1 You have decided on the exhibition you want to attend.
2 You have booked your exhibition space.
3 You have locked in your stand designer and builder.
What’s Next?
Well, it is only just the beginning of your exhibiting story. Marketing needs to be a vital part of your exhibiting plan if you want to achieve maximum event success.Exhibitor organisers do a great job at getting a qualified audience through the doors of your event, but this does not mean the attendees will stop by at your stand. The event organiser’s job is to get attendees to the show. It is your job to get them to your stand.
The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) found that 76% of attendees come to an event with an agenda already scheduled. You need to get your stand on their agenda before they come through the doors. The purpose of your pre-exhibition marketing is to do just this.
Analysis
Ask yourself: “How will you use data to make this exhibition better than our last?”
Brands often fail to review what they have done at previous exhibitions and events, yet hope to improve on their results. Assess your exhibition strategy and results from previous shows to review what worked, what didn’t and devise new ideas.
Review Results
- Number of leads
- Sales
- ROI
Evaluate Marketing
- Which marketing channel had the most success
- What email content gained the most traction
- Which social media posts achieve the highest levels of engagement
Review Event Promotions
- Customer offers
- Promotional product success
- Competitions
Analyse Feedback
- Talk to staff from your previous event ask for through evaluations of the exhibition
- Look at customer feedback (direct, social media, sales calls)
Goal Setting
Ask yourself: “What will you measure to know your exhibition or event is a success?”
71 % of exhibitors go to an exhibition or trade show without any specific goals or objectives (CEIR). This is a major flaw in any brands exhibition planning. The first step of any exhibition marketing plan should be to set out exactly what you are aiming to achieve.
Setting goals and objective will help you make the most out of your brand marketing spend. Select one or two primary goals and no more than 2 secondary goals. This allows your marketing plan to highly focused. The key is to make sure your goals are realistic, specific, understood by all involved and importantly, measurable.
Realistic:
Your goals need to be attainable but still challenging.
Specific:
The goals should be very targeted and clear. Examples; 200 qualified leads, $50,000 forecasted sales.
Understood:
From top management to floor staff, your goals must be communicated clearly so that everyone is on the same page and knows the objectives of the exhibition.
Measurable:
How will you track this goal, there must be a specific plan in place to measure what you are aiming to achieve.