What’s the most important thing for you when it comes to trade show marketing? It’s, obviously, a chance to interact with customers and potential B2B contacts, but how do you define success when you’ve finished and it’s time to head home?
Opening communications with people is typically top of people’s priority lists, but you’d be amazed at how many people consider that to be the be-all and end-all of their trade show marketing strategy. Talking to others is clearly one of the leading trade show marketing best practices out there, but brands can be doing so much to better attract people most suited to them and gathering essential lead data.
The best trade show marketing strategy is a combination of clear communications, transparency and collecting essential lead information from decision makers. Do it right and you could see serious brand growth as part of a wider long-term plan.
Why trade show marketing best practices should feature lead generation
Some companies believe they’re already doing that when trade show marketing, though. Recent research published by meetings technology company Cvent called ‘The Power of Live Event Data’ suggests that even though a lot of companies believe they’re collecting the right data when trade show marketing, they simply don’t know what to do with that information.
According to their study encompassing the thoughts of over 600 event planners, marketers and professionals, they discovered that 81% said that collecting digital and physical data at events was ‘extremely important so that event planners can track the attendee journey to create better events and realize their full ROI’.
Amazingly though, only 20% admitted that their company actually does a good job of integrating the data they collect into their overall growth strategy. To us that suggests that though a lot of commercial enterprises have heard about lead generation when trade show marketing, they haven’t really grasped the nuances of it and thought about how to properly use the data they collect.
Effective trade show marketing isn’t about turning up, opening dialogue and collecting information. It’s about creating a seamless journey on the day and using the power of professional booth staff to target, attract and introduce those business prospects most important to you and your brand in a highly effective manner.
Working with professional booth staff is key to success
75% also say they’re missing out on marketing opportunities by failing to build on the data they collect, while – amazingly – only 38% say they understand what their attendees actually do while at their events.
That last point is so crucial to success, and why it’s important to work with a variety of trained booth staff who specialise in data collection and lead generation to boost your company’s growth potential.
Working alongside a trade show lead generation specialist will help you to refine your strategy to better collect the data most important to you, as well as providing more than 2,500 multinational, multilingual and multifaceted booth professionals the world over for your event to help you maximise your visibility on the day.
For more information about trade show lead generation and marketing, contact the Expo Stars team today to find out more.
