The pandemic has led to many cancellations and postponements of fairs in all sectors. Prominent voices from trade fair events worldwide have presented their opinion on what shape they should adopt in this new era to remain attractive.
No matter the format 2021 trade shows will adopt, you need to prepare to make the most out of it.
What happened the last time you attended a trade show?
Did you get the results you expected? Did you get a list of potential clients with whom you could work your ROI? or did you feel that you lost the investment?
When we participate in a trade fair, we do so with high expectations and many times without a defined plan that includes attracting potential clients before, during, and after the fair.
And although trade fairs, conferences, and events are useful and valuable tools as far as lead generation is concerned, it is not enough if we do not follow it with a planned strategy.
For this reason, we want to share some considerations to follow when putting together your marketing strategies to attract quality customers.
5 KEY STRATEGIES THAT YOU SHOULD NOT STOP DOING WHEN YOU GO TO A TRADE FAIR
1. Set Your Goals:
Once you have signed up for a trade show, the next thing you should do immediately write up your specific goals for that event. When you have clear objectives, your opportunity to take advantage of the activities increases. Why? Because by having the defined route of what you want to achieve, identifying the moments is much easier.
Do not be afraid to quantify your objectives, determine the number of potential clients you would like to capture, and work on it.
2. Use technology to your advantage:
During the exhibition at the stand, people often come in search of information of interest. This is the moment where you should seek contact and personalization of attention.
Something significant is taking the person’s data such as their name, email, telephone, room address, and, of course, their social networks.
Use the tools you have to generate the approach, for example, offer a prize or a virtual gift.
The objective is to register your potential clients, so the right idea is to use technology to your advantage. How? Use a tablet or laptop to collect data quickly and in an organized way.
3. Take advantage of social networks:
They are a compelling means of connection. Share each of the activities you promote at the stand, invite users to participate through interactive posts, such as surveys, contests, trivia, among others.
Doing these types of activities creates a connection with the audience and gives your followers the feeling of being there with you, so based on this, we recommend:
• Use the hashtags of the event to position and reference your publications.
• Upload photos of the event continuously so you can inform your followers about the activities in progress.
• Make live videos.
4. Join a panel of experts:
If those attending the event consider you one of the authorities, rest assured that they will seek to follow you. One of the easiest ways to obtain or project that authority is to join a panel during the event and highlight commercial achievements either in the press or in technical sheets.
5. Make a plan for your potential clients:
Perhaps you can make one or another hot sale during the fair trade days. But surely the largest number of potential customers will be cold. For this reason, making plans to address each of them is a smart strategy. To improve processes, lean on marketing automation tools.
These recommendations that we give you will maximize this powerful means of lead generation, such as trade shows.
Remember to include strategies for before, during, and after the event in your planning. Many of the potential clients you will get will be cold, but you can get the expected results with a useful marketing application.
