Trade shows are one of the best existing options in Business to Business marketing, to get in touch with customers, make your business known, generate brand recognition and, in general, to develop any strategy you have in mind.
One of the organizations concerns is to generate sales at all levels. This type of exhibition space for products or services, are ideal to boost commercial areas to generate sales opportunities among specialized audiences and brand recognition or positioning.
Hence, in this content we present some recommendations so that your company can attract and retain more customers in your next trade show:
Prioritize the objectives and means to achieve it
There is no success without specific objectives. From the beginning, it is imperative to find out why the event takes places and what it is for. Thence the strategy that will lead to convert simple visitors into leads. Be able to identify the moment your business is going through and aim your darts with certainty to meet potential customers, generate a database or definitely sell products or services. Depending on your objectives, implement a strategy, do not allow your ideas to be a shot in the dark.
Structure a pre-event promotion campaign
Promoting a niche fair is the first contact to generate leads and arouse their interest to become customers. Imagination is all that is needed, because technology helps you advertise at low cost and even for free, thanks to publications on social networks, or through mailing campaigns. Through these posts, you can deliver information about the event, the benefits that attendees could receive by attending and keep in mind that a gift, however small, can be a great hook to break the ice. Another good idea is to create a dinner or cocktail party with potential clients, to share your project with them in an intimate way.
Create a flashy pre-presentation campaign
Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi do not save their goals to score them only during the finals! You also should not hold anything back, so avoid promoting and executing your best strategies at the last minute. Here it is recommended to start deploying your campaign at least a month before the fair is held, in order to raise awareness and expectation among attendees, as well as generating traffic to your company’s stand on the day of the event. Remember this campaign must be exhaustive and combining various channels: social networks, Internet advertising and even in specialized print media.
Prepare a powerful speech
Your company’s presentation at the fair must have components to be agile, but forceful. The idea that you must deliver is credibility, to generate tranquility in the spectators. With that image of leadership and knowledge you can already have the confidence of your interlocutors to establish bridges that lead you to close deals and proposals. Of course, to get to this point you must build a solid pitch, which may take a while, so be aware of doing it in advance. Remember that you may consider an elevator pitch, which condenses all the information you want to convey.
Make a difference with an innovative stand
Your products should be the focus of the stand, because they themselves will be in charge of attracting public, so that you can fish for new leads. A jovial design, with striking colors and built with ecological materials, for example, can be the beginning of a marathon of sales, since the public is moved by causes. If you have a privileged location inside the room (those with more traffic), you can make brand activations, talks and activities that add value to your stand. Do avoid, keeping the attendees for too long, so they can circulate freely and do not think about the difficulties and discomforts of being in your space.
Live promotional material works very well
Consider creating virtual promotion content during the event to nurture clients and find potential candidates. Social networks will be your main ally, and you will only have to take full advantage of tools such as Facebook Live or LinkedIn Live to show the highlights of the event in real time. Do not rule out other options such as attracting public to talk with them and establish a closer relationship with drinks, some food, gifts with objects marked with your company’s logos, among others.
Collect data to build your bases
Of course, the ideal is that you have a data collection tool to capture potential customers and directly connect this information from your stand to a CRM. If you don’t have this tool, be creative! Collect this information from prospects on a Tablet, a QR code reader, or even have a sheet for attendees to confirm their data, it is another elementary way to grow your database.
You have already fought a lot for your Leads, don’t forget them
Constantly keep track of the prospects you located. This means that you will often be able to enter new contacts in your CRM, contact them to request permission to add them to your list and contact them via email or phone. Be aware that many of the people who come into contact with companies at a fair do not receive constant monitoring, which is an open opportunity for you to do so and break ground.
Synthesizing: trade shows are an optimal way to generate leads and increase sales, but you must keep in mind that you must combine cunning and intuition to conquer them at a fair. Be strategic and assume that this is only one step to create links, but it is up to you to do an important follow up after the event is closed. With your speech and intelligence, you can persuade the public to acquire products or services with you, everything is in your hands and in the implementation of a strategy with clear objectives.
If you are considering being part of a trade shows as a sponsor, count on us, contact us as we are here to support you.