Maximize ROI at Your Next Trade Show with These Marketing Tips
When you need to get a service or product in front of thousands of individuals on a given day, trade show marketing is a good way to do it. However, when you take a look around at a trade show, you will see a number of other companies competing for everyone’s attention. To make sure that your trade show marketing efforts aren’t for nothing, here are a few tips that will help you draw in a crowd, help you attain your goals, and help you get the maximum ROI.
#1 – Design Matters
You literally only have a few seconds to capture someone’s attention at a trade show, so it is imperative that you capture their interest—and quickly. You need to make a solid first impression and provide them with a reason to visit your exhibit. From displays to lighting to seating, and the uniform of your staff, the design of your trade show exhibit needs to be function and visually appealing, consistent with the image of your brand, and speaks to your target audience. Logos need to be prominent and consistent, but they need to be naturally displayed, as you do not want to crowd the exhibit with excessive words; at the same time, though, you need to ensure that they know who you are.
#2 – Keep Your Materials Simple
If you’re handing any kind of literature like brochures, you will want to keep them as simple as possible—and eco-friendly, if you can. The smaller and less wordy that they can be, the better. No attendee of a trade show wants to carry around a bunch of flyers, brochures, etc. that have little to no value to them. If you feel like you need to offer literature, then make sure that you have an offer that includes a free whitepaper or eBook, digital coupon, or some kind of exclusive offer. By doing this, they will be more likely to hang on to whatever you give to them.
#3 – Consider Interactive Exhibits
You need to engage the attendees in a way that will be unforgettable. Provide them with something they can do that allows them to engage with your company brand, which can be something simple like a prize wheel or something more elaborate like a virtual reality experience or a hashtag mosaic.
#4 – Rely on Professionals for Engagement and Brand Messaging Communication
Your staff may be remarkable at what they do and they likely know everything there is to know about your brand and company, but it doesn’t mean that they will know what to do and how to work the crowd at the trade show. Even staffing companies, however, will be able to provide you with experienced, professional, and confident individuals who are familiar with the ins and outs of trade shows. These individuals can assist with the engagement and draw in leads if you provide them with the necessary training and tools that’ll set them up for success. Make sure to train the staff on your brand’s history, your goals, the messaging of your brand, FAQs, and your target audience so that the interactions appear sincere and authentic.
#5 – Avoid Limiting Yourself to Only the Exhibit Hall
The primary event will be held inside, but you have endless opportunities at your disposal outside the main exhibit hall. Because of this, you should seriously consider having a street team outside the convention center to try to catch attendees prior to entering the building and giving them a good reason to find and visit your booth before they get bombarded with everything else inside. Some ways to drive individuals to your booth is a contest, exclusive offer, or upgraded swag item.
#6 – Offer Something That’ll Get People to Hang Around
Once attendees are attracted to your trade show booth, you need to give them something that will make them want to hang around the booth. The longer that they hang around, the more opportunity that you have at your disposal to make a lasting impression with your brand. Plus, if other attendees see a crowd at your booth, they’ll be intrigued and come on over. Here are some ideas to keep attendees lingering for a bit:
- Comfortable seating with mobile charging stations, which will allow attendees to recharge their batteries—their own batteries as well as their phones. If your space doesn’t allow for seating, consider mobile charging towers.
- Laptop/iPad stations to permit attendees to check and respond to business e-mails.
- Interactive elements and/or activities and games.
- An interesting and informative video that’s related to the trade show and/or your brand.
- Cold beverages and healthy snacks (in a package for safety purposes).
#7 – Give [Usable] Freebies Away
Promotional items and/or swag are always great ideas, but if the actual items aren’t of quality, then it’s probably going to be thrown away or left in the hotel room as soon as possible. So, you will want to make sure that you get creative when thinking about these freebies and think about items that can actually be used by the attendees.
Things That Are Hot: Stainless steel water bottles, mobile device charges with multiple connectors, and umbrellas
Things Are Aren’t: Keychains, pens, and bulky items
Conclusion
If you only take one thing away from this article, take this: remember functionality, simplicity, and engagement are the three main things that you need to focus on when you begin strategizing and planning your upcoming trade show marketing campaign.
