Integrating social media tools and online marketing extend your trade show presence far beyond the event itself. As an added benefit for these shaky economic times – their low cost help boost your overall trade show ROI.
Trade Shows – Relationship Marketing in Action
The B2B world is a perfect match for social media marketing. Why? Because both are all about building and nurturing relationships for long-term, ongoing loyalty. It’s not a quick-sell mentality. Trade shows give you the chance to meet your prospects and current clients face to face.
But don’t wait until the show and just see whoever turns up. Use these tips to generate pre-show interest in your company and pull prospects to your booth during the show. Then continue your marketing after the event with a clear follow-up plan.
Spark Interest with Pre-Show Marketing
1| Your Website is the place to begin your online campaign
Set up a dedicated section or page on your website with your yearly trade show calendar. Then 3-4 months before each show, add these specific details:
- Dates and time of show
- Event location with simple directions to get there
- Map of the floor plan with your hall, booth number and location clearly highlighted
- A coupon to download and redeem at your booth (more on give-away premiums in a minute)
- A sign-up form so visitors can pre-schedule an appointment during the show
- Offer your current clients free admission tickets to the show
- Link to trade show sponsor’s website
If you attended the same trade show the year before, add pictures of that event to remind past visitors – or give a first impression for newcomers – of what people can expect this year. Make it personal. Be enthusiastic. Get people interested to come to the show.
The huge numbers of trade show exhibitors can be overwhelming. Anything you can do to help visitors find you and have a reason to stop by will increase your chances of bringing in high quality leads.
2| Use Email for a low-cost delivery system to generate excitement about the show
Send out a series of 3 to 4 emails to your house list and to specific prospects you would like to invite to your booth. Generate excitement about the show. Let people know what you’re planning. Are you launching a new product? Can they see a special demonstration? Include a link back to your website trade show page so they find more detailed information.
If you have a regular e-newsletter, build interest with news on what you’re planning for this show. Don’t only focus on your products but talk about the speakers or other workshops that will be held to give a balanced picture of what they might learn. Give away some valuable information your prospects are looking for. Show how you can be a solution to a problem they’re facing.
3| Publish on the sponsor’s e-newsletter if possible
Many trade shows now publish their own e-newsletters and would welcome publishing fresh, useful content for their readers. Offering to write an article on a particular topic lets people see you as an industry leader. Remember this is not a sales promo for your company but helpful content for readers.
Do you know about specific environmentally sound practices for example? Can you talk about the need to use eco-friendly coatings on fabrics? Are you on top of industry trends? Of course you tie the article to your company, but only at the end with a link back to your own website.
4| Online Press Releases Put the Spotlight on Your Company
Use an online press release service for an easy way to get newsworthy information out about your company. The more you give the story a unique human-interest angle, the more likely it will be picked up by TV, radio, print or online publications. Adding an audio or video clip extends your reach to viewers and to reporters both on and offline. Be sure to optimize for keywords in your release and give a link back to your webpage.
5| Online Advertising With a Twist
This excellent idea comes from Mr. Eddie Choi, Managing Director of Frontiers Digital Asia in Hong Kong.
To get the most out of your advertising budget, you’ll want to convert more passive online viewers into leads for your business.
He suggests placing an ad on the EXIT page of the sponsors website, which is usually the registration page. It may be better if your ad comes up after the viewer hits the submit button. Or you might want to place it on the thank you page sent out to new registrants.
Be sure the ad links to your website trade show page, not your home page. You want to reinforce the immediate connection to your specific trade show information – your booth number and so on.
Offer a free sample or a relevant free white paper if the viewer clicks a “yes” button giving you permission to receive their contact information from the event organizer.
Don’t Stop Now - Continue At The Event
6| Make your blog do double time to keep up the buzz
Not all your clients will be able to attend the show. Even short daily posts on news of events, speakers or workshops you attended give your readers a feeling of being there. Let everyone know who won your prizes or contests with a bit of free publicity on the winners.
7| Podcasts
Set up interviews with event sponsors, speakers or presenters of mini workshops. Post these on your blog or website.
8| Videocasts
The small Flip USB video camera is an easy way to shoot video clips of the event you can then upload to your website and blog. Again the idea is to create an atmosphere of giving prospects and clients who couldn’t attend a feeling of being at the event.
If you’re launching a new product, for example, you’re going to be excited about it. Let your enthusiasm extend past the walls of the conference hall and build the buzz for those people to find out more about your new line.
9| Get the Most Out Of Your Free Give-Aways or Prize Drawings
We all love a bit of fun and a chance to win a prize. The key is to make the prize, contest, or quiz connected to your products. What can you choose to attract attention and be a useable item after the show is over?
What’s your unique selling position – green? Tons of promotional items for that market. Do you sell fabrics? Get creative. Screen print your name and contact info on a simple carry bag, then sew a fabric sample swatch on each bag. A USB flash drive imprinted with your logo and pre downloaded with your catalog and company information is another idea.
Be sure you are qualifying your leads. Have different levels of premiums. Something simple and inexpensive for booth visitors, while saving the higher valued premiums for your top leads. Make sure you are at least getting their business card in exchange for their gift. Better still is filling out a more comprehensive lead contact form as you speak with individual visitors.
A prize drawing always gets a lot of attention. Of course this depends on your situation. You may not want flocks of visitors only looking for a freebie swarming your booth. So perhaps only pre-qualified leads get a chance at the drawing. Ideas are a digital camera, an iPod, iPhone, or one of your own products. Think about holding a prize drawing each afternoon instead of only at the end of the show. Publicize the time of the drawing to boost attendance.
The point for this article is to tie the give-away or contest with a coupon to your website trade show page, your email campaign or any direct response offline mailings you send. Offer the premium or chance at a drawing if visitors exchange the coupon at the show.
The Show is Over But You’re Not Done Yet
10| Follow Up. Follow Up. Follow Up.
Don’t come back to the office and wait for all those people you talked with to start calling! Your work is not over yet.
Send follow up emails to all your contacts. Make the letter more personalized according to the quality of the lead. If you have an enewsletter – a very good idea by the way – invite them to sign up.
You get them to your website by offering a free report, an audio podcast, or video demo. Make sure you capture their name and email in exchange for your offer by having them sign in. On your website trade show page, give a report of the show, add photos, list the prize winners, and thank visitors for stopping by your booth.
Of course if you have a blog or e-newsletter all that can easily be added to your post-show content.
Think Long-Term
Any way you can hook visitors into your system for long-term lead nurturing is important. Especially in this economy.
Buyers will be weighing many factors before they make final purchase decisions. Some will take action at the show, but many more need to be pulled into your sales funnel and nurtured over a longer period of time.
These social media tools are a low cost way to maintain contact and let prospects get to know you … to help them decide you are the company they will commit to working with for years to come.
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