TFF #024 - How to Hack a Trade Show

Welcome back to The Friday Fandango. I’m Janet and this is your weekly dose of communication inspiration for the week ahead.

Revolutionizing your trade show strategy is key to turning these industry gatherings into goldmines of opportunity and growth for your business.

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Trade shows have been the linchpin of business networking since 1851. Today, post-pandemic, they are steadily making a stronger return, but they are definitely not the schmooze fests they used to be!

Trade shows offer opportunities to meet face-to-face, learn, and, of course, to showcase or discuss your products and services. If you think you can play by the same old rules, think again. Here are three hacks to transform your approach for exceptional results at your next event.

It's common knowledge to plan ahead for a trade show, but how you do it makes all the difference. Look beyond planning to attend just because you’ve always gone to that particular show.

Do your research and scrutinize which events are worth attending and or exhibiting at. It might be that smaller or virtual events might serve your purposes better.

Consider digital platforms for remote engagements before venturing onto a plane. Maximize your investment and minimize your environmental footprint.

If your products require hands-on and tactile experiences, exhibiting might be necessary. However, assess if it’s the right show and who will be in attendance (see Hack #2).

For software or less tactile offerings, consider online and automated demos which can reach a broader audience all year round. That means demos that you can offer s well as ones you can watch ahead of time, before you get to the show. Online demos can definitely have a much longer shelf-life and serve their purpose all through the year.

Eventseye has a comprehensive and segmented calendar worth checking. TV Events Hub is another source, specifically for media industry events. Eventbrite and Meet-Up are also potentially useful resources to check for events of interest to your business. Pay attention to trade newsletters in your niche, and create a system for capturing those events in one place.

Remember, it’s easy to get overwhelmed at those gigantic mega-shows. While they cater for multiple audiences within a sector, they usually offer more content on site than you’d be able to consume in a year. This makes for a chaotic experience if you are not well-prepared. You want to get at your contacts easily, not fight a battle for their attention at a big event.

When capturing relevant events becomes a habit, you’re creating a comprehensive and relevant list of events to more wisely choose from. It might also give you a few ideas for creating events of your own, partnering with the organizers, or for identifying new places where your potential clients hang out.

Not all trade show organizers make easy to find out who is attending in advance. Know the battlefield before you enter the fray.

Event organizers do not always provide convenient tools. Either the attendee lists are completely opaque, or, they are gigantic, transparent and totally disorganized.

One organizer recently provided the opportunity to download an excel file of all 10k attendees. But the list was segmented in a very basic form: it was useless for identifying people that might be of use to contact. At least it was made available! But the problem was that not every attendee had selected a category, so the majority of the list had blank spaces for the company type. Yikes.

To be master of your own game, you have to leverage your network. But how do you build a network in the first place?

Your ability to find pre-show information efficiently is invaluable.

My top tip for attendee discovery, especially trade shows that offer directories, is to completely fill in your profile and choose the right categories for your business type. Many attendees neglect this basic step. Just fill in the data to have a better chance of someone relevant finding you, and likewise, for you finding them.

Still many shows are big black holes. Sure, there may be an exhibitor’s list, but you have no idea who is walking the show floor, in advance. That sends you into the ritualistic email back-and-forth that takes place before practically every major show.

Other ways to conduct pre-show intelligence are to use social media tools like LinkedIn and Twitter as databases. Search for the relevant hashtags to the shows you plan to attend. First, you have to search the show, and then pay attention to the tags. Put the hashtags into the search bar, click people, and voilà, you get a list of people who are talking about it, and likely you´ll find out who’s planning to go that way.

Groups in Linked In are another way to go, when you do that same search, you’ll also have the option to see which groups are talking about that show. The neat trick with LinkedIn Groups (even though it’s not a great tool in itself for posting) is that once you are in the group, you can message any other member without needing to be connected. You’re welcome.

You can do the same on Twitter. It’s a great serendipity engine. It’s much easier to connect with people on Twitter. Just remember to engage with others there who are actually active on the platform. There are a lot of dead accounts, since a lot of people don’t know how to use it (and nowadays it’s overrun by bots and ads). However, when you comment on someone’s active account, make it constructive, informative or useful. If they reply to you, you have the seed of a new relevant connection.

All of this goes into your planning for identifying key individuals you want to meet. Of course, you can also contact all your existing connections, but then, the whole point of a trade show it is meet new ones, right?

You don’t have to rely solely on trade shows for exposure. Create your own events, webinars, or workshops to showcase your expertise. Issuing press releases, writing articles, and engaging in podcasts can help in reaching a wider audience without breaking the bank.

Take advantage of press opportunities by reaching out to journalists and industry publications well in advance. Don’t know any journalists? Of course, you do! You read their articles all the time!

You already know the important names and publications for your sector. Probably what you lack is a system for consistently noting down their names, and getting in contact with them. It's really not rocket science to build a list of journalists and important analysts.

Here are the steps:

• Make a list of the journalists and analysts important to your industry sector at the same moment when you are reading their articles.

• Whether you already know them or not, engage with their published content, and with their views. Follow them on LinkedIn. See if they are active on Twitter.

• See if you can strike up a conversation, but don’t do this out of urgency to have your news covered. Develop a relationship first.

That’s it! Then you just have to pay attention. Read their editorial submission guidelines. See if there are opportunities to contribute an article, be interviewed for a podcast. Be alert. Help them by sharing or commenting on their content, if it is of interest to you. They’ll be more inclined to reciprocate in some way. Also, now that they are familiar with you, they may be much more receptive to you.

When the time is right, share your company's news and updates, such as new product releases, via press releases, written articles, podcasts and industry trade publications.

It helps too, to offer a friendly journalist advance access to your story.

This will help you to increase your visibility and reach a wider audience. You can hire an outside agency to help, but remember, it’s not rocket science. You can save a lot of money by learning how to handle it in-house.

Trade shows can be chaotic and hectic, so it's important to have a well-thought-out plan in place before you arrive. This should include preparing your key messages and having a very clear understanding of your objectives. Your hit list of target attendees and people you want to meet will flow from that.

Too often the real road-block is confidence, and being very clear what to say and what to do.

To many, this comes naturally. But others may have doubts. Also, it may sound obvious, but if your products and commercial terms are not clearly defined, you are going to have major problems.

Remember:

• Equip your team. Trade shows are as much about selling as they are about networking. Ensure that your team knows your products, services, and company values inside out.

• Trade shows can be overwhelming. Take your time to understand the space, but be proactive in approaching attendees, engaging in conversations, and showcasing your offerings.

• Experiment with different strategies and see what works best for your brand. Continuously assess and optimize your approaches based on feedback and results.

• Build your network. Building a strong network is essential for trade show success. It might come naturally to some, but for others, it might be daunting. Use platforms like LinkedIn, and master them, to make the process of finding new connections smoother.

Your trade show success lies not in tradition but in innovation. Rethink your strategies, optimize your engagements and chances for success.

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I’m Janet Greco, and by night, I write The Friday Fandango and post on Linkedin.

By day, I run Broadcast Projects, a marketing consultancy for the broadcast and streaming media industry, where I help drive sales with customized market outreach for TV technology brands.

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