With 70% of organizations using a trade show as a place to pick up new leads, your potential clients might be overwhelmed. You need to find a way to stand out from the crowd and be who a person wants to work with. So, how can you pivot your methods to make sure any trade shows you attend have a high ROI?
Below, we discuss seven of the most effective ways to make sure you pick up plenty of leads. As you read through, think about which ones work with your current process when you attend events and what you might need to change moving forward.
1. Promote Before the Show Starts
If people are already curious about you, such as those following you on social media, this is the perfect chance to meet them. Make sure you promote your attendance well ahead of time so those who might want to talk to you can visit.
Make sure you communicate where you are going to be at the event, what your booth looks like, and who is there. This can give people a mental image of what to look for and build excitement at what you might have to offer. Other things you can do to build hype include:
- Put out press releases
- Talk to trade show organizers
- Send out email campaigns
Also, if you have any new promotions, make sure to talk about them so people know the trade show is where they can find out more about them.
2. Ensure Your Booth Catches the Eye
Make sure you design a trade show display that does more than offer utility. Make sure you use vibrant colors related to your brand to make people notice you, and use promotional text to create interest. If you have control of the lighting in the area, you can even highlight specific key locations in the booth.
When designing the layout of the booth itself, make it look as comfortable as possible. Leave open spaces and even consider seating areas so people can talk to your staff for longer. If you have demonstrations, you should ensure they are not only visible to people in the area but also to those moving past to draw them in.
3. Utilize Interactive Booth Features
As mentioned above, an affordable trade show booth can use product demonstrations to help sell what you offer. You can also use elements such as QR codes to link people to your website or a lead-gathering form.
You could also hire touchscreen displays that can both show off video demos of your brand as well as act as data collection locations. Independent visitors can then put in their contact info, or a member of staff can do it for them as they discuss your product.
4. Train and Equip Your Staff
Ensure you empower your staff with the knowledge and agency they need to sell your service or product. You should not only rely on a trade show display to communicate all the information about what you offer.
Make sure they have good communication skills and enough product knowledge to answer any question thrown at them. Work on a short “elevator pitch” they could use to explain to people who visit the booth the basics of your value proposition.
You could even roleplay some scenarios involving potential clients with them beforehand. This will help you work out some of the harder questions they may face.
5. Make Data Collection Easier
Try to use technology to gather as many potential leads as possible. Many portable trade show booths these days use things such as mobile apps to help with this. This may be software the staff uses to gather lead data or trade show apps you build for potential leads to use during the event.
By allowing visitors to download an app and peruse it later should they want to, you allow them to follow up with your offering in their own time.
6. Offer Giveaways and Incentives to Sign Up
There is always a good feeling when you see your branded merchandise moving around the trade show floor and acting as a small ad. Use this to your advantage and give away t-shirts, bags, or other small items. Either offer them for free or ask people to take part in simple games and competitions to win them, depending on the mood of the event.
Other things you could do include offering raffles and similar giveaways. Then, if you draw the winners at the end of the event, you perform two useful steps:
First of all, you draw people back to your booth at the end of the event, when things are a little quieter.
Second, if you allow those who did not come back to your booth an opportunity to follow up after the event, you can gather email addresses instead.
7. Follow Up After the Show
When the show is over, it is time to start contacting people who signed up. Make sure you do this as soon as is reasonable, in the few days after the show.
Ensure any message you send is not copied and pasted. Try to be personal in these, referring to specific things about them if you know them. If there were unique events that occurred around the time they signed up, mention that to jog their memory.
Using all the information you have, you can remind these people of the value you offer them. This may start them on the path to working with you in the days to come.
The Best Trade Show Booth to Generate Leads
By following the above advice, you should find any trade show you choose to attend will return a much higher yield of leads. Still, there is always more you can do to be eye-catching. For example, have you considered reaching out to a specialist in trade show displays?
We can ensure your trade show booth brings people in and creates a space where you can communicate your value proposition with ease. Our experts are ready to talk to you about what we offer. So, give us a call today and see what we can do for you.
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