If you don't engage in pre-show marketing efforts, you are not only wasting money, but you're leaving important marketing and business development opportunities behind. Everything you do prior to arriving at the show increases the length of time your customers or prospects will experience your brand and messaging.

An integrated marketing program around a trade show should not only encompass your company's overarching marketing strategy, but also be homed in on marketing tactics specific to the show you're attending. Give yourself a few months before the show to engage in pre-show outreach. With careful preparation, you'll be more likely to reach who you want to. Here are several things to consider when building your pre-show strategy.

Create a marketing funnel to collect responses and drive interest and metrics. Many executives ask their team to generate metrics and measure results on trade shows. While it's hard to measure conversions on sales of products and services at most shows, there's an opportunity to capture impact through landing pages, email campaigns, and social media impressions. A landing page creates a call to action where guests can enter their contact information, advise you of areas of interest, and keep in touch to learn more about what you're doing. Email campaigns can offer reporting such as click-through rates, open rates, and data regarding subscriber interest. If you already have a sales and marketing funnel, this is an enhancement to what you're already doing. If you've never done any of this before, baseline metrics are a start in the right direction, so don't worry. Results and trends take time to build.

Use email marketing to let people know where you'll be. Segment your customer database into different categories, and then send pre-show email campaigns tailored to each segment. These emails should let your customers and prospects know you'll be at the show, and they should include your booth number and information about in-booth activities. Be specific about your in-booth activity. Will there be chefs preparing specialty pizzas at an upcoming food show or engineers showcasing the newest AI robot at the next tech conference? Give people a reason to put your booth number and event on their short list. The more excitement that you can create, the better.

Pre-schedule in-booth meetings with potential customers, current customers, suppliers, partners, and anyone in your network you'd like to meet. Meet with your sales team in advance of the show to find out if current customers and prospects will be in attendance. Then reach out to them with a show calendar link that lets them book time with you. Many meeting scheduling apps are available now, like Calendly and Doodle. These apps let you input the names of your sales team members and available time slots, then guests can choose a time that works for them. Many exhibitors are vying for the attendee's face time, so by grabbing a piece of the pie in advance, you'll increase your chances of meeting with them. Remember that current customers are as important as prospects. In-person relationship building is important, and your customers might not make the time to come by if you don't ask. Experience has shown me that when it comes to meetings at shows, people might not arrive at the scheduled time, so prepare to be flexible. Be sure your booth is staffed and your sales team is available in case people show up early or late to your scheduled meeting.

Prepare electronic sales materials that can be scanned with a QR code or emailed immediately when the show ends. Literally no one wants to carry paper literature around with them at a show. But if your team prepares in advance by loading product spec sheets and sell sheets behind a QR code or even via the lead retrieval app, you're right on point. If attendees are excited about your product, they can access information about it right away or immediately after the show closes. This pre-show preparation will become part of your customer's journey and will ensure your message gets across to them quickly and succinctly in a way that won't weigh them down with reams of paper.

Get your booth number in print in as many places as possible. Do you typically advertise in a print magazine? Ask your sales rep about deadlines so you can add your booth number to the pre-show edition. Is there a show daily handed out to attendees when they arrive at the expo? These are wonderful platforms for placement. Just recently I was at the National Restaurant Association show and there was someone handing people the show daily as they boarded the shuttle on the way to McCormick Place. Talk about a captive audience! They were sitting in Chicago traffic, excited to go to the show, and needed something to read. It was hard to miss the featured advertisers on the cover of the publication. The deadline for artwork submissions and insertion orders on these show dailies typically falls well before the show opens. If you plan far enough in advance, you can use these publications to convey your message in an impactful way.



Use the show app to connect with people. Show apps offer networking and engagement opportunities that weren't available a few years ago. For example, as I prepared for eMerge Americas in Miami Beach, I downloaded the show app, added my photo, created a profile, and chose industries and topics that I'm interested in. As a result, I heard from several exhibitors and attendees who were interested in connecting with me regarding the industries and topics that I put on my profile. Many show apps now allow both attendees and exhibitors to pre-schedule conversations on the show floor, during show hours, within the confines of exhibit spaces, and around the venue.

Maximize your exposure on social media platforms. Social media exposure not only lets attendees know what you intend to feature in your booth, but also lets people who are not at the show learn about you. Be sure to tag the official show accounts and hashtags in your content. Social media marketing teams can geotarget advertising to key demographics, so reach out to attendees far in advance or schedule your marketing in proximity to the convention center as you get closer to the show dates. When considering social media options, study attendee demographics to make sure you're finding your target audience where they are. While most professionals use LinkedIn, some demographics spend a lot of their time on TikTok or Instagram. Remember that research shows it takes about eight encounters with your brand before a consumer trusts your product enough to make a purchase. By posting frequently, you stay top-of-mind, but keep in mind that even if you post 10 times, not every member of your target audience will see all 10 posts. To increase your reach, ask your sales team to repost social media content with their thoughts because ads perform much better when they're interacted with and reshared. And remember to include a bit of your humanity in your posts. Savvy consumers quickly identify and often disregard AI-generated messaging.

Establish your presence to the press. Show floors host plenty of press members, publication teams, and influencers. Onsite press rooms at trade shows offer space for companies to feature their materials, and virtual press opportunities offer a virtual space for exhibitors to upload and feature their materials for press. Digital press kits can include exhibitor products, product descriptions, press releases, high-resolution images, videos, and assets. If you've prepared your virtual press kit in advance, you can quickly distribute it as needed and upload it where appropriate to get in front of the eyes of the media for pickup. The great news is that digital show kits can evolve with you. Update yours frequently to ensure you're reaching your target market with the right messaging.

Use the show's online profile opportunities to set up your virtual booth. Most shows offer either a website or an app that has a floor plan or list of exhibitors. Many online profiles can include your company logo, your brands, your taglines, and your social media and contact information in one place. Often shows will create a space where you can post show specials or help clients understand where your products and services are available. Virtual listings might include information like whether you import or export, speak multiple languages, or have multiple locations. Many shows also offer upsell opportunities for exhibitors who want their virtual booth highlighted with additional logos featured and higher listings on the floor plan websites.

Be cautious about ordering pre-show lists from outside vendors. There are very few shows publicly selling their lists to outside organizations. Most shows offering to do a blast on an exhibitor's behalf will require that the content be submitted directly to show management and sent through their internal platforms. Almost every day, a solicitor tries to sell me lists of data that are often with bad information or illegally obtained. While there are legitimate organizations selling lists, do your research to make sure no one takes advantage of you.

Pre-show outreach can help you make your trade show program so effective that it will be easy for you to justify the cost of each show. An effective campaign helps you extend your presence beyond the show floor, establish consumer trust, and hold effective meetings. Trade show marketing is about so much more than what happens on the show floor, and if you implement some of these tactics, you'll find greater success with your trade show program. E