Exhibitor Magazine recently ran an article entitled, “This Old Exhibit: How to Refresh a Tired Booth.” In it, the author offers practical ways to “refresh” your existing booth and make it appear that you’re offering something new … even when you aren’t.
All good advice. But even more important than carpentry is communication. What worked last year may not work this year … or next.
Here are 4 ways to refresh your tradeshow communication strategies and get your story heard.
Rethink Your Pre-Show
Attendees routinely create a “must-see” list to optimize their time on the show floor. Pre-show communications are the surest way to make that list.
Email remains useful, but newer digital tools, like IP Targeting and Geo-Fencing, cost-effectively increase the frequency of your outreach and connect with audiences when they’re most likely to act … when they’re on the floor nearing your booth.
Revitalize Your Engagement
Ask yourself; “What do I want attendees to learn?” Now put yourself in their shoes: “What would make me want to visit an exhibit?” Focus on issues that are keeping them up at night, and how your solutions solve that issue. The key to accomplishing your messaging goals is to plan your target audience’s experience every step of the way, including next steps.
Revisit the Front Line
You know the adage: have a positive experience, you tell two friends; have a negative one, you tell 30 friends. No matter what you’re planning, staff interactions control attendee reactions. In-house staff often do not fully appreciate the importance of their role in making your tradeshow a success. Creating accurate attendee-experience outlines, setting clear expectations, and conducting detailed pre-event training (including role playing) goes a long way toward ensuring performance consistency.
Revamp Measurement
The event is over and it’s time to feed the sales funnel and prove the value of your efforts.
Can you:
- Put a number to the value of learning at your event?
- Show how that learning impacted business decisions?
- Show the value of your contribution to the sales pipeline?
- Demonstrate other ways your event moved the needle on key corporate objectives?
“Feel-good” anecdotes lose impact in a few days; hard data is forever. Make sure your measurement tools and techniques generate meaningful metrics that make everyone–from the C-Suite to the front lines–happy and moving forward.