According to a CEIR report - 40% of B2B Marketing Budgets are spent on trade show events, 52% of exhibibitors rarely provide trade show booth planning to their employees, and the top four reasons an attendee stops at a particular booth is because of email, word of mouth, exhibitor website, or a personal invite to the trade show exhibit booth. So what are YOU doing to make sure your budgets are used wisely and you get the right audience to stop by your booth? Here are some thoughts for BEFORE, AFTER, and DURING a trade show:
What to do BEFORE the trade show event:
- Determine what you want people to do once they visit your booth
- Think of creative ways to market yourselves to the target market at the show
- Develop an "elevator pitch" specific for that show
- Determine who you want to meet at the show and develop a prospect list
- Prepare the exhibit team for the show
What to do DURING the trade show event:
- Attend the conference and educational sessions
- Attend any networking events being held - it is a great way to meet people
- Work the "elevator pitch", collect leads, and document this high potential ones
What to do AFTER the trade show event:
- Add prospects to your lead database and prioritize them
- High potential leads - place a phone call
- Send out follow-up emails within a couple days
- Connect with leads via linked in and any other social media venues
- Measure the show results and document results
