With companies investing heavily in Social Media and other digital marketing tactics to reach the customers/clients, is it worth investing in Trade Shows?
Trade Shows, unlike other marketing tactics, offer direct interaction with the decision-makers. If executed well, attending Trade shows can be a game-changer for the company.
Who attends Trade Shows?
From a start-up to a well-established company, will like to make the most of these opportunities, for a start-up it’s more about getting the word out and connecting to influential people in their domain, likewise for a company with huge budgets can bet for maintaining their dominance or unveil a new product or feature.
Here are the 5 benefits of many on why a company should include Tradeshow in their marketing funnel:-
Lead Generation – Unlike direct calling and email marketing activities which yield a very low conversion, the most popular lead generation activity around the sales team is attending a trade show, a highly skilled salesperson will make the most of the face time with potential buyers.
Networking – When the right people come together, they build a great company, Tradeshows often provide opportunities to meet influential peoples, & build long term corporate relations. Make the most of such events by not limiting yourself to people who are directly related to your product or industry, in fact; connecting with people sharing your goals and vision can lead to a new idea or business opportunities.
Brand Reach & Awareness – Tradeshow attracts industry experts, enthusiasts, and media under one roof which leads to business, education, and fun. Tradeshows take place in the most popular cities and it’s the best place to increase your brand awareness & reach at such gatherings, here are a few tips to get it right.
1) Choose your booth near blue-chip companies
2) Build attractive Exhibition Booth
3) Use creative graphics
4) Pull the crowd by offering freebies
5) Host some creative games around your products leading the crowd to get indulge in using your product
6) Engage in creative social media activities weeks before the event.
Launch a New Product – The ideal time to launch a new product would be at an upcoming trade show, as companies can seek direct feedback from industry experts, potential buyers, and influencers which might lead to new ideas, or even new partnership opportunities. Often companies launch prototypes of their products to understand the market reaction, market acceptance, and new possibilities, this data are then used to further reshape the product to be market fit.
Cost-effective Marketing – Though there is a misconception about Tradeshow creating a big dent in the company’s yearly marketing budget, it’s the other way around, the fact is tradeshows are time-consuming but are very cost-effective if executed with proper planning and precision. Investing in a tradeshow is about weighing risk versus reward. Companies earn round the year projects by attending just a single tradeshow.
So Should you attend exhibitions?
In one voice YES, you should. Exhibitions and trade shows can lead to great business opportunities and profits and it would be a shame to miss out on all potential profits to be made.
