Pre, During, Post Show Marketing For Successful Branding
Pulling off a successful event requires significant efforts, time, and resources with meticulous planning to ensure that everything falls into place like clockwork. As an exhibitor, you want a branding strategy that stands out and sticks with attendees long after the show is over. The better you are at it, the more ROI you can generate from the event.
Ideally, your strategy should include pre, during, and post-show marketing activities. Let’s dive deeper into each of these.
Pre Show Marketing
Pre-show activities are instrumental in determining the traffic you can attract for your event. It is the stage where you run marketing campaigns to create awareness about your event. Start planning way before the event is scheduled to occur.
Typically, you will have to register and request for a booth for months in advance, so initiate promotional campaigns simultaneously. Here are some effective tips to better prepare for your event and gain maximum engagement.
Set Your Goals
Having specific, result-oriented goals are advisable for conducting exhibitions. Analyse your previous shows to understand what worked well and what didn’t. Set the goals you want to achieve through this event and communicate them well with your team. Strategically plan activities that can help you achieve those goals.
Design Your Booth
To have a great exhibit, you must aim to make it as appealing as possible. Work with an experienced booth design team to avail an attractive booth. Craft a compelling event tagline that features in your marketing campaigns, booth design, handouts, and giveaways. Create a theme for your booth and choose an assortment of banners, displays, and signages to complement your booth’s design.
Raise Awareness
Get your marketing team to formulate a promotional campaign for driving attendees to your show. A good mix of social media promotion, email marketing, text messaging, video ads, and press coverage will work for you. Also, considering that mobile searches are gaining more traction than ever, ensure that your digital content is mobile-friendly.
During The Show
Now that you are strategically prepared to promote your event, it’s time to implement the plan. Set up your booth according to the predetermined theme. Place the elements to meet your requirements. Get in touch with a seasoned event marketing and branding company like Silverline to guide you in setting up your booth professionally. Here are some effective tips to stand out during the show:
Reminders
Reach out to your attendees during the show using social media channels including hashtags that accurately represent you and the event. Ensure that you use hashtag in your pre-show marketing so that your audience is already familiar with it. Post photos and stories with attendees while the show is running to ensure that it rises in popularity. The idea is to maximise the awareness of your presence at the event.
Limit Giveaways
Follow this tip to prevent yourself from getting exploited. Limit your giveaways to selected customers who truly engage with your brand. It will prevent you from wasting them on passersby who don’t have any interest in your products or services. Instead, focus on customers who show a genuine interest in your products or services. Engage with customers who are willing to give you their time and share their contact details.
Post Show Marketing
Post-show marketing is as important as the above mentioned activities. To make your event entirely successful, you must have a post-show strategy. Here are some effective ways to achieve it:
Follow Up
After making the desired impact on your potential leads, it’s important to follow up promptly after the show. Many exhibitors lose their impact by getting there too late or in some cases, not following up at all. Make calls and send personalised emails to seal the deal and convert your leads into recurring customers.
Re-marketing Campaigns
Set up a re-marketing campaign for attendees whom you couldn’t reach out through personal calls. Remind your prospects about the benefits of your products and services. You can also set up a social media or email campaign for customers who didn’t show up at the event. Add a personalised sorry-we-missed-you message to let them know that they matter to you.
Analyse The Results
Once you have followed up with your clients, it’s time to analyse the results. Go back to the goals you had set up for the show. Analyse every aspect of the event to determine whether you outperformed your expectations or not. If you outperformed your goals, optimise your strategy to have an even better show in the future. However, if you notice under-performance, analyse the source.
Determine whether it’s the result of poor strategy or poor implementation. Or, perhaps the particular trade show wasn’t the best place to market your brand. Document all the analysis as it can prove to be highly beneficial for all your future events.
Gear Up For Your Post-Covid Trade Shows With Silverline
At Silverline Australia, we have a variety of products to create a safe setting for conducting events while enhancing your brand image. Our COVID-19 product range is designed to ensure the hygiene and safety of your event attendees at every step.
For further information and queries, drop us a line here.