The Essential Strategies and Tips - first, how to get ready for the Expo

Good ROI is only achievable with careful planning...

1.Workshop a short answer to ‘What do you do’? The answer to this vital question is essentially your ‘verbal tagline’7. Your answer must be short, clear and somewhat intriguing. A great one will get your team on the same page. 

2. Workshop your standard questions to screen out Random Walkers. Up to 80% of passing Randoms are of zero interest to you, so save valuable Expo time for your HVPs. Put a simple form onto a clipboard and assign the screening task to a personable junior staff member. The Randoms won’t get upset - they don’t want to waste their time either! 

3. Select your HVPs to target. How many you target depends on the size of your business, what you sell and who your niche is. To really profit, you need a laser sharp focus — so set clear goals and be clear about what you want to achieve from meeting them. 

4. Research your main HVPs. LinkedIn is ideal for this. Print the Profiles of those you want to meet and put them in a folder for easy access when they visit your Booth. You can even (politely) stalk them if you see them wandering past! On each profile, mark a couple of talking points so that each conversation becomes more valuable. 

Key tip: have junior staff start conversations while you check if they are HVPs. If yes, join the conversation well prepared with knowledge about them. 

5. Target Referral and Collaboration Partners. Potential partners are often exhibiting as they sell to the same audience you do. Ensure these companies are on your HVP list then go and visit their Booth when yours is quiet to explore possible collaboration. 

6. A small Booth is enough. If you use LinkedIn to select your HVPs before the Expo, they will come to you. Don’t waste scarce marketing budget on a $10,000 Booth and an expensive fit-out. 

The only caveat to this? If you are a giant corporation, then get a medium-sized Booth as people will expect you to be more prominent. But for SMEs, always take the smallest (and cheapest) possible. 

7. Share a Booth. A great way to save more money. And time. And energy. And get more sales! Share it with Collaboration Partners — companies selling to the same people as you. Partners are critical to the success of modern marketing, and not just at Expos. Apart from the Booth rental and fitout, you’ll save on staff as each Partner will have people there. You also have someone on the Booth while you take those much needed breaks. 

Why more sales? Because people will typically come to your Booth seeking just one service. And then they find out about the complementary services. When Lead Creation exhibits, we create a ‘one-stop-shop’ where multiple needs are met, not just our B2B marketing. 

8. Write ‘Met at (Expo Name)’ on your business cards. Do this before the Expo, and write on the back. They’ll remember where you met when your card turns up months later and may prompt them to call. 

9. Install the LinkedIn and Twitter Apps. You can quickly connect on the spot, and then after the Expo follow up is easy. 

10. Prepare ‘Connect Request’ messages for LinkedIn. For example, “Hi [firstname], great to meet you at [Expo] today, be good to connect here as well”. And then add something like “As discussed, it would be useful to catch up. When’s good for you next week?” 

11. Prepare something valuable to share after the Expo! Sharing your insights and knowledge with HVPs sends a powerful message about your focus on providing solutions to their problems. LinkedIn is a great tool for doing this. And remember, they don’t want another brochure! 

The most valuable content to share? The Insight Report Lead Creation created and designed for you from the Collaborative Research we helped you do on your Booth!

In the next article - what must you do during the Expo to make sure all your hard work and money pay off...

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