Ultimate Guide: Trade Show Leads

Written By Guest User

Introduction

There is a reason why so many companies would go out of their way to have space in trade shows and conferences: because they know the leads are going to be worth it. Over 80 million people attend trade shows every year, which is an amazing opportunity to put yourself out there and capture the leads that will make a difference in your future. That type of investment is essential, and knowing how to manage these trade show leads is a big plus. Here’s why this will give you a leg up in the competition:


1. What is Lead Generation?

How to do Lead Generation by IamPaulJames

Depending on who you ask, they’ll have a different answer to this question. But if you analyze it, it’s not that difficult; lead generation is a way to create consumer interest in a product, business, or service that ends with the individual’s contact information. Generating leads can come in many ways, but going to live events like trade shows is one of the most popular and successful examples. 

Some people might see a lead as an email or a phone number, but others might see it as data that might end in something bigger for your business. But in general, a lead is a business or a person that provides you with the essential information that you’ve been looking for to include in marketing campaigns, getting them signed up for your program, selling them a service, and more.

2. Why Should You Generate Leads?

Going to live events like tradeshows can bring you a lot of lead generation and there are many reasons why so many are opting for this option. It is the perfect chance to engage with supporters and learn about what they are looking for while also creating new supporters. There’s also not a better opportunity than this one to build out a VIP network within an industry that might lead to creating new business. Having that connection with people at a trade show will create a return to investment that more than justifies the cost of presenting at the event.  

It has been shown that at least an average of 20 leads can be generated by a sales professional in the booth per day in an average trade show. That is without mentioning all the foot traffic that a booth can bring. In the end, generating leads can show you the way to grow your business even more than you dreamt of. It’s a risk that is completely worth it.

Trade shows might be the best chance to get the best lead generation and engage with new future clients.

3. Establish Goals of Lead Generation

It is vital to get a few key questions and goals in your head before going to any trade show. First, you need to ask yourself: What kind of leads are you looking to drive? Knowing where you want to go with it will make your road much easier to conquer. Secondly,  what information is essential to you when driving leads? It can be anything from a phone number, email, or more in-depth data that you think is necessary. Even if it’s just a name, any info that you might find will help. 

There are many other answers to this question, but what’s important is finding ways to make the best choice for you. You can integrate leads into marketing campaigns, offer special perks to trade show guests to anyone who wants to become leads in your systems, or run a follow-up campaign with trade show leads to keep the event fuel going and keep your image fresh in their minds. Be creative when choosing those goals and setting them up.

Lead Generating Experiences

There are many ways to get the attention you are looking for with the right strategy and creativity. Capturing trade show leads has a lot of benefits, and knowing what steps to take, with the right plan in mind, will help you make it see those benefits materialize. Here we will show you how to attract the right people into your booth, create an experience that will be hard to forget, and will get you the leads you’ve been craving.

Let’s work on how to make your booth the talk of the show

4. Standing Out at Your Trade Show

It is important to let every attendee know that you are here to deliver the experience that they were looking for. So incorporating a lead strategy into your booth that will make you stand out from everyone else is something that should be a priority. We at Trade Show Labs offer the equipment, tools, and strategies to make it happen. Having an engaging and innovative booth with games and interactive activities will help keep your space full of people that are ready to engage with your team. 

It’s all about thinking outside the box, or booth, while doing things that are different from everyone else in the event. Helping you show off your creative side is what we do best. You’ll see the results in no time when you have the right mindset and strategy from day one.   

5. How to Drive Traffic to Your Space

There are many ways to help attendees connect to your brand, attracting them straight to your booth and creating an impact. Giving them a reason to visit your space with competitions, limited offers, giveaways, or showing a first look at new products that they might want are great ways. 92% of people that come to trade shows are looking to try out free demos, creating a lot of anticipation for what’s to come for your brand. 

You could also go the extra mile by bringing in an industry expert that is not part of the event roster, having them sign autographs or photo opportunities at the event. Researching the highest traffic day and time to do this is part of the strategy to get the party going in your area. Focus on making it the best experience that any visitor will have during the entire event. 

6. Memorable engaging Trade Show Booths for Lead Generation

Samsung CES 2022 Booth

At this year’s CES, Samsung decided to showcase all the technologies and products that they’ve been working on that are focused on minimizing their environmental footprint. From automation and TVs, to home appliances, their interactive booth would take attendees to different rooms that focused on various products and how to apply them to everyday life. Even if you didn’t make it to the showroom, they made a virtual tour that shows the information on every product they had in their jam-packed exhibit, so that you can enjoy it anywhere you are. So no matter if you attended CES 2022 or not, lead generation was happening at every moment. Even after the convention ended. Check out the virtual tour below!

Nintendo’s Animal Crossing New Horizons booth at PAX East 2020

Video Game giant Nintendo went the panoramic route by recreating an island getaway to promote their upcoming game at the time, Animal Crossing New Horizons. The booth offered its attendees many photo opportunities in the area, with members even providing props like a bug net and shovel to make everyone feel like they are in the game. They even had some of the main characters visiting the area so that guests could take pictures with them. With projectors pointing at the floor to simulate the island vibes, this booth was the showstopper for the remainder of the event. They even had an area where guests could play the upcoming game for 20 minutes, making it the perfect place for lead generation and feedback. Using a mix of technology and creating a vibe like no one has seen before, was the perfect combination to get people talking.

Tesla’s CVPR 2022 Conference

The Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference (CVPR) in New Orleans, Louisiana, came to a halt when it opened its doors and attendees saw that Tesla had brought a Cybertruck prototype for everyone to see. Their booth was one of the biggest ones at the event, with many professionals like Tesla engineers on the show floor answering questions from guests and giving out information about the upcoming futuristic electric truck. They even had a conference where they confirmed that they are working on other products like hardware and AI technology, giving people a hint on what’s to come for the company. It was a simple giant booth, but having something as eye-catching as the Cybertruck for everyone to admire and professionals giving a preview of what’s to come, made this a very successful trade show for Tesla.

Google Assistant at CES 2018

Google made the biggest and most interactive booth ever seen at CES 2018 that was everything but boring. It was a three-story outdoor booth that had a spiral slide, rooms that looked like an art exhibition filled with old and new tech, demonstrations of their current and upcoming products, a donut and coffee shop, a lounge area with more snacks, and a room with a huge pastel colored train set. Not only did they have one epic adult playground showcasing their brand, but inside the convention center, there was a giant gumball machine that could interact with attendees by assisting them and making jokes while giving out prizes.

VR Example (that is going to be provided)

How to Capture Leads at Your Trade Show

There are many tips in the business on what is a good or a bad idea when it comes to getting the right leads at a trade show. Below, we will show you the most important ones to remember before you step into the showroom. These are some of the things that you need to keep in mind when strategizing and should be part of the pre-production process. It is all about the details.

7. Lead Capturing Techniques

This is something that might seem like a basic thing to know, but believe us, it is very normal to see in trade shows; Do not use pen and paper to get someone’s information. It’s 2022, technology is your best friend and will make things easier for your team. So instead of going back to the office and manually entering every piece of information, you gather it in a spreadsheet, have a tablet, phone, or system so that all your leads get in the system as soon as it happens. It’s better to automate everything that doesn’t require a human touch so the process goes even smoothly.

8. Lead Capture vs. Lead Retrieval

Before going in, we need to differentiate both terms to determine which one goes with your goals, or whether both tools can be used. This is important so that when you’re shopping around for the right tools to use, you know what you’re looking at and see what works.  Lead retrieval is when you look up lead data before the trade show by scanning the smart badges provided in the event (if it applies). When used, it will show you the attendee’s info which will make getting the data simpler. 

Meanwhile, lead capture does the same as lead retrieval, except that you are capturing data instead of it being provided to you. Instead of being given data by the organizers of the trade show, your lead data comes from interactions inside your booth space such as business cards, app sign ins, competition entries, etc. 

Both tools can also analyze event traffic depending on the day and time which can help you find the right times to capture data. Those leads can also be turned into sales in the event. The cool thing about these tools is that the data that has been gathered can be used in many events, no matter the location.

Remind yourself that all the information that you are gathering on these events needs to be in the same system so that your company knows what it has in its hands. This is why having a way of scanning business cards or any physical leads that are not digital needs to be looked at so that nothing gets overlooked. 

9. Lead Capturing Tech Options

  • V Capture- This is a fully customizable solution that is compatible with Mac, PC, and mobile and specializes in universal lead capture. It helps create a system that is simple and can work on multiple devices at the same time with salesforce integration. It can also rank, categorize and label leads making them easy to find.

  • Momencio-  This badge scanner can show context around the scanned badge or business card that helps the staff member have easy accessibility to know what are the attendee's needs. Not only will it register the lead, but it can also automatically search in a pre-existing customer list. It also has the option to send follow-up emails to the attendees right after the event is over to keep in contact. It can also integrate with many CRMs. 

  • QuickTapSurvey- This fast lead capture lets you create branded mobile forms and surveys that will help you identify quality leads and automatically tally to create a score for every lead which can then be exported to Salesforce, Mailchimp, or via API. It also has an offline mode option so it will still work even with no connection.

  • CompuSystems- This app not only does it scan attendee’s badges, but it lets you forward electronic marketing materials to the contact and create surveys and actions code to qualify leads. It can also identify which contacts have already been contacted so that you don’t resend info and gives you the option to communicate based on their history.

  • Social Tables- It’s an event management software that is popular with event planners for anything from diagramming, and 3D rendering to lead capture. It gives you the option to choose your criteria for lead scoring and has features to check in guests, do search filters, and let you check for critical insight for your trade show booth.

  • EventDex- If you are an event organizer, EventDex is perfect for you. It helps you manage online registration, event ticketing, mobile check-in, lead scanning, business matchmaking, and networking in just one user-friendly app. It also lets you design badges with QR Codes or barcodes so that it’s easier to scan with your phone for leads.

  • Cvent LeadCapture- It’s the perfect app to build a relationship with your leads and even with other exhibitors. It gives you the option to integrate other Cvent’s onsite solutions to have everything in one place. It has a star system to rate leads as soon as it happens and take notes like services they are interested in or any other important info. It works on Android and iOS.

  • iCapture- Turn your phone into a lead-generating machine in one platform. It lets you score leads either manually or automatically and can link your lead data with your Salesforce account. It also works offline, letting you scan traditional 2-D barcodes, QR codes, and RFID. As soon as you scan the badge, it lets you check which product or service they are interested in based on the data in their system.

10. Creating a Schedule and Staffing Your Event

If you are using your team to attend to your booth, you need to make sure everyone is on the same page and understands their role in the event. If you are bringing outside people to attend the booth, the staff must be confident with your day-of plan. It doesn’t matter if you have the right technology if your staff doesn’t know what they have to do. To get the best leads, you need to have a well-trained staff that knows how to tend to every attendee that visits your booth and keep them engaged.

What to Do with Your Trade Show Leads

11. Following up with Leads

Now that the event is over, and you got all the leads that you could from the trade show, it is time to put those leads into good work! This is the time where you implement the lead plan that you started thinking about at the beginning when you discussed what info you wanted to focus on and what types of leads you desired. So now the question is: who is in charge of outreach and what method are you using to do so?  It can be via email, social media, calling, texting, or any method that you chose, but the important thing is that you make sure to follow up so that all your hard work doesn’t go to waste. 

You can organize and prioritize your leads by which ones showed a level of interest to know more about your products than others who were undecided. Timing is also very important, contact them as soon as the trade show is over so that everything is still fresh in their heads. Waiting too much time to do so and the lead might go flat. The quicker you do it, the higher the chances of you closing the deal.    

12. Calculate the ROI of Your Trade Show

When everything is done, you’ll be able to figure out if you hit your goals, depending on the plans that you had when organizing your booth. It’s great if people’s feedback was that they enjoyed your booth, but you should focus more on the lead retrieval/capture numbers that you were able to accomplish during the event.

13. What Were Your Competitors Doing?

It’s good to always keep an eye on your competitors because there is a lot you can learn from them. Things to look for are experiences that might inspire you for your next event, what worked well for others that you can implement, and what didn’t work for you to avoid and not make the same mistake. You don’t need to copy exactly what they were doing, but this type of information can make the difference in your next round of events.

14. Incorporate Your Experience into Your Next Trade Show Plan

Analyzing your trade show experience post-event is a great way to figure out what else you can improve as well as things that you need to stay away from. Sometimes it’s all about trial and error, so having the ability to do a supercharged version of the original planning in order to figure out what worked and what didn’t is a must. Taking it all in will inspire new ideas to combine with the ones that worked. This is a very vital point, if something worked, don’t change it, but upgrade it with other things that you can add to make the experience even better.

Conclusion

Driving trade show leads is no small task, but it’s absolutely possible with the right plan. In fact, with a good strategy in place, it’s actually fun! We’ve helped our clients drive leads in order to prove a great ROI for their trade show, and we’d love to help do the same for you and your team. Don’t hesitate to reach out

Guest User
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