Trade show marketing isn’t what it once was. More and more, technology is becoming an essential part of the on-the-floor experience, helping exhibitors to better attract the attendees most important to them and provide a better all-round experience.
With the introduction of technology to any trade show marketing strategy comes problems, though. One of the most common is that, for such a personal approach and the mediums involved, a lot of exhibitors simply don’t understand how to implement technology properly into their pitches.
Trade show best marketing practices revolve around not just meeting and greeting. It’s still one of the best ways possible to pinpoint the strongest leads and nurture them – should the right strategy and team be in place on the floor. Technology can help with that data collection aspect, the natural flow of the show and much more besides. But how do you do it?
Making technology part of your trade show marketing best practices
It’s actually a point that’s causing a lot of discussion in the trade show marketing community. Toward the end of 2017, for instance, at the Cvent CONNECT Europe event which was attended by more than 400 events, hospitality and travel professionals from the UK and Europe, Cvent founder and CEO Reggie Aggarwal had plenty to say about incorporating tech into a trade show marketing strategy.
“Planners need to help their organisations jump the technology innovation curve, and capture the physical footprint of their attendees’ journeys. Utilising this data will help event professionals measure their return on investment and also improve future events. The end goal is to see events not as an expense, but as an asset on the balance sheet,” he told delegates, underlining the potential impact technology can have when trade show marketing.
That just touches on what implementing the right technology can do for exhibitors on the show floor. Use the right technology and exhibitors can increase their international presence, target, nurture and pinpoint the most profitable leads, provide new solutions such as block management and much more besides.
Engagement is still the pinnacle for trade show marketing
Back to the original question; how exactly do exhibitors use technology and strategy to improve their efforts when trade show marketing? We’ve already touched on it here. Working with experienced, professional trade show specialists will combine the benefits of a technological approach with a personable one by providing thorough attendee engagement strategies.
A strong attendee engagement strategy won’t just cover the basics such as how to set yourself apart from the competition on the day of the exhibition. The right strategy will focus heavily on the finer details too such as how to qualify attendees into valuable sales prospects, how to measure results effectively and learn from the exhibit, how to know if you’ve achieved your ROI and much more besides.
Technology can help exhibitors to get real-time market intelligence from attendees and peers. The best way to do that, again, is to perform strategy reviews, activity plans and summarise measurement with a professional exhibition team that’s highly adept in the art of trade show lead generation.
Expo Stars is a trade show lead generation specialist that helps exhibitors target and approach the people that matter to them most through technology, strategy and other leading practices. Speak to our team today to find out more.
