How do you survey post-trade show attendees and exhibitors?

1 Choose your survey goals and questions

Before you create your survey, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to learn from your respondents. Do you want to know how satisfied they were with the trade show overall, or with specific aspects like the venue, the agenda, the speakers, or the exhibitors? Do you want to know how likely they are to attend again, recommend the event to others, or buy from the exhibitors? Do you want to know what they liked or disliked, what they learned, or what they suggest for improvement? Depending on your goals, you can craft your survey questions accordingly. Make sure to keep them relevant, concise, and easy to understand. Avoid leading, biased, or ambiguous questions that might skew the results.

2 Choose your survey method and tools

There are different ways to survey your post-trade show attendees and exhibitors, such as email, phone, online, or mobile. Each method has its pros and cons, depending on your budget, time, response rate, and data quality. For example, email surveys are cheap and convenient, but they might have low open and completion rates. Phone surveys are more personal and engaging, but they might be costly and intrusive. Online or mobile surveys are flexible and accessible, but they might require internet connectivity and device compatibility. You can also use a combination of methods to reach a wider and more diverse audience. Whatever method you choose, you need to use a reliable and user-friendly survey tool that can help you create, distribute, and analyze your surveys.

3 Choose your survey timing and frequency

The timing and frequency of your post-trade show surveys can affect the response rate and the accuracy of the feedback. Ideally, you want to send your surveys as soon as possible after the event, while the experience is still fresh in the minds of the respondents. However, you also want to avoid sending them too soon, when they might be busy or overwhelmed with other tasks. A good rule of thumb is to send your surveys within 24 to 48 hours after the event. You can also send a reminder email a few days later to increase the response rate. However, you don't want to send too many surveys or reminders, as that might annoy or discourage your respondents. A single post-trade show survey is usually enough, unless you have a specific reason to follow up with more questions or feedback.

4 Choose your survey incentives and rewards

One of the challenges of conducting post-trade show surveys is to motivate your respondents to participate and complete them. One of the ways to do that is to offer them some incentives or rewards for their time and input. These can be tangible or intangible, depending on your budget and preferences. For example, you can offer them a discount, a free trial, a gift card, a prize draw, or a donation to a charity of their choice. Alternatively, you can offer them some intangible benefits, such as access to exclusive content, insights, or resources, recognition, or appreciation. Whatever incentives or rewards you choose, make sure to communicate them clearly and deliver them promptly.

5 Choose your survey analysis and action plan

The final step of your post-trade show survey is to analyze the results and use them to improve your future trade show performance. You can use various tools and techniques to process and visualize your data, such as charts, graphs, tables, or dashboards. You can also use different metrics and indicators to measure your success, such as satisfaction, loyalty, awareness, conversion, or return on investment. The most important thing is to identify the key findings, insights, and trends that can help you understand your strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and best practices and lessons learned. Based on that, you can create an action plan that outlines the specific steps, responsibilities, and timelines to implement the changes and enhancements that your survey suggests.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?