When done right, trade shows can be a great source of leads, revenue and brand awareness for B2B businesses. It’s a fantastic opportunity for salespeople to meet their clients and target audience face-to-face and, with 81% of trade show attendees having buying authority and 92% actively looking for new products, it’s a channel that is hard to beat.
But is your exhibition booth standing out from the crowd? For many B2B businesses, it can be all too easy to blend into the background at events where many exhibitors are competing for the same target audience. One way to attract attention and drive engagement at your booth is to tap into ‘experiential marketing’, which is all about making customers and prospects the hero in their own experience. Here are some tips to help you make your exhibition experience as engaging and customer-centric as possible:
1. Engagement
What is it about your stand that is going to really engage with trade show attendees and make them stop in their tracks? One way of ensuring this is through technology, for example, interactive touch screens and a prominent use of video, but it can also be down to powerful language and brand positioning. With the right messaging, you can stand out from the competition and engage directly with your target audience.
2. Mentorship
Nothing compares to a face-to-face meeting and trade shows are an excellent opportunity to nurture a relationship with prospects and clients, pushing leads down the sales funnel and building overall brand awareness. Always have someone on hand at the booth to help guide visitors through their experience and transport them from initial curiosity to buy-in.
3. Revelation
This stage is all about showing where you have come from and where you want to go with your business offering, and this can perhaps most easily be demonstrated through a group presentation or product demo on your stand. Staying away from being too salesy is key: this is more about highlighting what you can offer for the customer.
Whatever your exhibition goals, by following this type of journey you can be sure that your attendance there will be effective. It’s no longer just about your products, but about building brand loyalty and boosting your conversion rates through storytelling, meaningful experiences and engaging activities.
Discover more tips for boosting your exhibition attendance with our brand-new guide, available now for download on The Knowledge.