Tips for Generating Quality Leads from Events and Tradeshows
Tips for Generating Quality Leads from Events and Tradeshows
Exhibiting at events and tradeshows can put your products and services in front of hundreds of potential customers. Catching the attention of a crowd is one thing but taking details and creating quality leads is another. Here are some top tips for generating quality leads from events and tradeshows.
As experienced exhibition stand creators, we at Smart Display know how to make an impact at events and tradeshows. We have posted many guides on our blog to help exhibitors; from how to make the most of trade shows and events to tips for using modular exhibition stands.
Find out more about Smart Display. >
Tips for Generating Quality Leads from Events and Tradeshows
When at an event or trade show you are likely to meet many new people and potentially even get their contact details, however, you don’t want just any leads. Quality leads are ones with the most potential and likely future customers.
Plan!
Key to any successful marketing campaign or tradeshow is planning. From ensuring your team is trained and prepared to answer any number of questions, to packing product samples to adorn your exhibition stand, everything must be prepared.
Planning for an event or tradeshow can be overwhelming at first, but using our exhibition checklist, you will be prepared. Break each component down, from stand to team, and think through the requirements of each. You will be glad you put the effort into planning once the excitement of the event or tradeshow starts!
See more: A Handy Guide for Tradeshows and Events.
Significant for generating quality leads is ensuring you know your target market well. Perform research before the event/tradeshow to find out more about your customers, their jobs, interests, and sectors. This way, you know what questions to ask, which offers to promote and how you should present your brand.
Grab Attention
With hundreds of other brands in a huge exhibition centre, standing out is not easy. Luckily, with the right stand and enthusiastic team, your brand will attract the crowds.
Consider how your stand can not only attract people, but specifically people interested in your products or services, generating coveted quality leads. Events and trade shows are often themed, or industry orientated, so visitors are likely to already be interested or involved in your sector, but it’s still important to have a showstopping exhibition stand!
Make sure your products and services are clear and that your brand is obvious, then you can get inventive. Exhibition stands are a great chance to get creative and find innovative ways to engage audiences. Get inspired with interactive exhibition stand ideas to skyrocket engagement.
Make sure your team are active, in their branded shirts, talking to visitors all across the event or tradeshow. If none of your team leave the stand, you will reach far less people and visitors will simply pass you by.
Engage Customers
Once you have someone at your stand, displaying interest in your products/services, you need to engage them, otherwise they will leave. Whether you have approachable staff giving out information, interactive data presentations or even product samples, ensure visitors to your stand want to stay.
Have your team practice delivering the ultimate elevator pitch to potential leads. The 30 seconds to 2 minutes in which the pitch takes place will be long and informative enough for the visitor to know if they are interested in your offering. If they are, then good! You can get details and you have a strong, quality lead.
Remember: conversation with potential customers shouldn’t be too ‘salesy’, organic conversation and lots of questions will create genuine interest. If you are new to event marketing or would like to up your game for increased quality leads, check out our guide to event marketing for more helpful tips.
Get Details
Getting details is crucial to generating quality leads, else you have no way of contacting them or promoting marketing material!
At events and tradeshows, it is incredibly common to collect emails to then send further information or deals to. Get details through offering a special deal, getting sign ups to a mailing list, or even incentivising ‘liking’ your brand on social media.
Business cards are also very useful and are ideal to get from visitors who are keen about your products/services as they often include a phone number too. When talking to someone who expresses strong interest, make notes and exchange details. This way, when you contact them with marketing material or specific deals, you can make the correspondence personal.
Follow Up
Following up is crucial to maintaining quality leads otherwise you risk losing them. Within a few days of the event or tradeshow, send out a blanket email to all the leads you received and ensure they don’t forget about you.
If there were particularly notable leads, don’t be afraid to give them a call or more personal email. They gave you their details for a reason – don’t neglect them!
Review
After an event or tradeshow, review your success. Look at aspects that worked well and led to interest and assess areas for improvement. Talk to your team and find out what they enjoyed and led to getting details.
Assessing the leads you generated, in both quality and quantity, is an important part of the review section. If they aren’t high quality resulting in sales or contracts, consider adjusting your elevator pitch so your services are clearer. If you don’t have many leads, look to improve your engagement strategy and incorporate more interactive aspects to your exhibition stand.
Once you’ve reviewed your previous exhibiting experiences, you can start planning the next!
Get Started with Smart Display
Whether you are exhibiting for the 1st time or the 100th, Smart Display are on hand to help you navigate the world of events and tradeshows. From designing and crafting striking exhibition stands, to managing logistics to take the hassle away from you, our experienced team can do it all.
Our professional bespoke exhibition stands will ensure you attract, engage and excite visitors, and most importantly, generate quality leads.
Start exhibiting with success, contact Smart Display today.
