Are you new to trade shows and struggling to come up with the right strategy for your exhibition marketing? Our trade show strategy guide was written with you in mind! These simplified tips are just the thing to get you through your first show and on the way to shining success!
There’s No Business Like Trade Show Business!
Yep, you read that right. And in today’s world, that adage holds more true than ever. Trade exhibitions, conferences, and other worldwide networking events are key resources for helping businesses prosper. In fact, trade shows are the second highest source of B2B income in the United States, with market size of more than $18 Billion dollars annually (Ibis World). With more and more events being held, having the right trade show marketing strategy is crucial.
Here are a few questions you need to consider that will have a critical impact on your trade show strategy:
- What do you want to achieve by exhibiting?
- When and where will I get the best return?
- How much am I willing (or able) to invest?
- Do I have the right team and materials?
- What do I need to do pre-event?
- What do I need to do after the event?
Tip #1 – Set SMART Goals
We’ve all heard that a goal without a plan is just a wish (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry). That is definitely the case for a successful trade show strategy.
If this is your first trade show, you may be saying “I just want to make sales!”. Trust me, having goals that are Specific / Measurable / Attainable / Results Focused / and Time-Bound is important for several reasons
- It lets you keep track of how your doing and provides a target to keep you motivated.
- It helps keep you and your team focused and on the same page.
- It provides post-event data for you to use in improving your strategy for the next event.
Check out HubSpot’s guide to writing SMART goals for more tips.
Tip #2 – Chose the right show
With so many events being held, exhibitors and attendees have a massive selection to pick from worldwide. Sure, you can narrow it down to your industry, but with all of the live and virtual show listings accessible now, it may still be a bit difficult to target the event that will offer the best ROI.
Keep up with industry news from sites such as Trade Show News and check out what your competitors are posting on Twitter and LinkedIn. Knowing which industry shows expect the highest turnout and where your more experienced competitors are going will help you decide the right location.
Tip #3 – Prioritize your budget
Depending on your goals and the image you want to project, trade show marketing can get pricey. Whether your objective is simplicity or grandeur, you must have a budget. This is another reason that setting goals become important.
You probably have a finite amount that you can spend. Knowing what’s important is going to determine how you allocate your spending. Think of a plan that achieves the goals you set for yourself and see what needs to be prioritized and what can be cut.
Keep in mind when you’re budgeting that floor space is something you don’t want to skimp on. Having the right spot for your booth is a key element to a successful trade show marketing strategy. And the more prime the location, the more expensive the real estate. In fact, your booth design and space are going to account for 45% – 50% of your total budget.
The above infographic can give you a good idea of the breakdown, and check out this article from MOD displays for a more detailed look at budgeting for your trade show strategy.
Tip #4 Make sure you’re prepared.
This section could be a book in itself, but I’ll try to keep it as direct as possible. Preparation involved 4 key areas:
- Your Product/Serice you’re going to promote
- Your Brand Message
- Your Team
- Your Marketing Materials
Let’s go through each one. Keep in mind that we’re hitting the highlights. Check out the links at the end and make sure to do more research into each one.
Your Product/Service
Internal timing is a crucial element in your trade show marketing strategy. Do you have confidence that your brand is at the stage where it can be on display? Are you capable of displaying your product and communicating the appropriate branding signals to your prospects?
According to Ceir, 92% of participants are there to learn about new developments and how they apply to their market. And half of them are looking to buy! This may be both exhilarating and frightening, as these attendees are typically upper-level executives in decision-making positions. Make sure you’re ready to bring your A game.
Your Message
Your trade show marketing strategy should include a clear and concise brand message that you use in all of your pre-event marketing, as well as your key talking points and marketing materials during the event, and in your post-event interaction with clients and prospects.
Make sure this message is clearly conveyed to your employees and any outsourced event staff that may come into contact with event attendees. The worst thing you can do for your brand is to convolute it with mixed messaging.
Your Team
If you’re in the start-up phase, your team may consist of “me, myself, and I”. If so, that’s great! You’ll have less to manage. However, if you plan on using additional people to showcase your goods there are several options for putting an event team together. Let’s briefly touch on a few of them and some factors to consider.
Employees
Using your own employees can add a personal touch to your event and offer brand familiarity when interacting with attendees. It’s also easier to make sure your brand message is clearly engrained in their talking points.
There are some potential negatives to in-house employees. Taking people with you can be expensive. The cost of travel, hotels, and per-diems can really add up. Not to mention they will be away from the office and existing customers.
Outsourced Event Staff
Using outsourced event staff can be a viable alternative to bringing your own people. Outsourcing is when you use a staffing service to supply you with event staff, or booth staff, to promote your wares. These individuals should be trained event professionals who are skilled at brand promotion, generating leads, and even closing sales.
Outsourced event staff can be more cost-effective than taking your own employees. Plus, they may be more skilled in attracting potential customers to your exhibit booth since this is what they do for a living.
Check out our blog 7 Tantalizing Trade Show Booth Ideas To Boost Traffic for different ways outsourced staff can benefit your trade show exhibit.
Hybrid Team
A third option is to combine the best of both worlds by bringing key employees with you and using outsourced staff. Utilize the outsourced event staff to attract attendees, sign people up, hand out swag, etc… This will free you and your inhouse employees up to spend more time with prospects and close sales.
Regardless of which option you chose, when it comes to trade show marketing strategy, the right team can make or break your event. Therefore, make sure you chose wisely.
Check out our blogs, 6 Gigantic Benefits Of Outsourced Staffing, and 5 Undeniable Reasons Not To Use Outsourced Event Staff for more insight.
Your Marketing Materials
Everything you have at your booth needs to include your company name, the product/service your promoting, and your message, or a condensed version of it. The exact items you’ll need will depend on your strategy as a whole, but here is a list of common trade show marketing materials:
- Business cards
- Brochures
- Banners and posters
- Notepads or sticky notes
- Loyalty coupons or cards
- Promotional items (“swag”)
Try to get all of your materials printed at least 4 weeks in advance of the event. This gives you time for corrections if any are needed (assume there will be).
Tip #5 – Do Pre-Event Marketing
When it comes to trade show strategy, creating and executing a deliberate marketing plan will increase your chances of a successful show. Whether it is paid ads, social media platforms, or email newsletters, you want to get the message out that you will be at this show on this date.
The key is to devise a list of effective components and set metric-driven marketing goals to execute.
Email Marketing
Creating an organized plan to execute email marketing is very important. Stick to the plan and focus on your main goals and what you want to achieve with your contact list. Create templates that are tailored toward your target audience and where they are in your funnel. Your email template will differ depending on if you have previously established a relationship or are just starting out. In both scenarios, try to be as personable as possible.
At this point, I do not recommend using an email service to send mass emails. Send the emails directly, keep them brief and to the point, and personalize each one as much as possible.
Send out your first pre-show email a few weeks before the show. Think of this one as an ice breaker, especially for prospects you haven’t had any interaction with. Let them know who you are, compliment them on all the good things you’ve heard about their company and how much you look forward to meeting them. It’s fine to briefly talk about the benefits of your product/service in your introduction but don’t “sell” and don’t ask anything of them.
Give it about a week to gauge the response and follow up with a second email to those who responded favorably to the first. Reinforce the value you offer and that you are looking forward to meeting them and learning more about their brand. If possible, try to go ahead and set a meeting during the show by attaching your calendar. And always remember to include your booth number.
Email Marketing is a great way to reach both consumers and manufacturers before during & after the exhibit.
Social Media
Social media is very important for your marketing strategy as a whole, especially in pre-event marketing. It’s a great tool for building brand awareness, engaging with customers and prospects, and attracting new buyers. You can also gain valuable insight for your buyer personas and customer profiles.
I won’t go into detail on all of the channels available and ways to use them, but I will touch on the ones we primarily use – Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
- Facebook is a great platform for posting updates and visual content, including text, photos, and videos (especially about your upcoming show). It can also give you insights into your clients and potential customers. Facebook arguably has the best social platform for paid advertising.
- Twitter is a great resource for learning what is popular with people in your industry, as well as with clients, partners, and potential customers. It’s one of the best resources for organic engagement and sharing up-to-the minute news about your brand.
- LinkedIn is the best social platform for B2B networking. It’s a terrific tool to research people you could be meeting with or learn more about a potential customer you’re interested in contacting. You can also do targeted advertising, group networking, and get brand content in front of the right people.
The most important thing to remember when developing a social media plan is to keep your content and messaging clear and consistent. Make sure everything you put out there goes along with your trade show marketing strategy as a whole.
Tip #6 – Follow Up with Everyone
Keeping your name in front of people, in a way that provides value to them, goes further in building brand awareness and loyalty than anything else you can do.
When the show is over, follow up with everyone – clients, prospects, attendees, promoters, organizers, even the custodial staff if you have their contact info. Remeber, you are trying to build awareness for your brand and you are your brand. Forming relationships with everyone you can is the best way to do this.
If you really want to stand out, send them a handwritten note. It shows the type of though and care you put into things, and people will remember you. And, if you really, really want to be proactive, don’t wait until the show is over. Go ahead and send a message the same day to the contacts you met. While some may think this is a touch excessive, I think it demonstrates direct purpose.
Another good means of relationship building is to connect with them on social media. Keep an eye out for things they post, and provide thoughtful comments (don’t just “like and share”). Keeping your name in front of people, in a way that provides value to them, goes further in building brand awareness and loyalty than anything else you can do.
The Wrap Up
To sum it up, having the right trade show strategy for marketing pre-event, in-event, and post-event is imperative to your success. Set SMART goals, do your research, make sure everyone and everything is prepared beforehand, and put yourself and your brand out there for people to see before and after the event.
If you follow these tips, properly plan, execute, and follow-up, we guarantee your first trade show will be a shining success!
Resource Links
- Research, News, and Networking
- Tools for Marketing
- SEMrush – SEO and Competitor Research
- Constant Contact – Email Marketing and Automation
- HubSpot – CRM / CSM Software, Automation, Training, Etc… (HubSpot is a 1-stop-shop for almost everything)
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and check out the rest of our tips, tricks, and advice to make your events shine at The Shine Blog from Divine Shoe Shine Models!
If you’re looking for a quality event service that will make your trade show exhibit shine, Divine Shoe Shine Models is the solution you’re looking for! Divine Shoe Shine Models provides you with a full exhibit service all in one shining package.
You get…
1. An event model;
2. A booth attraction service;
3. A spokesmodel for your brand;
4. and custom trade show marketing materials
Contact us today and mention code “Shine Blog” for your special show rate!
