Trade Show Marketing Ideas & Tips

Nimlok Trade Show Marketing Blog

Generate Quality Trade Show Leads

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Qualified Trade Show Leads (people) visiting a trade show booth

Let’s face it – face-to-face events and trade shows can be costly. In fact, face-to-face marketing encompasses a large percentage of most marketing budgets. It makes sense that getting the best return on investment, or ROI is essential. One of the best ways to gain ROI is through qualified lead generation. According to CEIR: The Spend Decision: Analyzing How Exhibits Fit Into the Overall Marketing, states that 81% of trade show attendees have buying authority, which means that 4 out of 5 people walking the aisles are potential customers for exhibitors. Making the most of every booth visit to generate qualified trade show leads can yield a level of ROI if you follow the tips below.

Is It the Right Trade Show?

One of the most important aspects of exhibiting at a trade show is to be certain you have selected the right trade show to participate in. Once you have a few options of trade shows in mind, do your research.

  • Research show statistics and demographics to determine if the attendees are your target audience.
  • Research the history of the trade show. Is it a newer trade show or has it been around for several years? This could impact number of attendees and overall success.
  • How well is the trade show publicized?
  • Is the show gaining in # of attendees and exhibitors year over year? You may not want to invest in a declining show.
  • Ensure there isn’t another conflicting event that your target attendees might be attending.
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The Three Keys of Trade Show ROI

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While planning for a trade show, exhibitors should take the time to set up a proper framework to gauge and maximize the results of their trade show program and overall trade show ROI.

According to a recent study conducted by Demand Metric (Event Engagement: Accelerating the Customer Lifecycle), 20% of event marketers do not possess a clear understanding on how to properly track or measure their trade show ROI.

In this post, we cover the three most important areas of trade show ROI: aligning organizational goals with trade show objectives, maximizing trade show ROI and tacking and measuring key event marketing metrics to help you exhibit better.

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How To Use Trade Show Contests To Drive Traffic To Your Booth

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It’s your worst exhibiting nightmare.

You’ve spent months planning, budgeting and executing the perfect trade show program.

Everything is in order, and you’re ready to rock your event. The exhibit hall doors open.

A flood of people trickle into the hall…

…but no one is stopping at your booth!

Ahhh! Can someone wake us up from this nightmare!?

Unfortunately, this is an all-too common reality for exhibitors. Thankfully, trade show contests and games can drive more traffic to your booth and create more opportunities to engage with prospects.

In this post, we outline some of the best practices to planning and operating in-booth games and activities, as well as share ideas for contests that will leave your visitors wowed.

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Event Marketing Leads: How to Lead the Pack in Lead Conversion

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Leads are the lubricant of a well-oiled sales and marketing machine, without them the whole apparatus can come to a grinding halt. Because leads are so paramount to the sales process (check out this marketing funnel template to help make more sales), marketing events like trade shows are becoming more and more vital to long term sales success. Yet, many organizations and their sales teams fail to place a strong value on leads gathered from trade shows and other event marketing initiatives. Failure to take these leads serious can have a negative impact on your event marketing ROI and your overall sales numbers. We have outlined some great strategies to help your sales force turn your event marketing prospect into purchasing customers.

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