Here’s how to walk away from your next conference with a pocket full of leads and an inbox full of follow ups.
Fresh off the plane from Dreamforce in San Francisco, our team is still coming down from their conference high. While not all conferences and trade shows are the size or scope of Dreamforce, we were reminded once again that many companies hinge the success of their conference and trade show attendance on their booth.
If this sounds like your company's strategy, stop right now! Booths are just the tip of the iceberg. If you're team isn't thinking beyond the "pull" strategy of a booth, you're missing out big time.
Events like Dreamforce are rich with opportunities to meet and engage relevant people and companies. To capitalize on those opportunities, you need to think like a hunter and pursue the opportunities you're looking for.
Here are a few of our favorite "beyond the booth" strategies that you can use to make the most of your next trade show event. Hint: get these ideas into the hands of your sales team!
Get an idea of who may attend the conference by following social accounts and monitoring the conference materials. Then reach out to meet with the most promising leads. Plan ahead and schedule as many in-person meetings, coffees chats, and demos of your product during the conference as you can. Showcasing your talents in the middle of the action gives your presentation an added element of excitement and gravity. Encourage people to get excited about meeting you and your sales team. Send personalized reminder emails and be available if some appointments need to be rescheduled, because they undoubtedly will.
Prepare your most interactive and engaging demo of your product for the conference and be ready to open the curtains anywhere, any time. By inviting people to come experience your product in the moment, you’re much more likely to get and keep their attention. And only schedule demos for “when you get back” as a last resort. Hosting a demo during the conference allows you to turn a typical meeting into a unique memory tied to an experiential moment—one way more impactful from anything you could create in their offices.
A strategic sponsorship can show attendees and new clients that you have something in common: A brand they already like. By borrowing the brand clout of your partner, you can test the waters of an in-person activation without spending your money on a turn-key event. Although you may lose some share of voice with two brand names, you’ll see the return on your investment with the shared lists from your partner and the bonus of a wider footprint at the conference.
Have an activation or event planned? Come with physical invitations in addition to your digital event and RSVP page. Physical invitations like cards and fliers are a great way to create reciprocity and build a different kind of tangible excitement. We prefer unique invitations like pop-up cards or holograms, but a nicely-designed invitation in an old-fashioned envelope does the trick, too.
Personally, I prefer to schedule or host breakfasts versus happy hours. Recently, we’ve seen more success recently with morning activations because conference patrons love to be productive in the beginning of the day. We can usually double the amount of leads created at an AM event than something held later in the day, plus the competition is way less stiff.
It’s not rocket science: When you hand out cool giveaways, people feel connected to your brand and often feel compelled to take action in response. Sometimes that action is following your brand on social media, sometimes it’s attending an event, and sometimes it’s hearing your full sales pitch or demo. Either way, swag is a conference staple. Come with something cool. (Bonus if it’s cool and it lights up.)
Don’t rely on your business cards to get you the business. Your demos should be doing that. If you can hold out, keep your card at bay until you’ve gotten someone’s email address. Giving a business card with no context is about as useless as giving someone a gum-wrapper. Be memorable first. Market yourself second.
Just in case your conference or trade show doesn’t provide them, bring a name tag or a old conference badge to identify yourself. Nametags help you broadcast who you are with the least amount of effort. They can help confirm your identity to old clients or digital contacts who haven’t met you yet in person. And they also help new friends remember whose hand they just shook.
Does your booth need backup? Do you need to reschedule a coffee demo with a potential client? Consistent on-site communication with your sales team can help you keep track of contacts and send resources where they are needed. We like Slack for messaging because you can create multiple channels for different needs and deliver the right conversation to the right people. Plus, with Slack you can revisit and search the channel for pertinent names or intel when you’re back in the office.
Keep reminding people where you’ll be and what your team is up to at the conference through email reminders, social media, and SMS. By staying top of mind, you can help reinforce the idea that your brand has an influential part to play at the conference, and that your sales teams will be at all the best events.
Is there a specific lead attending the conference that you’ve been following on Twitter or LinkedIn? Learn their faces or make yourself a cheat sheet to ensure you’ll recognize them if you bump into them on the trade show floor. If you’ve been trying to contact them, walk right up, introduce yourself and mention that you’ve been “missing each other” via email. If you don’t know them, spark up a conversation, anyway. Not who you thought it was? Well, now you’ve got a brand new group to meet.
By creating a hub for your clients to find and RSVP to the best conference events and parties, your brand can become a tastemaker and an influencer in their own right. Promoting your curated list is also a good way for other brands and businesses to discover you and pitch you on their party, too. The bottom line: If a client asks you which bar has the best party that evening, make sure you have an answer, and then make sure to send a sales rep in their wake.
Do everything in your power to not look over people or to look around when you're in the middle of a conversation. People can smell serial networkers a ballroom away. And it leaves a bad aftertaste. Instead, stay alert and present. Keep your phone in your pocket when possible. Being open and alert allows you to find more people to talk to. Talking to people builds connections. Connections result in demos. Demos create leads. (You see where I’m going here.)
Every second that you are talking to someone you know is a time you miss out on talking with someone you don't. Stay mobile. Keep moving. When you find a new group, jump in and try to change the tempo of your new group by bringing in positive energy and excitement. Make people feel included by introducing people you just met to other new people joining your group. It helps people feel comfortable and identifies you as a connector. And try to have a good time. Games around? Music? Play along. Dance. People love being around others that are having fun.
Author Keith Farazzi coined the term, but it doesn’t mean he owns the technique. In order to make your own deep bump, start with an opener. Natural is best, but even just "Hi I'm Ben” works just fine. Next, go for the meat: “May I ask what you do?” The comes elevation: “Interesting, tell me more.” The next step is information exchange: “We should connect.” And finally, dismount with an “anyways” that changes the topic and leaves you both chatting on a natural note.
The post-lunch lull is a slow time for networking. If you’re drained from your morning meetings, this is a good time to reset. And you’ll need your energy for the crowds at happy hour.
When you suggest meeting up—whether it’s for a demo or a quick hello—choose an interesting location and offer something quick, useful, ultra-specific, and unique in return. Ask around or do some scouting to find a rendezvous point with some local flair—it’ll help your pitch. Try something like: "Hey. Let's meet up for a quick juice/pancake/popsicle. I have a terrific spot. I want to quickly show you this new technology that we're rolling out. It's crazy the way Redbull is using it." Or even, “Hey, we just got these great gift bags that I want to drop off to you. Want to grab a root beer float at this great spot I know?”
Memorizing the where and when of the event allows you to optimize your networking time around the big moments. Going in prepared frees you of checking the schedule 12 times an hour and gives you conversation fodder to break the ice. The smaller the event, the easier this will be, of course. Plus, smaller events usually yield better connections.
Want to book more meetings at your next trade show? This strategy can help.
Ben Hindman is co-founder and CEO of Splash, the country's fastest-growing event marketing platform that helps businesses and brands more effectively market through their events. An event planner turned tech entrepreneur, events are in Ben’s DNA. Prior to starting Splash, Ben was the Director of Events at Thrillist, where he produced large-scale events from concerts to mystery fly-aways.
