Help! I’m exhibiting at an event!

Help! I’m exhibiting at an event - now what?

Signed up to an event in two months time, and done little else yet? You’re not alone...

However, as someone who has exhibited at, spoken, and organised internal and external events, the possibilities for getting real value are huge. The flip side is of course, if you ‘wing it’ you may end up letting thousands of pounds trickle down the drain.?

If this sounds interesting - I have thought back over the last decade in this industry, as to some of the key learnings - cliche coming - that you probably won’t learn in a book (or an Events Management degree - no shade to these, I studied Business and Marketing).

While the obvious tasks of: getting a budget, having a project plan, are important basics, this article delves into a few of the bits you may have left behind.

If you read through any of these tips and are unsure how to do it, just drop me a message, I'd be happy to help.

Ok but, why are events so important, and why can't I just rock up?

Introvert, extrovert, brand new to a company or the CEO, ￡1m budget of ￡0, it doesn’t matter. In my experience, events are the perfect opportunity to achieve marketing objectives, and there is a role, task or event suitable for all. Raise awareness of your brand? Check. Speak directly to and learn about your customers? Check. Obtain high-value leads? Check. The more you put in, the more you get out.

So, where do we start?

Below are seven key themes to think about, with some tangible actions that you can do now. Right now. As in, read article then action. Good luck! And because I am a marketer after all, and understand that people like quick content, here is an outline of the seven themes, giving you have permission to scroll down to the one/s you find most interesting…

1. Preparation
2. Logistics?
3. Squeeze the (content) sponge?
4. Curate your dream team
5. Energy and wellbeing
6. Track those leads
7. Benefits for customer

1 | Preparation

Regardless of how much time you have, these three tasks that will vastly increase your chances at hitting your objectives:

• Create audience specific content: if you’re taking brochures or flyers, are they relevant? Tip - put the name of the show on the front cover - or if already printed - mock up a one-pager to go inside, with dedicated content all about that exact event and industry. Minimal cost, maximum impact.?
• Research: find out who is attending. There’s a reason you’ve chosen to invest in this event and exhibit - and as such, you will get access to some level of data. Take the time to understand who’s there, and have a plan. Is it appropriate to message them on LinkedIn beforehand? Ask if they’d join you for a lunch meeting to discuss their recent product launch and how you might be able to help? Or perhaps, the friendlier approach to simply go and say hello during the event, as to build a natural rapport and nurture a possible relationship.
• Think about the week after: Book a slot in your calendar right now. One hour, for a week after the event. If you were an engineering company who made tyres for F1, and following a Grand Prix you had lots of insights about what took way longer than was necessary. Would you let that feedback go to waste? Or would you use it to be better next time? This is essential for event exhibiting for so many reasons: ensuring you can get in early and get a great stand location; ensure you contact all necessary leads; obtain competitive advantage by learning from others’ and what could be improved, so on and so on. Remember that leads can take months to come to fruition, so if possible use as CRM to monitor these. Otherwise, find a way to record your leads in line with compliance, and get in touch as appropriate.

2 | Logistics

As part of your preparation, make sure your logistics are pretty damn nailed down. If this event is new to you, it may take place in a venue you’ve never visited - even a new city. I take the approach of “if the walk says 6 minutes, I’ll leave 10.” While it may seem excessive to be ultra-prepared, here are some benefits:

• You will not be late: an empty exhibition stand is not a good look for a brand
• Early delegates are often most receptive to chats - before the bombardment of talks and networking sessions
• Time to meet other exhibitors: as they may well be useful contacts, as referral partners, collaborators, or even prospects.
• Access to the best canapes (well, it had to be said).
• Your speakers, hosts, guests will thank you. If you’re bringing in a keynote speaker for example, their time is precious. Provide them with the psychological safety that you know what’s happening, and that they can contact you.

"If the walk takes 6 minutes, leave 10."

3 | Squeeze the sponge

An event is not a siloed activity - it is one part of what could be a full marketing campaign. I often use the analogy of squeezing the sponge. Unless you have a huge marketing team, you'll likely find creating content very time consuming. So, you want to make the most of every activity and opportunity that you do. There is no better sponge than an event.

Can you use social media, email, how about an extra blog? You’ll likely get more hits to your website during the event - so can you ensure there’s a relevant news article, or perhaps an ad campaign for those searching the event keyword? You could use social media stories to interact with others exhibiting, jump on the traction they're receiving, celebrate the speakers on a great panel debate, and write up interesting takeouts for the post-event email to your new database of prospective clients. This is called an Integrated Marketing Campaign; for those interested in the academic jargon.

"There is no better sponge than an event"

4 | Curate Your Dream Team: The expert and the closer

Who is joining you on your stand? Is it simply 'whoever isn’t in a meeting that day'? Or is it just yourself?

My recommendation will be to always have at very least two people: one skilled in the technical parts of your business, as well as someone in sales (ideally you want three or more, for refreshment breaks).

By having this two-pronged approach, the salesperson can engage, exchange contact details, build rapport, while the technical employee can discuss needs in detail.

Take a scenario. You own a design company that makes intricate interiors for the automotive industry. If you bring your Senior Design Engineer, as well as Sales Director, your SDE can answer delegate’s questions about how they approach a new project, and what software they find most cost effective. Meanwhile, your SD can bring in the crowds, give away some merch, get them talking about what they love in their business, and exchange those contact details. Don't expect that one human can do everything. Unicorns exist - but rarely. Understand your skills, your weaknesses, and use your team effectively.

5 | Energy and wellbeing

This is something very often overlooked, and as someone who is also a trained yoga teacher - yes, well-being is something I really care about.

Here is a scenario. Your team is tired, hungry, stressed. There’s only two of them and they haven’t sat down in three hours. Will they represent your brand with vigour, smiles, energy, creativity? These events are often long days, requiring being on your feet, engaging with new people, learning about many different companies and actively responding. Even for the most extroverted, this can be a huge challenge. Here are my tangible tips:

• Create a rota to ensure your team have regular breaks. TOP TIP: Use the event’s own schedule to help with this - as there may well be quieter times (e.g. during a keynote speech) when you can allocate a greater break.
• Identify where to get refreshments from ahead of time, or even pack snacks with you, so staff can find what they need with ease.
• Prepare your team the week before, so they are confident with what they’re saying. A recommendation is a Kick Off meeting a few months before, to discuss what marketing material is needed, plus a week-before meeting to remind of logistics.
• Ensure there is enough of you! If you don’t have a big enough team look into hiring freelancers to work with you.
• Do not wear high heels. Do this at your peril...

6 | Track those leads

Exhibitions and shows have varying tiers regarding data collection. if you are organising an event yourself, hurrah, you can be totally in charge, and have legitimate interest to contact anyone who books. However, if you are attending, exhibiting, sponsoring or being a speaker, data 'packages' can range from access to absolutely nothing, to being sent entire databases with feedback questionnaire results. Your first step should always be to ask the event salesperson: what access do we have to data? From here, use the following insights to maximise this data access:

Once you know if you will receive data access, check:

• Does this data include email addresses, or just names? Get this in writing to avoid any potential conflict post-event.
• Is there a disclaimer that the data can only be contacted once (unless they then opt in after). If so, this will affect your post-event email. In this case, it is worth trying to make connections yourself during the event. If that isn't possible, ensure the post-event mail is super targeted and you encourage recipients to continue a conversation. Otherwise, their data is lost forever.
• Is there a lead scanning app? If you have an exhibition stand - often at larger events - there may be the opportunity to purchase a lead scanner device or app. This is definitely worth the investment, as it allows you to scan a delegate’s badge, plus write relevant notes. For example, you meet a potential client, and during your conversation, your salesperson scans the badge and highlights their pain points. Following this, your post-event email could be highly targeted and authentically related to their needs.?

If the event doesn’t have a lead scanner, here are some things you can do:

Intrigue: Promote a competition on your stand, encouraging people to submit their details in order to win something: could be a consultation, could be a bottle of champagne.?

Use quick tech: Use a QR code that leads directly to your website contact page. This can be advertised anywhere on your stand, from the tablecloth to the graphics, even your clothing. (I won't go into AI because, let's face it, I do not know its full power - however - watch this space...)

Legitimate use of LinkedIn: Often, you will be sent a list of names prior to the event. You then have legitimate interest to reach out on LinkedIn should you wish. My advice would be to do this authentically. Start by offering free content - perhaps an article they may find interesting. Do not go straight in and sell. You could also offer to take them to lunch, or ask for a meeting at the event to discuss some of their upcoming projects.

Your own lead tracker: Have a tablet, laptop, or phone, with a link to a tracked contact form - where you can very quickly add someone’s details if, during a conversation, a delegate is interested in finding out more. Tracked contact forms are essential to ensure data is collected and does not get lost in the ether of email inboxes.

Negotiate a Marketing Package with the event organisers' marketing team to utilise their channels, such as:

1. Send an email to all delegates from the event’s database, with a tracked link to your website. This is often quite expensive, at between ￡1,000-2,500. However, if the audience is exactly what you want - it may be worth it. As it comes from the event organisers, the likelihood of a high open rate is vastly increased, and provides a sense of trust between yourself and prospect.
2. Newsletter: these events almost certainly have a newsletter, building excitement about the event for delegates, and including interesting talks, offers or exhibitor information. If you are exhibiting or speaking, you can provide content for these, sometimes free of charge, to build awareness, interest and a call to action.
3. Social media: again, the event organiser will be using social media to promote. Can you track down the interviewer during the event, and get on their Instagram story? How about a mention in a LinkedIn post saying which stand you’ll be on if delegates want to know more about your service?

7 | Benefit to customer

And finally, remember, like with all things marketing - it should be all about benefits to the customer. If you speak at (rather than with) every delegate who attend your talk or comes to your stand, your lead conversion will be very low (regardless of how great the stand looks). If, however, you develop a two-way conversation, listen to them and understand, you will be able to showcase how your offer can truly benefit them. Then, you will have a much higher success rate.

Most Important Takeouts

1. Do your research: speak to the event sales team - I’d always recommend a meeting. If you’d like, I have a list of approx. 10 questions to always ask - just drop me a DM.
2. Your people are your brand: whether it’s the way they’re dressed, if they’re on their phone, how they interact, how they feel - make sure they are feeling their best and ready to go. Also, that they act with integrity and authenticity. Ensure they all know your company values, the benefit of your product or service to customers, and what you’re there to achieve.
3. Have your own goals: perhaps it’s to get 20 hot leads, perhaps it’s to meet with someone you’ve admired for many months. Write this down, so you can analyse effectiveness for the next event or next year.

I hope you found this article interesting. If this has sparked any actions for you, or if you have other tips to share, please do drop me a message on LinkedIn or at [email protected]