How to advertise your booth to optimize traffic and leads capture

If you are like most exhibitors, your ultimate goal on trade shows is to bring traffic, meet visitors, capture leads and convert prospects into customers. As you know, all this process starts with sufficient yet targeted and qualified traffic.

There are things you can do prior to the event to increase that traffic. Let’s review pre-event promotional solutions.

 

Talk about it!

If you want people to know, tell them! It might sound obvious, but this first step is often forgotten – when meeting with customers, partners, suppliers… let them know you will join such event. They might not necessarily be the prospects you wish to meet there, but they are in the right industry and might generate qualified traffic to your booth.

 

Update your signature

How many emails do you send per day? 10? 30? 50?

What about your colleagues? Even if each of you sends only 10 emails a day, for a team of 10 people that is already over a hundred emails sent each day. Imagine the reach that represents!

– that costs nothing and helps spreading the word. Your colleagues suddenly become your communication vectors without having to do anything!

 

Make use of your traditional channels

If you have a newsletter or a blog, mention it there regularly. 6 months before, 2 months before and a few days in advance seem to be a good calendar. Do the same with your Social Media. Engage your readers and make them as excited as you are about your event!

 

Spend some on targeted keywords

If you want to drag the right traffic on your booth and get the best possible buyers it might be worth investing in a simple landing page. Just let people know what you will be presenting, what is your booth number, add a few photos or videos along with most important USPs and invite them to visit you.

Once done, launch a SEM campaign – bid high but only on very targeted keywords. Forget about “visiting electronics fair”: look for something very specific to your product and to the specific exhibition you are joining. Your purpose is to drive highly targeted traffic to this page to make sure these people visit your booth.

 

Consider external channels

If your budget allows it, you should also consider external channels you do not usually exploit but that could help you target buyers coming to that event. Magazines or newsletters that talk about the trade show you are about to join are a good place to advertise to reach potential buyers. Talk to the event organizer early enough to see what he has to offer.

 

EDMs

Many event organizers will offer to send your promotional details to other exhibitors / visitors prior to the show. Explore these opportunities and, based on your budget, decide whether reaching visitors before the show even started could make sense for you.

 

Make the buzz!

Try to ignore any strategy that is both broad and expensive. Think cheap and targeted instead.

That being said, targeted doesn’t mean boring! Get people excited about your booth and make them want to visit you! Promote demos of an innovative product, free samples or some kind of game – anything that will make them want to pay you a visit!

 

Promoting you booth ahead of time is essential for your future success. With these few tips you should generate sufficient word of mouth to get your booth crowded from day one. Now don’t hesitate to share with us what has or hasn’t worked for you.

 

The Exhibitor.