Useful Tips to Improve Your Trade Show ROI

Note: All dates are subject to change in light of COVID-19

Trade shows are not just for show; they serve a purpose. People don’t simply attend for the fun of it or because it is the hottest thing to do. There are targets that have to be met, targets like brand exposure, product sales, and so on. It is for this reason that attending a trade show takes a lot of planning months in advance. 

We are going to explore what trade show ROI is all about, how it operates, why it is important for every exhibitor to set their trade show ROIs, how to go about that in the first place, and all the tools one can utilize to ensure they attain their goal. If you are planning to attend a trade show in the near future, the tips we are about to expound on here could come in handy for so stick around to the end.

Trade Show ROI Metrics

ROI Metrics
Source: Pixabay

ROI is an acronym for Return On Investment, and it is a financial metric that is utilized when it comes to measuring the gains that an investment returns after a certain period of time. It is basically a ratio that compares the loss or the gain of any form of investment relative to the capital that was injected into that particular project.

Trade shows are an investment for every person involved. For the organizers, the exhibitors, the booth rental companies, and even the attendees. Every one of these groups spends money in the hopes they gain something more valuable in return. The most important of them all are the exhibitors, and they also happen to be the biggest spenders, considering what they need to make the entire presentation a success.

So how exactly do you measure the success of a trade show? There are about five metrics that you can make use of to gauge whether the investment and the time you pumped into that one trade show you chose to attend was worth it. They include the following.

Number of Strategic Meetings: Meetings built around trade show ROI strategy have a great influence on the revenue and the top line. Finding ways to maximize the output is what strategic meetings are all about,trade and the number of these meetings could be the difference between the success and the failure of a trade show event. Every lead that is brought in and every deal that gets sealed can be tied back to the number of strategic meetings that had been scheduled.

Foot Traffic: This is the number of people that enter and exit your tarde booth. There are many ways you can keep track of this , you can go manual by making them sign when they walk in, which is a lot of work, and many visitors may find it annoying. The best would be to use tracers and sensors on the entry that will count the number of people that pass by.

Contacts and Leads: Collecting as many contacts as you can is one of the pillars of trade shows that ensure you keep in touch with all the people that showed interest in what you were showcasing. The business cards and LinkedIn profiles you exchange with the people are a good measure of ROI because you are assured of landing some leads and sales eventually once you start getting back to each person who left their contact details with you.

Social Media Engagement: This is another great way of keeping track of how much interest you are generating on social media platforms. Increasing engagement in the physical world through a number of exciting marketing gimmicks will translate to a bigger social media impact, and this can be used as a solid metric for ROI. Thanks to analytical tools in platforms like Twitter, you can get accurate data on how you performed in real-time.

Awareness: The extent of the awareness you create around your brand before, during, and after the trade show is another reliable source of ROI data that should be utilized to the full. This is particularly handy for trade show organizers, one as they simply need to track the number of exhibitors and attendees who show interest in the event and actually turn up. The same can be tracked on social media using analytical tools to see how the engagement around the event progresses.

Trade Show Goals and How to Attain Them

As we previously mentioned, trade shows are not just for shows. They are serious undertakings that could break or make your business depending on how you approach and handle them. The following are some common trade show goals that you can set for your next trade show outing.

New Product/Service Launch

Product Launch
Source: Pinterest

Launching new products and services is the backbone of trade shows, one could even argue that that is the only thing that makes trade shows worth the investment. People don’t come to see something they know; they come to see the next big innovation. To ensure that your company attains this objective, think about the following considerations.

The visual approach that you are planning to use to bring your idea to life.

The products you are going to introduce through these audiovisual presentations.

The differences between what you are presenting and what your competitors are unveiling.

The availability of free samples and entertainment services that visitors can try out to see if they are what you claim.

The need for special equipment and requirements like refrigeration, power supply, or running water for the success of the launch.

Lead Generation

Lead Generation
Source: Pixabay

Lead generation is the other important aim of attending a trade show. Once you have done your best to present all your innovative products and services, it is time to reap the benefits of that, and this through generating leads based on what you just presented. The following are some considerations that you need to pay attention to.

The exact design attractions that bring the attendees to your trade show booth.

The graphic elements that you use to catch the attention of the people who are passing by.

The technology you employ to hook the people into staying a little longer and ask questions in the process.

The pre-show invites you to send out and the number of visitors who actually follow up on them.

Social media tools and website traffic are used to raise awareness of what your trade show booth is all about.

Building Brand Awareness

Brand Awareness
Source: Unsplash

Brand awareness is equally as important as generating sales and other things. The brand is what will remain in the minds of the people that get the chance to interact with you; therefore, it has to be done the right way. Consider the following when setting up the brand awarenesstrade show strategy.

The consistency of your branding, from the trade show booth to the website and the social media pages. It has to be seen at all times as much as possible.

Post-trade-show mailers and forms for a follow-up and to further emphasize your brand on anyone that was gracious enough to check out your booth.

Your ability to create a memorable experience, something so unique that visitors will live to remember even after checking out hundreds of other booths.

The impression you want to leave on your visitors.

Your ability to stand out from another equally visible competitor next door.

Entering a New Market

Source: Unsplash

Another great objective of taking part in a trade show is to get the chance to expand into new territories. Trade exhibitions bring together people from other nations and meeting the right people could open doors that you would never have knocked on if you choose to focus on your own locality. The following are some considerations for this.

The aspects that set you apart from the other companies already in the market you intend to enter.

The clarity that your trade show booth communicates what your company is truly all about.

The research you have conducted on the intended market as well as the potential competitors you may have to brush shoulders with.

Basically, the things that make you the best.

Retaining Current Customers

New Clients
Source: Unsplash

Ignoring the customers you already have is the biggest undoing that most businesses commit. You must be aware of the fact that your current and repeat customers are potential new customers to your competitors and they are doing everything in their power to steal them. It is up to you to ensure they are not neglected by considering the following important aspects.

Finding ways to thank the customers who have been with you for long and gifting them when they come to your booth.

Setting up hospitality events that will make them feel encouraged and valued.

Sending communication to them first to show them how they stand apart from the rest.

Improving Trade Show ROI: Key Takeaways for Every Exhibitor

Knowing whether the money you have invested in a business or any other venture, like a trade show, has brought some returns is important; otherwise, it will be nothing but a fool’s errand. Improving your trade show ROI is the best way to keep track of what you are doing in order to gauge whether the excursion was a success or not. The following are some of the ways that a trade show exhibitor can use to improve their ROI.

Develop a Pre-Show Content Strategy

Content Strategy Creation
Source: Unsplash

Being prepared in advance is the best way to ensure you maximize the success of the trade show you are participating in as an exhibitor. Having a dazzling booth may only take so far, but having people coming in with the sole purpose of checking you out is the ultimate flex for any trade show participant.

You have to create content that clearly illustrates what you are offering in a way that paints a very beautiful picture in the minds of the people who read it. You have to illustrate the value of your services and products and show how different they are from what the others are offering. You can achieve this by trying the following ideas.

Scheduling appointments in advance by reaching out to some people who may be on the attendee list if you happen to have access to it. Give them a brief overview of what they will be expecting in a precise format that’s easy to understand.

Promote your booth heavily through all the means available. Use the television, radio, social media, podcast, basically anything that increases your reach, even by a few people.

Tailor your content around the theme of the event to increase the understanding among the people who will come to check you out. Have flyers designed and distributed throughout the event.

Use influencers to increase your reach. You may not have the kind of following that generates enough interest. You can instead make use of influential people on social media who can post details of your business online at a fee to gain you the traction you need.

Generate Media Coverage

Media Coverage
Source: Unsplash

Exposure is everything when it comes to improving your trade show ROI. The more your business is seen before, during and after the event is what will determine whether you attain your goals or not. Depending on the size of the event, you should do well by inviting as much press coverage as you can. This includes bloggers, big and small, as well as the industry leaders of the sector you are in.

Having all these around gives attendees information on what you are about much faster compared to passing around flyers or sending emails to strangers. However, don’t think reporters and bloggers will drop by your booth without an invite; you have to be proactive and seize the chance to drag them there. This is how you increase coverage for a better ROI.

Get the media list and take note of the most likely parties that will be willing to give you and your booth live coverage. If you are good enough, they may return again.

Start sending out requests for interviews before the event date. Do this by quickly introducing your company and stating exactly what you need. This will then be followed by demos or online interviews that can then be used as promos.

Always offer something new that people haven’t seen before. Remember, you will not be the only one jostling for attention; the early bird catches the worm. Therefore, having something new to introduce will give you an edge over the rest of your competitors.

Trade Show Booth Optimization

Trade Exhibition
Source: Unsplash

Your trade show booth has to stand out. It is hard to pull this off, but it is the only thing that will make you hit the foot traffic you need to bump that ROI up. The average trade show event will have hundreds of booths lined up next to each other, you will most likely be located in a section with other similar booths, and to stand out from all this monotony, you have to optimize your booth. This can be done in the following ways.

Create emphasis around your products by elevating them through strategic placement; if you have to add lights that focus on certain aspects of the product, the getter for you. It is the small details that usually leave a huge impression and catch the eye of anyone who may be passing by.

Use demos and free samples to give people a sneak peek of how the products and services you are showcasing work. This is how visitors are able to remember you since they end up visiting a lot of booths.

Post-Trade Show Follow-Ups

Email Follow-Up
Source: Unsplash

The end of the trade show is actually the beginning of business. Trade fairs and exhibitions are nothing but advertisement venues where some sales may take place. It is the data that you collect from the vent in terms of contacts that will determine whether the ROI is met. Once you have attained the goals, now it’s time to sit down and convert what you gained into tangible results. The following are ways you can ensure that proper ROI is attained by doing follow-ups.

Prompt follow-ups are the secret to success. Like we have already mentioned, you are not the wonky one fighting for the piece of the cake. Your competitors will also be hard at work. Therefore, make quick follow-ups to keep the visitors aware that you still remember them.

Send them reminders of your booth to refresh their memories and to start a conversation. This is where having a booth that stands out comes in handy. If you really left an impression, you won’t even need to re-introduce yourself a second time.

Personalize the emails you send out so that they don’t appear like a mass marketing attempt at pushing products and services down the throat of an unwilling participant. Personalizing the emails you send makes the potential customer feel valued.

Post-Show Analysis

Analysis
Source: Unsplash

At the end of the day, when the curtains come falling down, you have to sit down and analyze all the data you have collected to make a final report on whether the ROI target was met or not. There are various ways you can calculate the ROI based on the trade show appearance, and each is unique. The best and simplest format would be making comparisons between the ROI and what any other average business would expect to achieve and see how far off you are.

A post-show analysis is what will help you prepare for the next trade show, as you will have the data that shows what you did right and what you did wrong. Improving on the strengths and working on the weaknesses is the essence of every business and what ROI exists for in the first place.

Top ROI Tools for Exhibitors

ROI Tools
Source: Unsplash

There are certain tools that exhibitors can use to ensure they attain their ROI targets. These marketing tools have been used with great success over the years, and they keep getting refined every day as technology evolves. They include the following.

Google Analytics: This is a marketing tool that exhibitors can use to track how they perform online once they have released their marketing strategies to promote their booth. Setting up a Google Analytics account is easy, and it can be linked to several social media sites and allow you to keep track of all your online presence. As far as getting a clear picture of the traffic you get online, this is your best bet at getting a clear ROI image of your performance.

Kissmetrics: This is another well-refined ROI tracking tool that you can employ on your online site and other social media pages to keep track of how you are performing online. It gives you a lot of tools that you can use to critically analyze everything you post about the trade show, and that is a sure way of gauging how people are responding to what you are offering both offline and online.

Hotjar: Hotjar is a magic tool that helps you get an insight into what the visitors who may be frequenting your pages are thinking. It records user sessions and the time they spend on your website, including the pages they open and the items they spend the most time on. Launching this toll ahead of the trade show will help you know the exact type of products to bring with you in anticipation based on the behaviors displayed by Hotjar.

SEMrush: If you are the type of company that relies on SEO to boost their online footprint ahead of the trade show, the SEMrush is exactly what you should be going for. It comes laden with features that allow you to track backlinks, monitor the keywords being used regularly, monitor how the ad campaigns you posted are doing, and even spy on what your competition is up to. With this, you will have the upper hand as far as meeting your ROI targets is concerned.

Matchmaking Software: This is a special type of mobile app that helps exhibitors to connect with attendees whose ideals fit with what the company is selling or showcasing. The attendee simply shares what they are looking for, and the exhibitors blast their searches through the whole event and any attendee that fits their trade show metrics automatically connects, and they are directed to the booth. It is a very handy way of connecting visitors and the booths they may be looking to visit.

Conclusion

Improving your ROI is the only way attending something as labor and resource-intensive activity like a trade show would make sense. It goes without saying that at times you will fall short of your targets and at times surpass them; every single time you attend a trade show is always a chance to learn something new and find things that need improvement. For more information on trade shows and the things you need to do to be prepared, check out our website at your earliest convenience and have all your questions answered.

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