Events offer your company a great opportunity to reach new clients and bolster your marketing efforts—if you can get your audience to your booth. Last month, we covered the in’s and out’s of how to best promote your trade show appearance ahead of the event, but getting attendees in the door is only half the battle. This month, we’re breaking down the best practices for your in-event promotion strategy that will make your booth a can’t-miss stop for attendees.
Use Booth Activities to Draw a Crowd
One of the best ways to call attention to your booth is through games, demonstrations and other activities that draw a crowd. Choose activities that will pique the interest of your target audience and that fit with your business—see the list of ideas below. Once your activity is rolling, you’ll create audience engagement and make your booth the place to be.
Booth Activity Ideas:
- Presentations. You can schedule times for group presentations so that visitors can stop in and get an idea of your products and services without committing to a one-on-one meeting with your staff. Ideally, the presentation will get them interested enough to schedule that meeting.
- Demonstrations. If you have a new product, it’s great to demo it at a live event.
- Games. Add a little fun with an activity that ties in with your brand or business.
- Contests. Contests are a great way to garner interest — who doesn’t love the chance to win something?
- Individual Meetings. Your sales team is there to get face time with prospective customers, as well as loyal customers. Make sure that the booth is set up to allow your staff some privacy for one-on-one meetings.
Whatever you choose, remember to plan your booth design to allow the best space for your activities.
Leverage Social Media
In-event promotion isn’t just about the physical space. Social media has become an integral part of event experiences, which gives you a great opportunity to interact with audiences on digital platforms as well. In addition, consider how your space can be used to facilitate digital experiences and help attendees broadcast your brand over social media.
In-Event Social Media Ideas:
- Use Your Website. Develop a landing page dedicated to the event so that people can see updates as the event unfolds.
- Blog It. Your blog can serve as a great promotional tool for your event and gives you some extra content for your blog. It’s a win-win.
- Make It Picture Worthy. Add something fun or awe-inspiring to your booth that will make a great photo op for attendees to share on social media. This can be something as simple as a fun photo frame background where they’ll want to take pictures.
- Use Your Social Media Networks to Update and Entertain About the Event. If your brand and voice is already well-established, make posts event-centric and entertaining.
- Monitor Hashtags and Event News. Pay attention to attendee’s feeds, trending hashtags, and other mentions of the event on social media and on industry-specific sites. Then, jump in to join the conversation and engage.
Offer Special Promotions for Event Attendees
What’s better than a deal? A deal that only you can give. Attendees have already committed the time to be at the event, but they haven’t committed the time to your brand specifically. One great way to get them to consider your offerings is by using special in-event incentives. Many of your attendees will have purchase power—it’s one of the reasons they’re there. Offering a coupon or discounted rate that can only be used by attendees gives them an extra reason to look at what you’re doing. If you make the deal only available through the event, it can be a good motivation to make an immediate purchase.
Make Use of In-Event Advertising Options
Events usually offer a variety of options for vendors to advertise during the conference. This might include sponsorship options, signage, and a guest speaker or keynote speaker offer. Take advantage of the options for advertising during an event where it makes sense for your business. For example, speaking at an event is a great way to promote your company and the individual speaker at the same time. Sponsorship options put your brand in front of all of the attendees, which can translate to more visitors during the event.
Translate Your Event Experience Into a Call to Action
Every great marketing campaign has a call to action. Your event participation should, as well. You want to motivate the connections you’ve made to do something. For your company, it might be a simple push to add attendees to your mailing list, cultivate new leads, or you may want to increase sales immediately. Whatever your goal is with this event, make sure that you’ve used the opportunity to plant that call to action with the audience you’ve reached.
You should have an after-event game plan, as well. This might include passing leads on to sales departments, following up with new incentives for event contacts, or simple thank you notes for taking the time to meet with your staff. Keep your end goal in mind as you create communication with your attendees.
Making the Most of In-Event Promotions
At Rockway Exhibits, our staff can help you create the event experience to get you noticed and increase your ROI. Contact us today to plan how you can promote and exhibit better at your next event.