Marketing Campaign

Before you start developing the marketing collateral, signage, and other brand materials, you must determine the theme for the show. The purpose of the theme is to help the attendees quickly understand what makes you different and why they should buy from you. Everything you create, from signage, web site, pre-show postcards, booth attire, giveaways, literature, advertising, and post-show emails, should consistently reflect this theme. A creative, well-defined theme that makes an impact and creates curiosity will help you stand out in the crowd of exhibitors.

Pre-show E-mail Marketing

Get the word out to your customers and prospects that you’ll be exhibiting. Create an email campaign promoting your booth number and some kind of giveaway you’ll have at the booth to entice customers to stop by.

Post Card/Personal Invite to Key Prospects

Sending a postcard to thousands of attendees can get very costly and if it really offers no true incentive, may get lost in the shuffle.  Consider creating a post card to mail just to your key prospects. This post card should invite them to bring this postcard to your booth to receive a very special gift. Make sure you PUT THE VALUE ON IT!  Would you pay $25.00 or $50.00 to have a key prospect come to your booth!  ABSOLUTELY!  Have your sales staff follow up with these key prospects via phone or e-mail a few days before the conference with a personal invite to stop by.  Making people feel special and not one of the masses goes a long way!

During the show

Develop a strategy that makes your organization’s booth stand out from the others. This is probably the most important stage as you have the opportunity to directly reach thousands of people per day. Remember, many people did not receive your pre-show information.

If you can get just a few people to gather round, the small crowd will naturally attract more people until you’ve got a decent audience. Once the people are in your booth, it’s up to you to deliver the message and capture their information for lead generation!

After-show

Follow up with your leads within two weeks of the tradeshow ending. An email including highlights from your company’s success during the show (along with some product/service brochures if requested) is a great way to continue the conversation you had with a prospect. For solid leads, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call them, thanking them for stopping by.

It is important that you implement a marketing campaign to help your conference become a success.  Make sure this is a key focus on your next event!