Thrive 2025 - 7 ways to get better ROI from a conference
Spending two days at Thrive 2025 this week, Engineering New Zealand's conference for employers of engineers, confirmed once again that inperson conferences and tradeshows are here to stay. Will there be an online component to events? Inevitably. However, it's still true that people buy from people. Inperson events are here to stay.
Magnify is a sales consultancy. Why go to Thrive 2025? We typically work with B2B services clients, with high-value offerings and a long sales cycle. This means that hiring a whole sales rep or business development manager is super expensive. So we've worked across Technology, IT, Professional Services and Engineering.
I've been to a few conferences and tradeshows now, some for clients, some for Magnify. Some where we've had a stand, some where I'm an attendee.
Here are 7 ways to get better ROI from conferences and trade shows.
ONE - Have a stand
Yes, having a stand costs money. I should know, we've just paid to have a stand at a conference! Yes, you'll get impact from being there as a participant.
But having a stand is still worth it. What you'll get from having a stand is brand awareness, kudos from conference attendees, and a heap more credibility as a result. There's also the benefit of having a physical location where attendees can go if they want to talk further about what you do and how you can help them.
TWO - Immerse yourself in the event
Be there for the whole duration of the event. Even if it's not your specialist field. You're there to serve potential clients, which always starts with entering their world to learn more about their challenges, goals, aspirations and the industry.
Something interesting happened on the second day at Thrive 2025. Even though I was among multiple new friends that I hadn't yet met, familiarity kicked in. People I'd seen in passing the day before smiled a bit more as they walked past. It was easier to engage in conversation. If you only stop into these events briefly, you miss that familiarity developing, which makes everything so much easier. And familiarity also build relationships. Which may lead to sales further down the line.
So go to every single talk. Hang out at breakfast, at lunchtime, at the networking drinks. You never know where that 1% piece of vital information will come from.
THREE - Get clear on your offer
Anyone who comes to your stand has 10 seconds, maybe as much as 30 seconds where their brain is frantically scanning for something relevant for them. That's right - it's all about 'What's-In-It-For-Me'. Fail to pass that filter, and they might not stop to chat.
In our case, we had a clear sales training offer tailored to the audience at the event. Yes, we do much more than sales training. But that felt like something that a bigger percentage of people would be interested to check out, especially as Thrive 2025 is for human resources professionals - who are employers of engineers.
FOUR - Take a team
You can do amazing things with one incredible person. That was me for the bulk of Thrive 2025. Smaller businesses often find it challenging to get enough people along to the event, to ensure you make the most of it. Another Magnifier came for lunch break on the second day, but we didn't manage to get everyone along that I wanted to bring.
If that's you, don't despair. Point Three - Get clear on your offer is key here. Your clear offer will speak, even if you have to take a bathroom break.
And the ideal number of team members to take? Three or four. You always want someone on the stand, and then as many people as possible involved in the event, having conversations. Having said that, even the bigger teams were all off their stands socialising for the networking drinks. Nothing beats getting amongst your people at conferences and tradeshows.
FIVE - Have a defined sales process
Yes, we're a sales company - so you knew this one was coming. Have a defined sales process to get the most out of conferences and tradeshows. And your sales process starts before the event, ideally connecting with speakers and others on LinkedIn. Aim to follow up with a LinkedIn connection request either that day or as soon as possible after.
You'll also need a sales process for those who visit your stand. Magnify had a QR code that people could scan to do a quiz + go on a waitlist for our upcoming sales training webinar. Several other stands also had QR codes to scan, and some had containers to write down your details to enter their prize draw.
Full transparency - less people completed our quiz than I expected. That could be down to our stand position, or the offer not being quite right, or any number of factors. There should still be more entries coming in, judging by those who took a flyer because they were interested to explore this.
And of course, your sales process has really only begun after the event. Follow up is a marathon. Expect a good percentage of results (meetings booked, and sales if the timing is right) to come through in the first three months. And then keep going. We've seen meetings booked almost a year out from that initial tradeshow contact. Sometimes you win by being the one person who follows up when others fall away.
SIX - Track your ROI from conferences and tradeshows
Yes, the dreaded ROI question. Your CFO wants to know. And the General Manager. And every other department whose budget was held at the same level so that your team had budget to go to the conference.
If you haven't already, get a CRM - a Customer Relationship Management system - and configure it so you can track ROI easily. Yes, this is possible, hit us up if you want help with this one.
Remember too that ROI goes beyond sales - i.e. cash in your business bank account. Sales are the ultimate acid test for the success of events. However, you're building relationships and building brand. So track number of new connections on LinkedIn, number who signed up for your webinar or info, number of conversations, number of flyers you gave out. In fact - track everything you can to check your ROI.
In case you're wondering about Magnify's ROI so far -
SEVEN - Play the long game
This one underscores everything. You're there to build relationships, so play the long game.
But give it to them anyway. Have fun. Have good conversations. Take every opportunity to make people feel good about you and about your brand.
Make friends with other standholders. You never know what opportunities you may be able to pass along to each other.
Keep following up. Keep adding value. The results will eventually come.
How's your ROI from Conferences and Tradeshows?
I'm Mary, founder of Magnify Consulting .
We help B2B founders across engineering, tech + professional services to grow sales - without hiring. We build Sales Pipelines - which includes supporting you to get the most from Conferences and Tradeshows.
Need some help to unblock your sales pipeline? DM me and let's talk.