Trade shows can provide companies with a 500% ROI, according to a recent survey. That said, it’s only effective with the right preparation and trade show planning guide.
In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits of going to trade shows and the steps to prepare for a conference.
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Learn how to create a seamless buyer journey — from discovery at a trade show event to creating loyal brand advocates.
What is a trade show?
A trade show is an event where business leaders, decision-makers, and industry fanatics gather to discuss their specific industry trends and create networking opportunities.
Each year, there are over 13,000 trade shows hosted in the United States alone. While it’s tempting to go to every single trade show, it’s important to be critical of which events you decide to attend.
What are the benefits of going to trade shows?
As mentioned earlier, trade shows offer an exciting opportunity to network within your industry. This means that the leads generated from these events can be of higher quality than cold outreach.
75% of consumers are more likely to invest in a solution after seeing it at a trade show. Translation? Conversations facilitated within a trade show ultimately lead to sales — hence why the average American business plans to attend 7.8 international conferences a year.
Other benefits include:
Increasing brand awareness
Conducting competitive research
Fostering brand loyalty
Performing market research
Educating your team members
Now that you know why attending trade show events is important, let’s dive into how you can prepare for a trade show event.
How to Prepare for a Trade Show
Generally speaking, here are the 8 steps to preparing for a trade show event:
- Set clear goals and expectations
- Do your research
- Define your budget
- Select your team
- Design your booth
- Promote the event
- Actively participate
- Follow up on leads
1. Set clear goals and expectations
Like any project, your first step is to define your goals and expectations when it comes to attending trade show events.
A trade show’s overall goal is usually one of three things: lead generation, brand awareness, or customer loyalty.
From there, make sure you transform your objective into a SMART goal. For a goal to be SMART, it must be:
Here are some examples of trade show event SMART goals:
- 1 month after the event, we’ll set 30 appointments for the sales team
- By the end of the event, we’ll gather 300 new MQLs to follow up on
- A week after the event, our landing page views will increase by 20%
2. Do your research
Next, find the perfect trade show to help meet your goals. Generally speaking, we recommend giving yourself an 8-week lead time so your team can properly prepare for the event.
As mentioned earlier, there are many trade shows to pick from. Try selecting trade shows where you can meet your prospects and find your competitors.
Did you know that more than 80% of trade show attendees have purchasing power within their organizations? Compared to a cold caller trying to reach a decision-maker, you’ll have a much higher chance of speaking to a company influencer during the event.
Side note: it may be tempting to skip out on smaller-scaled events; however, we don’t recommend discounting them. While these events tend to bring in fewer people overall, they bring in more targeted businesses. Plus, you’ll have less competition overall — meaning more time to speak with your prospects.
3. Define your budget
After selecting which trade show event you want to attend, it’s time to set your budget.
What should you factor into your trade show budget? Well, according to Trade Show + Event Marketing, here’s a typical cost breakdown:
After determining what your budget looks like, you can determine how many people you can afford to send to represent your brand.
4. Select your team
Who are you going to send over? This is when we remind you to remember what your goals are.
If it’s to promote a product launch, you might want to send someone with technical expertise. That way, they can help answer more complex questions on your behalf while showcasing their expertise.
If it’s lead generation, you might want to send your best salespeople. People in sales tend to understand the value of building relationships over starting random conversations. They’re also trained in the sales discovery process, so they can listen to pain points and position your solution accordingly.
Regardless of role, you need to find people who can set the best first impression and act as the face of your brand. This means you’ll want to find someone who is:
- Personable
- Sociable
- Approachable
- Assertive
- Knowledgeable
Many businesses are tempted to only send their rookies to a trade show event. Instead, we recommend sending someone who is extremely familiar with your solution. After all, these people will need to know how to respond to common objections — so you need to have someone there who is comfortable fielding questions and giving accurate answers to your prospects.
5. Design your booth
Now comes the fun (but tricky) part: designing your booth. You want to stand out from your competition, yet stay true to your branding.
Before you start sketching designs, you need to answer the following questions:
- Who is going to be at your event?
- How many people may stop by your booth?
- How big is your booth?
- How are you going to draw people into your booth?
- Where is your booth going to be located?
Just like real estate, trade show events are all about location, location, location. Booths that are in front of points of interest — such as entrances, restrooms, and coffee shops — tend to have high traffic. High traffic means more conversations, and ultimately, more interest in your solution.
Start by designing banners, tablecloths, and anything else that will cover your rental booth. Your design should be simple, cohesive, yet eye-catching; it should draw people in, and your team should make the prospects stay to listen to their pitch.
Then, think about an interactive feature that will garner more interest. Studies show that more than half of trade show attendees are attracted to booths that offer giveaways or swag. Some common examples of interactive features include:
A photo booth
A refreshment station
A quiz game
A prize wheel
If you need help creating branded materials, consider partnering with our Visual Designers. We specialize in creating eye-catching and intuitive designs — fit for any print medium and digital channel.
6. Promote the event
After blueprinting your booth’s layout, it’s time to create marketing material to help you achieve your goals — such as brochures and business cards. These content pieces will make a long-lasting impression on your prospects — so make sure you’re following sales collateral best practices.
You also need to create an email marketing series that promotes your trade show appearance. Start by finding the right prospects to promote this trade show to. If you’re struggling to find the right people to email, let our Data Technicians handle it; they can find and verify contact information to help get you started. Visit our B2B Data Services page to learn more.
From there, your marketing team will need to create a cohesive email series that promotes both your solution and your presence at the trade show event. Make sure you allow your prospects to book an appointment with you to speak with you at the event.
Lead Generation Tip:
If your goal is to generate leads during the event, your digital marketers and web developers need to create a designated landing page and lead capture form. That way, you’ll be able to seamlessly collect contact information during the event — allowing for easy follow-up later on.
7. Actively participate
It’s event day! Make sure your team members are trained on trade show event etiquette, such as manning your booth at all times and tips on how to seem more approachable.
On the day of the event, make sure you:
- Bring plenty of marketing material (such as branded swag, brochures, and business cards)
- Bring at least one lead capture device (such as a tablet or a computer)
- Bring your interactive feature that’ll draw people in
- Have a way to collect business cards
- Go over common objections and responses with your team
Remember to have fun! Your goal is to try to make as many connections as possible. Don’t worry too much about the “quality” of the conversations just yet, as you can determine that later in the follow-up.
8. Follow up on leads
Immediately after the trade show event, start planning on how you can start following up on these trade show leads.
We previously wrote a blog post on “Following Up on Trade Show Leads Through Sales and Marketing”. There, you’ll gain insight into how to use both your sales and marketing teams to circle back with your trade show leads effectively that’ll ultimately lead to sales.
Download the Ultimate Guide to the B2B Buyer’s Journey
Learn how to create a seamless buyer journey — from discovery at a trade show event to creating loyal brand advocates.
Drive more sales with a proven trade show marketing strategy
Attending trade shows is a great way to generate leads, boost brand awareness, and even foster brand loyalty. But to do so, you’ll need to prepare for the trade show properly.
The eight steps to preparing for the trade show are:
- Set clear goals and expectations
- Do your research
- Define your budget
- Select your team
- Design your booth
- Promote the event
- Actively participate
- Follow up on leads
If you need help designing your trade show event booth and promotional material, consider partnering with EBQ’s full-service marketing agency. At one flat retainer fee, you can partner with our Web Developers, Content Writers, Visual Designers, and Digital Marketers to create your trade show marketing literature. Visit our marketing services page to learn more.
Good luck!
