Never waste your trade show budget again in the future
No question about it, live events have a lot of potential. But it takes more than just showing up with an attractive booth design and putting on a friendly smile to run a profitable event. There are many elements that need to be coordinated when planning the trade show in order to increase the number of visits to your booth:
What you can do before the event? What do you do during the event to differentiate your presence from others, attract visitors and make the visit an unforgettable event? When and how to go out to attract visitors to buy
Everything boils down to content marketing to create brand awareness before, during, and after the event. And it takes exceptional creativity and disciplined timing to engage participants, manage content, and maintain relationships. No matter whether you buy or rent a trade show booth from an experienced Las Vegas exhibit company, the costs of buying a trade show booths in Las Vegas have to be earned first. In contrast, the prices for renting an exhibit are considerably more manageable.
“After the event” is a real challenge with a strong torque approach for marketing / sales departments. Think in terms of year-round dimensions if you want to use the trade show and the content developed for it, such as video excerpts, slide presentations, blog posts, podcasts from lectures, webinars, infographics, articles, newsletters, etc. A monthly email with links to relevant content will help preserve the memory of you and your trade show.
Here you will find a short to-do list with which you can get the most out of your trade show investment:
Before the event:
- Set measurable goals for the event: number of booth visitors, number of leads generated, number of prospect appointments, number of secured media interviews, etc.
- Identify announcements made at the event (new product, product improvement, etc.)
- Secure the list of participants from the organizer.
- Reach out to relevant reporters / editors interested in interviewing executives about company news, strategy, the state of the industry, etc.
- Confirm meetings two days before the show.
- Classify prospects into three priority groups and determine the tactics for follow-up on each.
- Make a personal call or send relevant information to interested parties by email.
- At trade shows: ask if they would like to set up a demo (or meeting) during the visit.
- Webinars: Invite them to the webinar and send a link to register.
- Write a blog post that can be shared before the event. The blog topic should relate to your upcoming speech, booth or webinar including a link that will get the reader to sign up for the event.
- Send your blog post to the publication partnering with the show to include it in content promoting the show.
- Send an e-blast to targeted prospects with a link to your blog and a link to register; Research email lists that can be purchased from the organizer.
- In the “Events” section of your website, provide further details about your presentation (title, co-moderators, registration link, conference website, etc.) or your booth presence.
- Create social media posts with the help of an event hashtag by promoting your speeches and your booth and directing them to the registration link.
- Conduct paid social media activities.
During the event
Many participants bring different devices to an event: phone, tablet or laptop – an advantage to stay in contact with the audience, but an obstacle to get their attention.
- Create social media posts to use during the event:
- Use the event hashtag.
- Connect with influencers at the event.
- Put your event in a live stream.
- Develop articles specifically for targeted publications that will be distributed at the show.
- Share photos at the fair to share them on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram); Tag everyone who appears in the photos so their networks can see the pictures.
- Offer special competitions such as a selfie challenge in which participants have to recognize a specific logo.
- Incorporate games / sports into your booth with prizes for the best
- Include company / product specific news in every presentation including:
- Social media
- Information in top publications that can be found online
- Use event management software that allows you to collect data from visitors, manage event-related activities, and track the results of your event marketing activities.
After the event:
- Make a personal call or email with relevant leads:
- Ask trade show visitors if they’d like to set up a demo.
- Invite them to webinars to do a demo. Submit the link to the archived webinar.
- Keep sending out critical content to keep the conversation moving and leading the leads through the marketing funnel –
- Develop and plan a detailed plan for promotional activities before, during, and after the event – along with a plan to measure results to achieve that make the most of your event marketing budget.
These were a few ways you can manage your trade show budget. If you are still not convinced and are looking for a free trade show budget consultation, then feel free to get in touch with us.
All in all, selecting a reliable Las Vegas exhibit company is imperative so as to have a successful trade show appearance. Backed with more than three decades of extensive experience, Exponents Las Vegas is one of the most-trusted trade show exhibit design companies.