Trade shows stand as both exciting opportunities and significant investments for businesses of all sizes. Your success at these events is not solely determined by your booth’s aesthetics or the brochures you distribute. Success lies in your ability to capture the attention and engagement of potential leads. These events are where innovation meets competition, and crafting a winning strategy can set your company apart from the rest. In this blog, we’re going to talk about how to get leads at a trade show. I’m going to share a handful of ways for you to get creative and really dazzle those prospects.
1. The Power of a Compelling Hook
First, ask yourself, “Why should people stop at my booth?” or, “What would make me stop at a booth?”. Signage and friendly faces are the bare minimum, but you’re going to want to take it a step further.
Innovative Pre-Event Marketing
If you’ve been to a trade show, think about how many “come see us” emails you received prior to the event – hundreds, I’m sure. If everyone attending the event is getting the same email with a different company’s logo slapped on it, odds are it won’t get looked at.
Instead, you could try sending out a video email to connect with those prospects human to human. You could include an incentive like having freebies or throw in some humor by telling them they can get their picture taken with a cardboard cutout. During your pre-event marketing, you can also talk about what traffic builder you’ve got planned. This could be something like a small gift or even partnering with a charity that resonates with your company values. You could say that for every business card dropped in the bucket, you will make a donation to that charity.
Between bribery with gifts, slipping in some humor, or tugging at their heartstrings, you’re bound to attract more traffic than the next booth over who only sent out that email full of marketing jargon.
2. Unique Traffic Builders
Now that we’ve touched on a couple of traffic builders, I want to share even more ways to stand out. Everyone has pens and stress balls, but you have something different that draws attention to your booth.
Exclusive Book Signings
If the trade show is tied to a conference with a keynote speaker and the event did not purchase books from that speaker, can that be you? If you’re able to, you could ask the speaker to stop by and do a small book signing at your booth. Speaking from experience (ha, get it?), as long as it doesn’t involve staying another day, I’m usually happy to do this!
Insider tip: If that book is self-published and you purchase a high enough quantity (probably 100), that speaker can do a custom run of the book with your logo on the cover or even an extra page inside as a greeting from your company. All you have to do is ask!
Photo Opportunities
As I touched on earlier, you could get a cardboard cutout of a celebrity or even stir up some local rivalry with sports teams. Challenge attendees to take photos with your props for their favorite team and drop their cards in a bucket. A card will then be pulled from the winning team’s bucket and the winner gets tickets to a game. It doesn’t have to be sports-related, but by having your prospects participate, you’ll attract attention.
Signature Drinks and Unique Desserts
If you really want to stand out, you could work with the event planner for the trade show. Find out if they are serving drinks or food and ask if you can pay a little extra to serve a signature drink or special dessert at your booth as a traffic builder. You could have a fancy coffee bar or specific treat that’s only available at your booth. You’d be surprised at how many people are motivated by food.
3. Engaging with Passersby
So, we’ve covered how to hook people prior to the trade show, and we’ve talked about what you can do at the event to get prospects to come over from across the room. Now, let’s talk about how to capture the attention of the easy-peasy lemon squeezy ones – people passing by.
Charitable Incentives
Remember when you did your pre-event marketing, and you teased your sports rivals for charity traffic builder? Now that we’re at the event, make sure those who missed your email or social media post have a chance to participate. Have a sign that explains how to be involved or stop and ask people if you could scan their badge in exchange for a charitable donation and a chance to win something fun.
Chocolates with a Twist
If you decide to go the free chocolate route, make sure to put a spin on the ordinary Dove chocolates. You could have specific colors for sports rivals or challenge people to answer a trivia question in exchange for chocolate. One of the best examples I’ve seen of this is someone having chocolate from all over the world!
Smile!
I know it goes without saying, but please remember to stay off your phone. Be present so that you’re free to greet everyone even with a simple, “Hello!”. But remember, not to pounce on people either. Don’t you hate when you go into a store, and you get swarmed by sales staff? Don’t be that person.
Now that you have some ideas of how to get leads at a trade show, it’s time to implement them! By thinking outside the box, you can make the most of your experience and significantly increase your chances of generating valuable leads. Remember that creativity, personalization, and genuine connection with attendees will set you apart and ensure a successful return on investment for your business event endeavors.
Want to read about free ways to market your business? Check out this blog!
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