Getting the Most Out of Your Tradeshow Attendance
It’s show time! You are exhibiting at the upcoming tradeshow and the last thing you want is to come back without meeting your expectations. Like with every marketing initiative, your tradeshow attendance needs to be carefully planned and carried out in order to achieve the best return on your marketing investment (ROI). For your company to engage with your target audience and generate leads as well as establish its brand as an industry leader, you need to implement a strategy that allows you to increase ROI from your staffing tradeshow.
Identify Your Target
Every tradeshow is an opportunity to generate new leads and increase your exposure for your staffing firm brand. The more people you reach out to, the more you increase ROI from your staffing tradeshow. In order to achieve the best results, you need to know who the target audience in your niche is, and work around methods to communicate with them. To do that, you have to spend time before the tradeshow and identify potential leads that are a good fit for your services. Once you narrow down your search, bring your team up to speed and make sure they understand what is expected of them.
Review Your Booth
You are planning to exhibit at a tradeshow among competitors, and you need to make sure that your booth is the one that draws the attention of the audience and motivates them to stop by. In the months before the tradeshow, it is important to take a close look at your booth and confirm that it conveys your message and sends the message you want to be received. Has it been years since the last time you redesigned it? Does it have an intriguing look that invites people to come in and find out more about your staffing services? If not, then it is time to update your tradeshow booth and increase ROI from your staffing tradeshow.
Ensure Your Staff Interact
If your plan is to hide in your booth and wait for attendees to find out more about your staffing firm, then don’t expect much to happen. The best strategy to increase ROI from your staffing tradeshow is to actively and constantly engage with your audience. Once you have selected your booth staff, train them to interact with potential leads and make sure they know what to say and how to promote your staffing firm’s value proposition. Tell them to interact with people throughout the show, including during lunch and coffee breaks; your potential lead might be having a snack next to you.
Keep Tracking
A common mistake that tradeshow exhibitors make is underestimating the importance of collecting information from potential leads. It is just sad to have someone stop by your booth, but fail to save his contact information because your staff didn’t have a badge scanner that would automatically upload the lead’s information to your CRM. Remember, the time a prospect has is limited so you need to take advantage of the small window of opportunity to save their information. Use technology to increase ROI from your staffing tradeshow and keep track of the lead generation at your booth.
Don’t Forget the Nurturing
The purpose of your tradeshow attendance doesn’t end the moment you leave the venue. In reality this is when everything starts. Now the ball is in your court. What happens with the leads you generated at your booth? Who is going to reach out to them and when do they plan to reconnect? In order to increase ROI from your staffing tradeshow, you need to establish a follow-up process and hold your team accountable in meeting your timelines. Make sure that hot leads are contacted first and no prospect fell through the cracks because you failed to take action.
Key Takeaways for Getting the Most Out of Your Tradeshow Attendance:
- Identify who is your target audience in order to reach out to them
- Review your booth to ensure it conveys your company message and brand
- Train your booth staff on how to promote your staffing firm’s services
- Use technology to collect contact information of prospects
- Make sure that your team follows up with leads generated at the tradeshow
About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.