Trade shows can be costly but they have a big payoff too. Face to face meetings are rare in our digital world so trade shows offer up opportunities to hold the attention of your buyers and the big decision makers for the companies you sell to. However, that doesn’t mean that your marketing for your trade show should be traditional in any sense of the word. You have to make sure that your booth and your brand stand out amongst all the competition. Last week we gave you 4 Email Marketing Tips for Your Next Trade Show. This week, our blog post will feature Ways to Use Marketing Automation to Boost Trade Show and Event Success. Here are five tips for using marketing automation:

 

  1. Have the Right Technology: Marketing Automation software plus a little added advance preparation of data allows you to be prepared before a show. Automation can help transform any old trade show into a multichannel selling and buying experience that enhances your brand awareness while nurturing leads and driving sales.
  2. Segment Your Communications List: When you segment your email list, you can automate messages to flow throughout the trade show or event that are relevant messages to each group of your segments.
  3. Multi-Channel Marketing Campaigns: Last week we talked about email, but for a complete campaign before, during, and after a trade show or conference, a multi-channel approach is key. Use your marketing automation to tap into all media including direct mail, social media, and other digital channels that are working right now like SMS text messaging.
  4. Continue to Capture Data during the Event: For a successful follow up and continued marketing communications, updating, maintaining, and adding customer data and information is very important. If the regular booth staff is too busy with sales and displays, have an extra tech employee go along to the trade show for the sole purpose of data continuity and updating. This can be a marketing person that also handles social media and other marketing related efforts.
  5. Follow Up: As with any trade show, follow up is super important if you are to continue with marketing automation. With you data up-to-date, you can create drip campaigns to automatically keep messaging appropriate campaigns to your segmented groups. Remember to continue to update your data and segments throughout the year as prospects become customers or customers become prospects.