If you think about it, trade shows are a prime place to learn from your data. Often there are several exhibitions in a year, and in different locations with different audiences. Data from previous trade shows can help exhibitors make connections with buyers and improve for future trade shows.
And yet, the data from all of these sometimes gets ignored or untapped. There is so much we can learn from the data that gets left behind.
So why does this happen?
Common roadblocks that exhibitors can run into include ever-rising costs and the need for better data!
Better Data, Better Events
How can live events improve? How can they become more impactful and valuable?
You can do your own data mining as you go by identifying a “control” or something you want to test. You can look at data for the booth as a whole, for elements of your booth, or for individual products. Then decide what you want to track. You could count how many people enter the booth, what displays get the most attention, how long they stay at the display, how many people connect with a staff member, leads, conversions, etc. What would be helpful to know? Experiment with capturing more data than you think you’ll want; it may come in handy down the road!
Create some variables by adding a variety of elements to your booth and then start tracking!
But don’t stop there.
The most crucial step is the analysis! Don’t skip it. Between shows, compare your date to previous shows and see what comes up. What will you learn? What can you change, adjust, or test next?
Better Know Your Target Audience
With your data tracking systems, you can get a handle on who your target audience really is. You can cater to them directly and keep the research going!
To get to know your target audience better, analyze your current customers. Learn about their average age, their career, gender, race, interests, pain points, income level, etc. Really get to know them! You can consider potential trade show attendees who match with the majority of your buyers.
Be sure to study your competitors’ customers and get to know their target audience as well! What do your competitors do to appeal to their target audience? You can learn a lot from watching another company do it well (or not so well). How is your audience different? How is your approach unique?
All of this information collected from evaluating your target audience can be used to choose the best shows, displays, and strategies in the future. Look for shows that appeal to your ideal customer! This will obviously connect you to a more significant number of potential buyers. It’s clear how some of this data can really start making all of your decisions easier.
Product Matchmaking
It would be a huge benefit to the attendees and the exhibitors if show management could support more opportunities for product and experience match-making. Everyone is there for a reason, both the brands and the people. You want to sell and get exposure, they want to buy and solve problems. So why not help connect everyone to each other if we can?
One way to do this could be to survey attendees prior to the show. Not all data has to be collected during or after the fact. Asking the hard questions before the show could help exhibitors (and attendees) save time & money and be able to more effectively focus their efforts BEFORE the exhibit is already set up and paid for!
Conclusion
The power is in the data.
With a little help from trade show management, pre-show data could help exhibitors be better prepared for the needs of the show attendees! Who wouldn’t benefit from that? Both attendees and exhibitors are the lifeblood of tradeshows, and when they are happy and find those connections with each other, EVERYONE is happy.