6 Pre-Event Trade Show Tasks to Help You Stay on Track

Whether the show is in-person, virtual or hybrid, you can complete these pre-event trade show tasks long before you plan to exhibit.

by Lisa M. Masiello

Three years ago, professional services firm PwC predicted the global trade show market would increase from $34.4 billion to $40.1 billion by 2023.

It’s no wonder that trade show exhibitors list conference participation as a top marketing strategy.

At least that was the case before COVID-19’s complete shutdown of face-to-face events.

The last two years have required businesses to innovate on the fly, transforming their marketing tactics seemingly overnight to accommodate virtual programs.

While face-to-face trade shows are returning, some show managers are taking a hybrid approach. Others are still in a holding pattern — taking a wait-and-see attitude and informing exhibitors of their final decision on how the event will proceed as close to the show date as possible.

This uncertainty is causing exhibitors to shrink 12 months’ worth of pre-show preparation into 90 or 120 days. The compressed time frame to develop your marketing strategy, build a booth, print collateral and design a lead generation campaign requires more staff resources. It also requires a larger budget to pay for the rush charges incurred by creating and purchasing materials last minute.

While there may still be uncertainty as to what direction your trade show will take, six marketing tasks remain constant. Whether your show is in-person, virtual or both, you can complete them today, long before you plan to exhibit:

  • Integrate business goals

    The primary reason for exhibiting at any trade show is to achieve your company’s business goals. You may want to launch a new product, increase sales, expand into a new market or achieve another goal. Evaluate your marketing messages across your booth graphics, collateral and email communication now to ensure they align with your business goals.

  • Establish quantifiable objectives

    Establish specific, quantifiable objectives to help achieve your business goals. If your goal is to generate more leads and close more sales, qualifying at least 20 booth visitors per day may be your objective. Since virtual events also enable your staff to have one-on-one conversations with attendees, you can achieve this objective no matter the trade show type.

  • Align sales and marketing

    Ensure your sales and marketing teams agree on how to qualify each attendee as a potential lead. What criteria will determine if an attendee is a marketing qualified lead, a sales-qualified lead or simply a contact that requires additional nurturing? Sales and marketing alignment is critical to event success.

  • Write and design company collateral

    Every exhibitor produces a product flier, corporate brochure or another piece of collateral. Whether you ultimately print copies to distribute in person or make electronic files available online, it is an essential part of your sales strategy. Write and design the brochure now. Then put it aside until show management makes a final decision as to what type of event it will be. That eliminates the need to create the brochure from scratch close to the show’s start date.

  • Write and design pre-show marketing materials

    Pre-show marketing campaigns that invite pre-registered attendees and your business contacts to visit you at the show are a must. Write and design pre-show email and direct mail campaigns with a special offer, a discount registration code, and a meeting invitation. Just hold off on including an actual booth number or a link to a virtual exhibit hall.

  • Write and prepare post-show attendee communication

    A post-show email campaign helps remind attendees of their interaction with you and enables you to close more sales. Write and prepare your post-show emails today. As the start date gets closer, you can change the wording to say, “We enjoyed meeting with you in X city,” or “We enjoyed chatting with you online.”

Have you already committed to exhibiting at an in-person Fall or Winter 2022 trade show? With the talk of new COVID cases rising again later this year, you may wonder if you did the right thing.

Remember why you chose to exhibit in the first place. While the show management’s delivery strategy may be uncertain right now, your reasons for choosing to exhibit in the first place were based on a solid business strategy. They were the right goals aligned to the right show when you made the original decision, and they are the right ones now.

Although we can’t eliminate the stress and anxiety over this still-evolving trade show landscape, completing these six tasks now will help pave the way for a much more efficient, effective and successful event.

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