There are many ways to ensure you’re squeezing every opportunity from a trade show. This includes everything from your digital promotions prior to the event to your post-event communications. Setting your KPIs, researching attendees, and creating your targeted marketing plans for your target audience before the event are all great ways to set yourself up for success. But how do you make the most of all possible opportunities that may arise at the event itself?

Get in the right mindset

View each and every industry event as an extension of your digital presence, and your brand itself, as opposed to a standalone event. Your strategy and communications during the event should align directly with the content strategy you follow throughout the rest of the year. Your activities at the show should integrate seamlessly within your broader marketing strategy, allowing you to create a clear, cohesive brand image. This will make it easier for your prospects to find you afterwards, and increase your overall brand awareness.

Think about your customer journey and how your customers are coming to find you organically. If they’re often beginning their journey looking for information, start there. If they come in already informed and ready to buy, tweak your communications to match. 

Quality over quantity

Throughout the event, you’ll likely be speaking to people from all over your industry. Instead of going in with the goal of speaking to every single person, set yourself up with a plan based on your pre-event research of who will most likely benefit from your products and services, and what you’re going to speak to them about. 

Create personalised experiences based on your target audience, making sure to include solutions for their pain points in your messaging, opening up the possibility for further conversations on targeted strategies that will support their business. 

Engaging over flashy 

When it comes to your booth, stand, or whatever set up you are using at the event itself, ensure that it’s something your prospects are going to actually engage with. There’s no point in having a flashing neon sign advertising your services if you’re not providing value. 

That’s not to say you can’t have fun with your presentations at events. Create a game that answers frequently asked questions, hold a giveaway for people who provide their details, even set up a bouncy castle if it aligns with your products and services, but make sure that whatever activations you’re creating align with your overall company values and what you hope you get out of the event. 

We’ve seen (and created) everything from giant Jenga to tiny robots. If it aligns with your brand and draws a crowd, it’s worth doing. 

Get on the same page

When it comes to actually speaking to people about your products and services, it’s important to make sure that you’re aligning all your conversations with your overall goal for the event. Make sure your sales team are on the same page when it comes to talking points, solutions, and the process for collecting lead information. 

Creating a process for lead capture, whether it be directing people to a landing page created for the event, or entering details into a spreadsheet manually, makes things far easier when it comes to contacting your potential customers after the event. 

Embrace shift work

Industry events can be tiring, particularly if the event is taking place over several days. Make sure you’re giving your team time to attend sessions of interest to both the company, and themselves, taking it in shifts when it comes to roaming the room, attending workshops, and manning the booth. You want to keep things fresh for each and every person that stops by, so it’s important you give your sales team time to breathe. 

This goes for pre-and post-event communications as well. Employee engagement is a fantastic way to bring more value to your communications, but it’s important to allow your team room to tweak and change things to match their natural speaking patterns. 

Be authentic

It goes without saying that inauthenticity is one way to spot a bad sales presentation. As managers and employees, you’re the most familiar with your brand, tone, and expectations, but it’s important to stay true to each team member's way of speaking, or risk coming off robotic. Writing up a script for each team member is a great way to turn prospects away. 

Instead, use your talking points as guides, and be sure to remind your sales team that it’s more important to speak to people as people, rather than potential buyers. 

Looking to make the most of your next event? You’re in the right place. Let’s work together.