What are the most effective post-trade show follow-up strategies?

Segmenting your leads is a great idea but be sure that everyone gets contacted. A 'colder' lead may just become warm or hot with some well targeted follow-up. If they are made to feel special and not 'cold', it may be enough to turn them your way.

I have learned to engage the customer as a friend versus trying to sell them something when they come by the booth. Once you can get the customer to open up you can get their attention on what your trying to sell. The customer doesn't know you and you have to be able break into their confidence of trusting you. I been told no a lot more times than yes on a sale, but I have been told no by the same customer multiple times and eventually got their business. If your told no, leave it at that and revisit next time or the next year. Persistence pays off and walk before you run.

Listen, listen, listen. Sometimes it is not only what the visitors that stop by your both want to learn about, but what they say in passing that is critical. Every aspect of the your organization is on display at a trade show. It's vital to bring back what you hear to all the department leaders so they can keep that in their cache to either improve upon or follow up with.

Never call from the Show Attendee list. Only call people you actually made contact with at the show. Nothing irks me more than hearing, "Nice meeting you at the show", when it did not happen.

anyone that takes the time for a conversation that leads to being scanned, i set the tone by telling them that I will follow up right after the show via e-mail and what that content will look like. not any ambiguious blanket blast email, but a short personal email based on your conversations at the booth. that opens the softmail channel and gives time for the follow up Phone call to uncover interests , needs, direction, timelines, next steps. there is no secret to this part, its first taking good notes at the show of your visits, and then follow up, follow up, follow up.

Something that you have to keep in mind is both to do this quickly but to be aware of the prospects timing. I go to a show every year the week before thanksgiving. Everyone is home on the Sunday before thanksgiving having been out of the office for a week. So they have 2 days to catch up on work. I don’t want to hit them those days. But by 15 December they are less focused due to Christmas. So I need to get to them from 1-15 December

An initial contact via text or email to suggest that you are grateful they came by your stand is very valuable. This can then further communicate that you will follow them up in a more personal way when you return to the office, etc. Call it nurturing or whatever but they are more likely to await your call before making a decision.

To maximize your trade show sales efforts you need to follow up with 100% of the conversations you had, and timely. With that said, based on the product you are selling and what priority level of your prospects world, it falls in. If you are not a top 3 priority then wait a few business days after the prospect is back in the office and then email or call.

I disagree slightly on the timing of follow ups. Somewhere between 2-4 days seems better, less salesy. Plus the day after you’re still reeling from all that activity. They’ll still remember you in a few days/after a weekend etc. and, if they too were an exhibitor, they will also be going through the same process. So a short buffer of time is fine.

Sometimes a more personalized follow up to a few select people can get the wheels spinning on new relationships and activities. I will often attach a photo from the event. Bonus points if the person you reach out to is in the photo. Then a more general follow up to others is always a good starting point.

Agree with Jay. I encourage our exhibiting partners to have a webinar or online demo planned for 2 to 3 weeks after the expo. They will be able to increase lead gen during the expo by asking if they can scan the prospect’s badge in order to invite them to an online event (more service and giving oriented vs a follow up sales call). In the follow up email, the webinar invitation should mention that this free resource is an excellent opportunity to get other stakeholders involved by sharing the invitation with their colleagues. You could now have end users, and decision makers tune in to help speed up the sales process.

Providing value is all about giving with ZERO expectation of getting anything in return. Teach them, inspire them, be thoughtful. There is no doubt you want to sell them something, that doesn’t mean you need to aggressively sell them. You want to be seen as someone that adds to their life and you can do that while also building trust. If they like and trust you, the selling part becomes easy and natural.

Keep in mind the leads you have will already have been subjected to the "sales" pitch. From a marketing perspective adapt your engagement and share a more human approach, this means adapting the selling message to a story that answers questions the prospect may have. It must also add value to the solution the prospect is looking for.

I continuously evaluate the effectiveness of my lead-generation efforts during events. Identify what's working well and what needs improvement. I am always willing to adapt my approach based on the feedback and data I collect. I utilize Salesforce to track interactions and gather data. This helps me to identify trends and prioritize leads with high buyer intent.

Simply tracking open and click rates isn't enough - you need to get granular with your analytics. Make sure you track replies, survey responses, and demo sign ups by lead segment. Dig into the data to see which messages and offers resonate best with each group. And don't just monitor your top of funnel metrics - keep an eye on the bigger picture. Look at post-tradeshow sales cycle velocity - how many days faster are you closing deals compared to other lead sources? Crunching these numbers will prove the ROI on your tradeshow strategy and help you optimise. Connect the dots between follow-up campaigns and pipeline velocity, deal size, and revenue booked. That's how you turn tradeshow contacts into hard profit.

Another stat in this regard is that only 2% of the time does your marketing connect with someone at the right time for them. So multiple connections are very important to break through.

You’re going to want to think about different cadences for the different segments of leads. There is a fine line between selling and stalking. Don’t be so persistent that you’re found to be annoying. You also can’t wait so long between touch points that they don’t remember you. Use your CRM tasks and sequences to stay on point because you can’t possibly remember everything.

In this stage you should know more about the prospectives company and strategy. Make sure you build a comprehensive view about the needs based on all engagement points and notes. Understanding the human element and adapting the approach to grow a relationship with the individual is important. Don't rely on statistics to guide your follow up strategy.

Having regular content with different topics and tag lines is crucial to getting more engagement from your perspective future members or clients. You never know what might engage them to look under the hood, or what is going on in their life changes that might get them to see the value of what you have.

Here's a concise take on being persistent and consistent in tradeshow follow-up: Follow up frequently but vary tactics - email twice, call once, direct mail once. Balance persistence with value - send new info, discounts, industry trends. Respect lead preferences but don't give up too soon. It takes multiple touches to connect. Remain top of mind through consistent nurturing, not sporadic bombardment. Stagger messages and integrate channels. Monitor results to optimize cadence and maximize conversions.

I was an exhibitor at a recent trade show in which we collected contact information and other qualifying data from prospects. All this data was immediately added to Salesforce and follow-up tasks were assigned to the Sales team. Some examples of effective follow-up activities include: 1) Immediate post-trade show email to each qualified prospect to thank them for stopping by our exhibit. In that email, requesting a meeting. 2) Adding all qualified prospects to our Constant Contact email list. 3) Calling qualified prospects to set up meetings and acquire further qualifying information It's just critical to initiate and maintain some sort of correspondence and contact strategy immediately after the trade show is over to stay top-of-mind.

Timing - Be strategic with timing. Don't wait until long after the tradeshow. Ask while the experience is still fresh so you get more authentic and enthusiastic referrals and testimonials.

Set the expectation of what follow up method you will use with the exhibition visitor by telling them before they leave your stand/booth.

Post-show follow-up is critical in making a lasting impact with prospects. It's not just about selling; it's about investing in their success. I've found that connecting through LinkedIn, both at the company and personal level, allows me to stay informed about their activities, celebrate their achievements, engage with their posts, & demonstrate my genuine interest in their journey. As this relationship builds & trust is established, it shows that I have a clear understanding of their brand & a commitment to their growth, I'm not just selling a product or service – I'm offering a solution that addresses their needs. This approach not only enhances the post-show follow-up but also fosters strong, long-term connections with prospects.

Some pretty simple ideas: 1. Pick up the phone and make some thank you calls 2. Follow up that call with a well designed thank you email 3. Set up a post-event portal where atendees can collect pictures and watch videos or highlights from the event. 4. Enable sharing, so that they can put the info up on their social feed. This is user generated marketing and should cost you nothing. 5. Keep the event alive in the minds of your attendees by sending a branded post-event gift. 6. If it is an annual event - let that gift demonstrate what's coming in next years event.

Competitive intelligence - Research where your leads are also engaging with competitors. Use this intel to position your differentiators and value proposition. Event recon - Debrief with your team about booth engagement, lead interests, competitor booths, etc. Look for insights to optimize your strategy for the next event. CRM optimization - Ensure all relevant tradeshow data is captured in your CRM. Continually refine lead scoring models and automations based on insights gained. Account-based approaches - Coordinate cross-functional effort to accelerate deal cycles for strategic targets. Executive follow-ups - For C-level connections, schedule VIP hospitality events or dinners in the post-show period to deepen engagement.