Did you know that 90% of people who visit a tradeshow are looking for new products and services? And did you also know if the visitor liked that product or service, they typically tell at least six others about it?
It’s true! And because the success of your trade show marketing efforts depends on the types of connections you make with the people, you need to find ways to maximize your trade show marketing, so your company stands out and makes more meaningful connections.
And luckily, we’ve put together everything you need so you can gain the best results with your trade show marketing strategy.
What is Trade Show Marketing?
Trade show marketing refers to an event or exhibition in which businesses in a specific industry promote, demonstrate, and display their products or services.
Industries of all kinds take advantage of trade show marketing and below are just a few types of trade shows:
- Restaurant & Food Industry Trade Shows
- Healthcare Industry Trade Shows
- Manufacturing Industry Trade Shows
- Arts & Crafts Trade Shows
- Agricultural Industry Trade Shows
- Technology Industry Trade Shows
- Fashion & Beauty Trade Shows
- Banking & Financial Industry Trade Shows
Trade Show Marketing Ideas
Give Away Freebies
Freebies are a great way to get people to visit your booth. And branded promotional items, or swag, are an affordable and effective way to accomplish this!
Be sure that you choose promo items that relate to the event itself and your company. For example, for an outdoor event or trade show, provide your audience with branded sunglasses or water bottles with your logo on them. If you’re attending a healthcare industry trade show, give out free first aid kits or if you’re promoting your organic products, offer free eco-friendly tote bags.
No matter what kind of freebies you hand out, always remember to include your brand. Whether you are giving away portable chargers, blankets, ear pods, or coffee mugs, never forget your brand!
Market Your Brand on Everything
Your free promotional items aren’t the only thing you need to include your brand on to maximize your trade show marketing strategy.
You want your brand to stand out and be recognized so you need everything to include your brand. For example, have your team all wear branded t-shirts or polo shirts, make sure your brand is on your tablecloth, your poster, your banner, and other signage. The more people see your brand the more likely they are to keep your brand top of mind when they make a purchasing decision. Plus, a study even showed that 74% of trade show attendees said that engaging with branded event marketing convinced them to make a purchase.
Bring Samples
If your business is promoting the products, it has available, you know how important it is to bring those products to the trade show so your audience can see and experience the product in real life.
And for some companies, bringing samples of those products can be extremely beneficial! For example, if you are attending a wine expo, serve samples of your wine along with a business card-sized handout that describes the wine to keep your wine and brand top of mind. Or if you’re promoting your lotions and other beauty products, provide your audience with small sample bottles packaged in branded product boxes to build brand awareness and to get potential customers interested in your products.
Market Before the Trade Show
Trade show marketing shouldn’t start when the trade show begins. I should begin before the event!
Use a direct mail marketing campaign to inform customers and potential ones of your trade show. This could include a message that allows them to schedule an appointment, or you can promote a special offering if they visit, to get more people to your event booth.
Make Your Stand Eye Catching
Eye-catching stands are the most successful method of attracting trade show attendees to your expo booth. In fact, 48% of exhibitors surveyed saying that trade show attendees are attracted to eye-catching stands which is higher than any other method including giveaways and social media.
This means you need eye catching signs, banners, displays, posters, and more to really draw attendees’ attention to your booth.
Capture Your Leads Effectively
While you may be getting tons of leads visiting your booth, you need a way to be able to quickly follow up with them once the trade show is over to begin creating meaningful relationships. Plus, 72% of exhibitors participate in trade shows to get new leads which means you need to capture them quickly.
To do this, you can simply include QR codes or PURLs on your trade show marketing materials or handouts so you can track who shows interest while gathering important data. You can even offer something your audience can win and include a way for visitors to sign up for a chance to win the offer while collecting information like names, phone numbers, and emails.
Reach Out After the Trade Show
Because you collected information about your interested trade show attendees, you can successfully follow up with them and increase the chances they make a purchase, schedule an appointment, or make a repeat purchase.
Just upload the data you gathered into your CRM or marketing automation platform and reach out to your audience through email, direct mail, or both to increase your success even more.
10 Effective Trade Show Marketing Materials
Trade Show Banners
Banners are the perfect trade show marketing material to grab potential clients’ attention while dressing up your expo booth in a way that helps your brand stand out amongst competitors.
Banners also come in a variety of sizes and styles including hanging vinyl banners, or banners that stand on their own like retractable banners or x-stand banners.
Keep your trade show banner simple with large text, imagery, and eye-catching colors.
Business Cards
When you’re meeting tons of potential clients, you don’t have time to write down your information to share with everyone—which is also not a professional method of contact exchange—so always make sure to bring enough business cards so you can hand them out to everyone you meet.
Plus, when you hand someone a business card, they are more likely to remember your brand because of the human interaction and they make it easy for potential clients to contact you.
Trade Show Brochures
Brochures are an effective and affordable way to share vital information about your company. And with 66% of trade show attendees saying that the primary reason they attend a trade show is to gain more knowledge about a product or service, handing out a brochure full of the knowledge they are looking for is a professional and effective way to influence attendees to purchase your product or service.
Pocket Folders
If your trade show materials include several loose materials like your business card, a rack card, and a flyer, include a branded pocket folder as part of your trade show marketing strategy so it’s easier for your audience to carry around and keep your materials organized and easy to access.
In addition, when you include quality pocket folders, your audience can reuse them which means every time they grab or place something into their folder, they will think of your brand.
Trade Show Promotional Items
Promotional items, or swag, are essential trade show marketing materials. They come in a countless array of shapes and sizes and there are literally so many options available to you no matter what your budget is.
Some of the most popular promotional products to use at trade shows include tote bags, stickers, pens, calendars, drinkware, power banks, headphones, phone cases, note pads, sunglasses, and so much more! No matter what promo item you choose, all you need to do is include your logo and other branding elements if you choose and your audience will keep on to your item while keeping your brand top of mind.
Flyers
Flyers are an extremely cost-effective trade show marketing tool, and they can easily be handed out to inform the event attendees about your business’s offerings.
Include an image and vibrant colors to really make your flyers stand out and don’t forget your contact information and URL or QR code!
Table Tents & Table Towers
Table tents or table towers add dimension to your trade show table and help you deliver your message more effectively as placing flat materials like flyers and business cards on your event table will only be seen when attendees are close to your booth.
Design a table tent to share important information like details about your product or service, your contact information, website URL, or even include a QR code so visitors can quickly visit your website to learn more.
Large Signs & Trade Show Displays
While some types of signs are more expensive and are more ideal if you attend trade shows on a regular basis, there are other types of signs and displays they are extremely affordable and effective and help you create an eye-catching trade show stand.
For example, posters are a low-cost trade show marketing material that helps you spread your message effectively at any event. They help dress up your expo stand and attract the attention of anyone who passes by. A-frame signs and decals are also great trade show signage to include. You can even include custom pop-up displays to present samples, brochures, booklets, and more.
At Conquest Graphics, we have a wide variety of materials you can take advantage of for your trade show marketing strategy, and we guarantee they will help you maximize your results!
Popular Trade Show Marketing Materials
