Today, we’ll talk about how to generate leads at a trade show. A trade show is an event that is held to bring members of a particular industry together to display, demonstrate, and discuss their latest products and services. Major trade shows usually take place in convention centers in larger cities and last for several days. Local trade shows may be held at a local arena or hotel and allow businesses in the area to connect with prospects.
What Happens at Trade Shows:
Trade shows often provide:
- Exhibit space
- Workshops or presentations
- Opportunities to interact with the media
- Evening networking events
- Private exhibitor events
- Awards presentations
Exhibitors participate hoping to connect with potential new customers, build relationships with dealers and distributors, and network with influencers, customers, and the media. Attendees come to trade shows to get to know the latest products being introduced, to take advantage of special “show prices” from exhibitors, and to become better educated about their industry.
How to generate leads at trade shows:
- Pre-plan the Event
- Promote the Trade Show
- Send the Right People
- Lead Scanners Which Will Provide Next-Gen Networking and Lead Generation
- Set up a Booth
- Giveaways & Offers
- Leaflets/Flyers
- Press release/conferences/interviews
Pre-plan the Event:
Always pre-plan your event way ahead of its execution time. Pre-planning includes, booking a venue, fixing timings, promoting, and organizing. The show totally depends on your pre-planning, it helps set a vision for your business.
Promote the Trade Show:
Promoting the show will bring your event the highlight. It will help reach out to the audience. The more promotions you do, the better. Promoting the event will let the people know that you will be there. Here are a few tips on how you can promote the event:
- Update your website to let your site visitors know about the trade show you’re attending. You can maintain an events page like this or do a blog post about the show. Post your booth number. Mention any pre or post-show events you’ll be attending. If you’re doing a giveaway at the show, highlight it.
- Monitor blogs and social media for mentions of the show. Search Twitter and Google for the name of the show. Set up Google Alerts to be notified when the event gets mentioned online. Reach out to the people who are talking about it.
- Email newsletter, and do a profile of the event. Get readers interested. Encourage people to meet you there.
- A direct mail campaign targeted at current prospects and customers can be another effective way to get more inquiries and traffic to your booth. A simple postcard is all you need.
- Re-engage with people you’ve met at previous events. Give them a call or send them a quick email. Find out if they’ll be at your upcoming trade show.
Send the Right People:
Send the right people to the event. Figure out which employees are a perfect fit for the show and do a background check on them so that they can give out the feedback you need. Suppose, if you send your company’s salesperson then they will bring back leads needed for your company and can help talk about your brand to the prospects at the event.
Salespersons can randomly walk towards a targeted prospect and talk to them about the product/services and bring them back as potential customers or leads. So, always send the right people to these events to generate leads.
Lead Scanners Which Will Provide Next-Gen Networking and Lead Generation:
Install lead scanners at the booths. The lead scanner is one useful and simple piece of tech. It’s a method of data collection that helps salespeople collect and store simple data about the people they talk with. The lead scanner comes in the form of a phone app. You scan the QR codes on attendee registration badges. With the app installed, you can quickly capture an attendee’s:
Name
Contact information
Company name
Job title
There’s no need to collect and keep track of business cards. All the info is stored right on your phone and can even be exported directly to an address book or email database.
Set up a Booth:
You will need to set up a booth to showcase your brand’s image. Your leads will be directed towards that booth to scrap out information. You will be able to display the benefits of your product/service there. Here are a few tips on how to communicate through booths:
- Greet your visitor.
- Politely ask to scan the visitor’s badge.
- Ask qualifying questions.
- Politely disengage from unqualified suspects.
- Demonstrate your product to qualified prospects.
- Get a commitment to take an appointment, call, or other follow-up communication.
Communicate and try to know the motive of the visitor’s visit to the show. What brought them there, what are they looking for, which type of products do they want and where can they find them? Break the ice by talking and building a bond with the prospect for future sales.
Giveaways & Offers:
Trade shows are famous for discounts, offers, and giveaways. Try to make a few offers and giveaways at your stall/booth. This strategy will draw prospects to your booth. People love free goodies and discounts! They buy things that have a few bucks off or at a discounted price as it is profitable to them. Giveaways are the eye-catching point of a brand.
If you’re a new brand in the market, giveaways are your best weapon. People get to use your product for free and understand the usages and benefits which will make them purchase from you after using the free sample. So, it will be profitable for your business in the long run.
Leaflets/Flyers:
Distribute leaflets/flyers to everyone coming to the trade show. Uphold your brand’s image on that page and let the people know about your business. Put all the essential details into that leaflet/flyer.
Put your contact details as well so that prospects can contact you for buying and visiting. Design the outlook of the leaflet/flyer in such a way that will help attract prospects. It is a very cost-effective method of promoting your business and is also useful.
Press release/conferences/interviews:
Utilize the media. Get involved with it. Arrange a press release to talk about your participation at the trade show, talk about the offers that are going to be there, and the benefits of your products.
Arrange interviews with the influencers and get them to talk about your product and recommend it to people. Attend conferences and seminars regarding the trade show and let others know about your business. This will help draw prospects to your business and your company’s booth.
What to do after the show:
By now we assume that your show has been successful by following the tips and advice given by us above. We are guessing that you have already generated lots of leads which will be sufficient for your business as we’ve shared our knowledge on how you can generate leads at trade shows.
We suggest that you reach out to them after the show and talk to them if they would like to purchase the goods which they have seen or were interested in your stall/booth at the trade show. Follow up with them and cross out the uninterested prospects. We suggest you narrow down your search from the lead database and target to turn the interested prospects into customers.
Conclusion:
However, we have discussed above how to generate leads at trade shows. We hope it was useful and helpful to you. Thank you for reading and being with us. Good Luck!
We have talked about how to generate leads at a trade show here in this article, we have also written an article about “How To Get Real Estate Leads From Craigslist,” You might want to check that out too!
