Communication, Events, Marketing
We are all adjusting to the new normal. New procedures in the office, remote work, masks, and social distancing – the list goes on. Many of us are just returning to work now after being furloughed or laid off during the stay-at-home orders.
As the dust clears, we try to predict what the remainder of the year will look like and attempt to adjust our budgets for 2021. While much remains unclear, we know that it will not be business as usual.
If the majority of your sales leads came from networking at conferences, speaking engagements, or trade show booths, your future sales pipeline is going to be experiencing some difficulties as your leads dry up.
So, how can you generate leads when everything gets canceled? Event planners are doing their best – creating virtual booths and networking events – but it just isn’t the same. How can you fill that pipeline? It is hard to transition from outbound marketing (where you physically go out and collect leads) to inbound marketing (where the leads flow into your pipeline), but don’t worry, we have some ideas:
1. Change Your Website
If your sales and marketing process previously focused on building relationships, your website tone was probably on the passive side. Take a hard look at your website – does it sell? You will need to adjust to an active voice and include multiple calls to action.
2. What is Your Target Audience Searching For?
Your target audience is searching for different things than they were six months ago before the pandemic began. Take some time to investigate search phrases for your industry, target market, and location. The next step is to optimize your content so that you are capturing the organic searches in your industry. Then you can work on paid search ads to help you get featured at the top of the list.
3. Share Your Knowledge
If you are asked to give presentations at these trade shows, don’t keep the expertise to yourself. Your industry still needs to learn and grow during these trying times, it just needs to happen remotely. Consider hosting consistent webinars or training sessions. Not only are these a great digital lead generator that you can advertise, but your target customers will see you as an expert in your field. This builds trust.
4. Create More Content
With the time saved on travel to these canceled events, employ your staff to create more content. Training videos, demonstrations, blogs, how-to articles, white papers, and case studies are all items that should be in production right now by all staff members – customer support, engineering, and sales staff. This exchange of knowledge cannot happen in person at these events, but it can happen digitally.
5. Nurture Your Leads
Your new leads are going to look a little different than the ones you would get from the conference floor. You know, the one who did a product demo in a booth and had the budget conversation with your sales team. They are going to take a little more nurturing to move them through your pipeline.
Don’t get discouraged. Change is always hard, especially if your team has been doing things the “old way” for a long time. If you look at this as an opportunity, however, you may be surprised at what you can discover as you go through this process. You may find opportunities for efficiency that weren’t there before. As you shift your marketing dollars, you may find your new digital efforts give you a higher return on investment than these trades shows did in the past.
Branding, Events, Strategy
by Paige Fuoco, Designer
Trade shows are a great way for your business to meet potential clients and build brand awareness. In order to maximize your return on investment you should develop a strategic plan, ensuring your business will be the one everyone is talking about.
Begin your strategy by mapping out your objectives, tactics, and anticipated outcomes. Whether you are looking to raise brand awareness or generate sales leads, you must plan with a purpose in order to reach your goal. If you aren’t sure where to begin, take a step back and look at where your business is headed and what your priorities are moving forward.
Remember to be mindful of a realistic timeline and budget before you dive in to your strategy. Not every company can afford all the bells and whistles that come with exhibiting at a trade show, and if you plan accordingly, you won’t have to. With a timely schedule, practical budget, and creative mindset you’ll be five steps ahead of half the companies you’re competing with.
So, I have a strategy. Now what?
As the exhibitor, one of the biggest struggles is standing out from other companies. If you’ve been to a trade show before you know that pretty much all booths look the same and everyone is fighting for attention. Sure, every now and then someone lets you spin a wheel to win a free consultation, but it’s safe to say that method isn’t necessarily impactful.
So, how do you make a lasting impact? Think outside the booth.
Trade shows are typically targeted at a specific industry, so a good number of people attending should be interested in what you have to say – or so we can assume. This is a perfect opportunity to showcase your creativity and offer something that other companies aren’t. Our recommendation? Get with your creative team and figure out how to get some one-on-one time with prospective attendees. From our experience, this usually means taking them away from the crowded conference instead of forcing something to happen there. Maybe you take a group of five for coffee and bagels, or a group of thirty for drinks and apps.
Putting the Creative Pieces Together.
Trade shows allow you to put a creative twist on your brand. Work with your team to develop a theme for the event and stick to it. Consider concepts that people will relate to, and in turn, will remember long after the event. Is there a major sporting event coming up? Is the next season of Game of Thrones premiering? People enjoy making connections, and you’ll have better luck standing out if they can relate to your creativity.
Once you’ve decided on a plan, go through the list of attendees expected to visit – which organizers will often provide to you – and narrow down who you are interested in meeting with. Once you have a targeted group of people you can get to work on invitations and other event materials. Here are a few things you should consider:
- Ad placement – If you’re lucky, the conference host will run print or digital ads prior to the event, giving you the opportunity to showcase some assets from the branded theme your creative team put together.
- Invitations – Now that you have a plan of attack, you’ll want to invite people to be a part of your exclusive get-together. The most effective way to do this is running an email campaign. We recommend this over snail mail because you can dictate the exact time of day your audience receives the invitation and review stats from each time you send. You can also include more photos, landing page links, and even video.
- Day-Of Essentials – You now have a list of attendees who will be joining you for some one-on-one time and you want them to feel like they made the right decision. Put together a take-away packet with a company white paper and some event-branded materials. This is a great time to include an exclusive promotion and some items different from those at your booth.
- Booth – Though you’ve already differentiated your company from the others, you can’t neglect your booth. Be sure to do something bold and eye-catching and to include the assets from the theme you created. And, please don’t give away another stress ball or company t-shirt, you can do better than that.
Measure Your Outcomes.
Now that you’ve wowed your guests and made a great impression for your brand, it’s time to measure the outcomes. If your goal was to build brand awareness, take a look at social media engagement – use of hashtags, increase in followers, growth in overall media coverage. If you aimed to bring back leads, ask yourself how they transferred back into the sales funnel – follow up with a phone call, plan a lunch meeting, or whatever method your sales model supports. The evaluation of your objectives is a critical component to your strategic process and will allow you to see what was successful and what new information you can learn from.
It might seem difficult to stand out at crowded events like trade shows but remember that you strategically and creatively planned your impact, and people appreciate thoughtful marketing.
