At this point it is Quantity over Quality
Trade shows are a crucial part of the sales pipeline for many small businesses, sitting at the top of the funnel. They offer a great opportunity to engage with potential clients face-to-face, build brand awareness, and gather a large volume of leads quickly. The contacts you collect at trade shows are typically in the awareness or consideration stage, where they are exploring options and seeking more information. By capturing their details at this stage, you can nurture them through your sales process, converting them into qualified leads and, ultimately, customers. Here’s how you can maximise the number of contacts collected before the event ends:
1. Offer an Immediate Incentive
Provide an instant reward, such as free samples, small giveaways, or entry into a prize draw in exchange for contact details. Attendees are more likely to engage if they receive something on the spot.
Whilst you will collect some names here that are unlikely to become prospects you have no real way to telling, so quantity is a good thing here.
2. Create an Eye-Catching Booth
Design an attractive and interactive booth that draws in attendees. Use bold signage, interactive displays, or live product demos to grab their attention. The more appealing your stand, the more people will stop by and engage.
Remember that the first things they see are the headline above the stand (assuming you’re using a shell scheme) and the headline on your display. Making them about the client, not about you, is far more likely to get people to visit your stand.
3. Utilise Digital Sign-Up Tools
Equip your booth with tablets or QR codes linked to digital sign-up forms, making it quick and easy for visitors to share their details. This reduces the risk of losing physical sign-ups and speeds up the process.
Asking people to fill in a paper form, especially when you want lots of information, puts people off and you also run the risk of not being able to read their handwriting!
Most trade shows give you the option to rent badge scanners. Whilst this is often an optional extra, it is worth paying for as it saves you a lot of time and makes it very easy to collect details.
4. Mini Contests or Challenges
Organise on-the-spot contests, quizzes, or challenges that require attendees to provide their contact information to participate. This gamified approach adds excitement and encourages people to share their details in the moment.
5. Engage with Live Demos and Presentations
Host engaging, real-time demonstrations or brief talks at your booth. Attendees who are intrigued by your product or service can be asked to sign up for more information immediately after the demo.
This is one only really if you have a big stand. Trying to do this in a 3 x 2m stand may not be easy, depending on what you do.
6. Have a Friendly, Proactive Team
Make sure your booth staff are approachable and proactive in starting conversations. They should actively encourage people to leave their details, whether by engaging them in product discussions or explaining the benefits of signing up.
Having staff there who don’t want to be will put people off and you lose the opportunity to maximise the number of names you collect. Remember, the people on the stand don’t have to be Sales or Marketing. Having some operational staff on there gives people the opportunity to ask more detailed questions. Demonstrating the knowledge and experience within your business in this way is a great way to get people to give you their details.
7. Leverage Social Media Check-Ins
Encourage attendees to check in at your booth via social media. Reminding your followers in the days leading up to the event will encourage people to visit your stand. Consider mentioning your show neighbours in your posts, assuming they’re not direct competitors. If your neighbours reply, your post gets in front of all their followers, some of who will “nip next door” to see what you’re all about.
8. Quality giveaways
Just as a bonus tip, please make sure your giveaways are good quality. They won’t get contact details straightaway, but they will remain in peoples’ lives and remind them of the event and of your brand. Quality products strongly suggest a quality brand!
By optimising these strategies, you can gather a significant number of leads at the event, ensuring that your trade show efforts contribute strongly to the top of your sales pipeline. Over the years SME Needs has helped lots of companies make trade shows a highly effective part of their marketing mix. If you’d like to talk about your upcoming events, get in touch.
You may also want to read our article about the 5 biggest mistakes people make with trade shows.
