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Trade show season is ramping up. Does your business have a trade show marketing strategy or have you been winging it?
Trade shows are a great way to get your name out there. If done correctly, you not only get exposure, but you'll generate new leads and sales.
Let's take a look at how to ramp up your marketing efforts for trade shows this year.
Trade Show Marketing Tactics
If any marketing strategies need help, it's trade show marketing. If your booth isn't set up right or isn't inviting, your entire trade show experience can flop. Looking around a trade show floor, you'll see booths that are packed full of people are surrounding by crowds. Then, you'll see ones that have no one around and workers twiddling their thumbs.
What did the one booth do to be successful over the other? They most likely had a really great marketing strategy set in place ahead of time. What are the best things you can do to make your trade show trip worth it? Let's dive in.
Planning Ahead of Time
Planning ahead of time when you're going to be attending or exhibiting at a trade show is key. If you don't have a marketing plan set in place prior to going to the trade show, it isn't something you can just throw together last minute. It'll have poor results.
Implementation of well thought out event marketing strategies helps you have the right trade show booth setup, swag, and brochures. Getting the word out that you'll be exhibiting at a trade show a month or a few weeks in advance will create excitement.
Will you be giving away something special? You can create buzz around a unique giveaway and drive traffic to your booth just by planning out what you'll say on social, direct mail, or email ahead of time.
Speak, Don't Just Show Up
Many tradeshows have an opportunity for speaking. Is there a session that you'd be an expert at? You can set yourself up as a knowledge leader when you sign up to speak at a conference. You're also guaranteed eyes and ears as many people attend sessions.
You'll establish that you and your business are trustworthy and credible. You can also promote your booth while you're speaking and vice versa!
Content Creation
Creating content before you hit the tradeshow floor helps you really take off running. Once you've started to generate a buzz around your booth online, you can start to create content that also promotes your cause.
Writing blogs is a great way to get the word out. Covering sneak peeks of what you're going to be showing at the trade show to speaker exposes, to important event information gets people excited about the upcoming event.
Are You Prepared?
Trade show marketing done ahead of time will have you prepared to host an awesome booth at your next trade show. If you're speaking, you'll get even more success out of the event.
If you're interested in learning about more advanced marketing techniques, check out our blog on branded marketing strategies.
