Exhibiting at events is a great way to expand your brand awareness, with the opportunity to reach new leads through organiser marketing and the event itself. But to make the most out of your investment, it’s important to spend time (and a little marketing budget) on activities that help to increase footfall and interest, but also support your post-event efforts with new prospects.
In this series, we’re going to provide you with our guide on how you can get the most out of your event. Combining the right marketing tactics (and most importantly, a strategy!) can boost your event success – and help you obtain those all important leads!
First up, pre-event marketing
Your stand
The strategy for your stand needs to be your first consideration – everything from what it will look like, to how you will generate footfall and entice passers by to your stand. Our team can design attention-grabbing stand graphics to bring your brand to life and communicate your offering loud and clear. We’ll ensure your branding, straplines and any other customer-centric messaging is clear and visible, whilst making your stand look bold and engaging.
When it comes to communicating with visitors, tap into the power of video and animation to generate interest. If your stand includes video screens, maximise on this with bespoke animations and videos that promote your services, products or offering. You also need to consider how you can build brand recall once visitors leave your stand. Sure, they might remember your stand graphics, or a video, but what about days after the event? Branded brochures or leaflets and even fun (and if useful, even better) promotional items with your branding on can provide brand recall to prospective leads – backed up by your post-event strategy.
Digital marketing promotion
Using your social media channels is a great way to boost awareness of your attendance – and announce it to the world! Researching event specific hashtags that can help to expand your reach, whilst tagging the event/event organisers into your posts might encourage reposting, boosting engagement further.
You could also use channels like LinkedIn to outreach to your wishlist of clients. Identifying who you want to work with, and who might attend the event, will give you a list of prospective leads. Reaching out via LinkedIn to connect, introduce yourself and suggest a quick chat during the event is a great way to network before meeting face-to-face.
And let’s not forget about your existing network. Email marketing can promote your attendance to your current audience, like sending a mass email out to your database, or even something simple (but highly effective) like updating your email footer so you’re promoting your attendance every time you email externally.
Event marketing
Most events will have a range of press and advertising opportunities through the organisers. This could be through print adverts in an event guide, a digital banner on the event website and even press releases that are shared via social media and the main site. These will always have a cost associated, but if you have a large product/service launch, or even if you are new in the industry, these could help showcase your brand to an engaged audience.
Your website
Event attendances will often result in a surge in website traffic – but is your site ready to be presented to the world? Before you attend any events, it’s a good idea to have a full review of your online presence. Are your products or services up to date? Is the content and tone of voice reflective of your brand? Do you need a visual refresh? People may check out your website before visiting your stand, so you need to ensure you’re making the best first impression.
Depending on what your main message is at the event, you might benefit from a campaign specific landing page, designed just for your attendance. This could include any information you’re promoting in your stand (such as special offers, exclusive products, etc.) but this could also be used as a way to collect lead data. A generic contact form, or even an incentive for providing data is a great way to collect customer details – also ensuring they don’t get lost!
Lead capture
One of the most important things to consider pre-event is deciding how you’ll capture prospect data. This could be done simply through a badge scanner or an enquiry form, but to ensure your post-event communications are thorough, you should also make notes on the individual requirements of each prospect. The more bespoke information you have, the more personal you can make any follow-ups.
And remember…we’re here to help!
Are you looking to invest in events this year? From providing a strategy on boosting awareness of your attendance, developing a jaw-dropping stand design and everything else that goes into attending events; we can help. We’re a full-service marketing agency, so no matter how big or small your idea might be, we can make it come to life.
See examples of our work, or get in touch to discuss your requirements.
