewards for every referral they give that commits to purchasing your product/services everyone walks away feeling like they had a win.
Want to learn more about how our account managers at VSG can help you develop customized trade show strategies and tips as well as marketing initiatives that will help you stand out amongst competitors? Email applied@vsg360.com to learn more.
