If you’re attending a marketing event, the work can begin
well before the event and isn’t finished when the trade show exhibits are
packed away. Follow these tips for beforehand and afterwards and you can help
ensure that you have a successful trade show, whether you’re a complete newbie
or a veteran marketer.
Make Sure Your
Display Is Being Shipped To The Correct Place
Having your trade show exhibits shipped to the right
location is vital. If any of the
shipping details are incorrect, such as the zip code or city, or even which
hall at the convention center, you could be stuck at the event without your
trade show exhibits. Additionally, check that your company’s name or booth location
is clearly labeled on the boxes so that the staff knows exactly where it should
be placed for installation.
It’s also a good idea to make sure that your company’s name
is clearly labeled on the inside of each box or shipping crate. These crates can sometimes become damaged in
transit and it could be a disaster if the container is damaged and no one knows
where the contents belong.
Think About What You
Want To Accomplish With Your Trade Show Exhibits
Make sure that you understand what you want to get out of
the expo. Many businesses set vague goals — that is, if they set any at
all. If your goals are something like
“capture more leads,” sit down and think about what this really means. How many leads to you want to capture? Do you want to get 10? Or is 200 a more reasonable number? Also consider the strength of the leads. It’s not enough to capture leads without
qualifying them first. A cold lead is as
good as no lead so make sure that your leads actually have a reason or a need
for your company before you spend hours following up once you get back into the
office.
Make Good On Your
Promises
If you’ve promised to send an attendee information about
your company, make sure that you actually do it once the event is over and the
trade show exhibits are packed away. If
you promise to send something and don’t actually do it, many customers will
assume you don’t want their business and will move on to your competitor.
Even if you didn’t promise information, you should still
follow up with people you met at your trade show booth. If someone filled out a lead card, but it
didn’t seem like they were a hot lead, make sure that you call to check in
every once in a while. They were interested
enough to visit your booth at the event so it’s possible that their needs could
change in the future. Take care to not seem over-aggressive, however, since
aggressive tactics can turn customers away.
While these tips aren’t complicated, they are extremely
important if you want to maximize sales from a trade show marketing event. Use these, but realize that they’re not the
only things you should be doing. Sit
down with your staff and see if you can come up with other tasks that can help
ensure your event is a success.
