How to Get the Most Out of a Trade Show
One of the questions I hear often from clients is whether it makes sense to attend a particular trade show or conference. They tell me they don’t get as many leads as they used to, and they’re wondering if it is worth the expense.
I tell them that they need to think about trade shows a little differently from the way they used to.
The main reason to attend a trade show is that you have the most influential people in the industry gathered together in the same place at the same time. You can meet a lot of people and gather a huge amount of information in just a couple days.
And no matter how useful the Internet is, you build a better relationship when you meet people face-to-face.
Here’s the system I use for getting the maximum value out of any trade show or conference…
Pre-show brainstorming
Sit down with your team about a month before the trade show and talk through what you want to accomplish:
- Who do you want to meet?
- What do you want to learn?
- What do you want to test?
Let’s talk about each of those areas in a little more detail…
Who to meet… Prospects, customers and business partners, of course. But who else? Do a little brainstorming to come up with a list. Who would make a big difference to your business?
- Editors, bloggers, and industry analysts.
- Consultants and other influencers.
- Prospective employees.
- New business partners, for technology, distribution and outsourcing.
You can see who will be speaking at the event by looking at the sessions. You should also look over the list of exhibitors. Some shows provide lists of attendees too.
What to learn… I like to pay attention to the issues people are talking about at the conference – what are the hot problems people are trying to solve? If everyone is talking about a topic and you can frame your product as a way to address it, you can get more doors to open for you.
I also like to check out competitors – see what they are talking about, who is visiting their booth, what they are promoting, how they are selling. You might be able to get some hints about the future direction of their products.
This is a good opportunity to see what booths are attracting the most traffic – what are they doing that’s working so well? Do they have a fun giveaway? Have they launched a new product? What’s on their booth signs? Are they doing something in the booth to draw people in? You can get wonderful ideas from seeing what works for other companies.
Do you have technical issues or situations with clients? You might be able to pick up solutions for those.
What to test… At a show you have the opportunity to talk to a lot of people within a short period of time. This is a great place to see how people respond to a new marketing message or test different ways to describe a new feature.
Think about decisions you have been debating internally for some time. Here’s your chance to get feedback from real people so you can finally settle the issue.
If you want to do usability testing, a conference can be a great venue. You can do this informally, even in a hallway between sessions.
Design a plan
Once you know what you want to accomplish, look at the opportunities that you will have at the conference. Where can you encounter the people you want to meet, find the info, run your tests?
- Educational sessions (think in terms of both attendees and speakers)
- Exhibits
- Vendor events, hospitality suites (think about hosts and attendees)
- Birds of a feather and other networking events
If you have more than one person attending, decide who will do what. You’ll get much better results if you split up – even if you attend one or two of the same sessions, sit on opposite sides of the room so you can meet more people.
Plan to get together once a day so you can report back on what you found. This makes each person accountable – and it gives you a way to share your triumphs.
Do your research
Take the list of people you want to meet, and do a little research ahead of time. Glance at their website, subscribe to (or at least scan) their blog, follow them on Twitter and check out their tweets, maybe like their Facebook page.
This takes a little effort, but you will find out what they are currently interested in and it will be much easier to open a conversation.
If you’re on Twitter, find out the conference hash tag and make a few tweets before the conference.
If you don’t already have a Bump app, this might be the time to download one for your phone.
At the show
Work your plan but stay flexible. If an opportunity arises, take advantage of it.
At every session… Introduce yourself to 4-6 people. I usually meet the people on either side of me, in front of me and behind me. Even if you are naturally an introvert, remind yourself of the type of people you want to meet and make the effort to reach out. You will be amazed at the interesting people you will find. If you’re not sure what to say, ask them what they hope to get out of this session or why they are at the conference.
At the end of the session, make a point of going up and introducing yourself to at least one of the speakers. If you’re not sure what to say, just tell them you enjoyed the session. It’s even better if you can mention something specific they talked about that you agreed with or found useful.
Every time you are in line… At lunch, at a coffee break, at the Starbucks – introduce yourself to the person in front of you and the one behind you. Again, you will be surprised at the great people who are there.
Remember that conferences are one of the very best places to meet senior management. They are more open to being approached there than anywhere else. In fact, often one of their goals is to hear what regular people think. So take advantage of that!
Working a trade show like this takes a lot of energy, so make sure you take care of yourself. Eat right and try to get enough sleep so you can keep up your energy level.
Before you leave… Have a chat with the conference organizers. Tell them what you liked about the conference, and if you have ideas for making it better next year, share them. Remember that the organizers probably know every company that attended, and have the potential to connect you with most of the influential people who were there. It’s well worth getting to know them.
After the conference
Within a week after you get home, go through your stack of business cards and send connection requests on LinkedIn. Follow people on Twitter, consider friending them on Facebook or other platforms.
Subscribe to their newsletter or blog, and ask if it’s OK to subscribe them to yours.
Do whatever other follow-up actions items you promised to do.
When you attend a trade show using this strategy, I guarantee you will get 10x more out of it than if you just attend the sessions and work your booth. I’ve been doing it this way for years, and I always come back with great leads and amazing connections.
If you have tips for getting the most out of a show that you’d like to add to this list, post them in the comments.
Theme 7: Ask for Help
Your seventh theme for social media marketing (and the last in this series) is to let people help you.
When you ask people for small favors – that they can easily do – you are helping them feel good about themselves. And then they also feel good about you.
I know, it sounds odd – ask for a favor and people will like you better – but that works.
So ask for favors!
Just make them extremely simple and painless to do.
It’s even better if you can ask a favor where helping you makes them look good too – where they can both help you and show their own knowledge and experience.
For example, if you ask for a suggestion for a restaurant in Boston, people get to show that they know Boston and have knowledge of the good restaurants there. That’s pretty cool!
If you ask for suggestions about whether to get an iPad or one of the newer tablets, people get to show that they have a lot of knowledge about the products.
So ask for advice.
You can look for business help:
- Vendors
- Tools
- Services
- Consultants
- Equipment
- Methodologies
- Techniques
- Coaches
- Seminars
- Training
You can also ask for personal recommendations and advice:
- Restaurants
- Shows
- Hotels
- Gadgets
- Tours
- Gyms
- Camps
If there are only a couple of choices, it can be fun to set up a poll and let people vote.
A couple tips… Only ask for one favor at a time, and keep it simple to do. Ideally it should be something they can do in a couple seconds – it shouldn’t require a lot of thought. You also don’t want to ask them to put themselves on the line in any way. It shouldn’t be risky.
But do ask regularly. People love to help, and if you make it easy you will find that you can grow your circle substantially. What are some ways you’ve asked people to help?
Theme 6: Show a Bandwagon
Everyone wants to be part of a success. So use social media to let people see that what you do is working – that others are excited about what you offer and are jumping on it.
You don’t have to wait for big wins to do this – share the small triumphs too.
Talk about what a great response you are getting to your marketing or advertising.
Be excited about milestones as you achieve them. If you just landed your 40th customer or exceeded your revenue target for the month or hired your first employee – yay!
Share quotes and testimonials. You don’t need to have formal quotes – simply forward nice things people say about you in social media.
Tell anecdotes about your customers’ successes. You don’t have to name the customer – you can say “a big hotel chain” or “a mom of two” or “a high-school track star.”
Talk about new partners, new deals, new customers, new hires. Introduce them if you (and they) are comfortable with that. If not, just say you hired someone or got 2 new customers.
Tell stories about how your business is expanding and growing. If you need more space, are joining a coworking group, need a bigger garage to store your merchandise, talk about it.
Thank people for referrals – always! Public thank-you’s are wonderful. They show your appreciation and validate for everyone else that you have people referring business to you.
How can you show that more and more people are buying your products and services, getting involved with you, and supporting you?
Theme 5: Show That You’re Connected
Your fifth theme for your social media marketing is to show who is connected with you. This is the whole point of social media!
If you can show that other people – particularly people your prospects respect – have checked you out and decided to get involved with you, then it’s easier for them to make the same decision.
So find ways to let people see that you have important people in your network, great customers, talented people working with you, respected people who refer business to you.
On Facebook, make your featured likes people your prospects will recognize and respect.
Retweet what influential people say.
Comment on blog posts of influencers.
Interact with customers or partners (especially those who are well-known and respected).
Talk about employees and subcontractors – if they have impressive degrees, I’m sure you can find a way to work that into the conversation from time to time.
Mention your board, advisors or investors.
Talk about really good sessions at conferences or webinars you attended.
Quote people your prospects respect.
Be grateful for any honors or awards you receive (or are nominated for).
Think about who your prospects and customers respect, and look for ways you can show connections with those people.
How do you build credibility by showing that you are connected to people your prospects recognize and respect?
Theme 4: Share Who You Are
People do business with people they know, like and trust.
So let people get to know you better. Let them see that you are a nice person – the kind of person they would be comfortable doing business with.
Show some of your personality – you don’t have to share everything with the whole world, but you can pick and choose a few things to let people feel like they know who you are:
• Like your favorite sports teams
• List your favorite singers or bands
• Quote from your favorite books
• Mention a TV show you are addicted to
• Do you do yoga, pilates, rock climbing or zumba? Share that
• Talk about visiting your favorite restaurants
• Show photos of cute things your pet did
This helps people connect with you – it gives them topics of conversation, ways to interact with you online and in person.
You can also use social media to show your character and your ethics:
• Share links to causes that you support
• Ask for donations to charitable events
• Apologize when you mess up
• Stand up for people who have been wronged
• Be helpful and give advice where you can
• Show that you support your friends
Let people identify with you. Even if you’re the CEO of a huge company and wealthy beyond most people’s dreams, you probably have issues. Right? (Please say yes.) Talk about your efforts to lose weight, quit smoking, exercise more, get healthier, find cute shoes.
And just be nice.
• Send holiday greetings.
• Thank people at every opportunity.
What are some of the ways you let people get to know you? Share them here…
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