3 steps to trade show email campaign success
You’ve decided which trade shows to exhibit at, now it's time to focus on driving footfall to your booth. To stay top of mind with a captive trade show audience, it’s crucial to maximise your marketing output throughout the trade show cycle. Email marketing is a great way to reach out to attendees and generate awareness around your brand in the run up to the show, during the event and in the days and weeks following. (providing you have consent to do so under new GDPR regulations.)
Before delving into your email campaign, start by asking yourself the following questions;
Who is your target audience?
Understanding your audience is paramount to email open rates, click throughs and engagement. Using your buyer persona data, identify your ideal customers behavioural habits; their challenges, pain points, buying habits and preferences. These insights allow marketers to optimise subject lines, CTAs (call to actions) and content.
What are your performance goals?
What do you want to achieve from your trade show emails? Overall objectives might include an increase in stand visits from the previous year or increase in leads generated through your email gated offer.
Decide on trackable metrics such as leads, open rates, click through rate (CTR) and un-subscriptions.
When will you send emails throughout the trade show cycle?
When organising your email cadence, consider the three critical stages of a trade show; pre, during and post event. Be strategic and ensure your message is heard.
Now, let’s look at an optimised trade show email cadence in more detail…
1. Pre-Event Email
Emails prior to the event are often deemed to have the biggest impact. Starting your email campaign weeks in advance allows a greater build up to the show, with time to establish a relationship with attendees. Trade show attendees tend to plan their time ahead of the event. Crafting a compelling email outreach early lets you make it into their planned list of stand visits, staying top of mind from the get-go. It’s a good idea to mention who’ll be at your stand and if any team members are getting involved in a panel discussion; what time and where in the venue.
Think about what would appeal to your recipients at this stage; valuable content resources, free trials, consultations or a virtual trade show stand are worthy ways to generate a pre- show buzz. A virtual trade show stand is a great way to offer your audience a ‘sneak peek’ of your stand and allow those not attending to see what you offer. Boost your lead generation by having users input contact information to a form to gain exclusive access.
Example of a virtual trade show landing page
2. In–Event Email
Emails sent during the trade show should focus on driving footfall to your stand as the event takes place. It’s best to send reminders in the morning, when business buyers check in on their emails. Remind recipients of your stand number and location within the venue. Entice them to drop by by including some photos of your booth, introducing your team members or offering a free, time limited consultation.
It’s imperative that your exhibition stand channels a “wow-factor”, to be instantly recognisable and create a strong impression. Check out our 10 exhibition stand design tips to maximise your visual impact in a crowded trade show.
3. Post–Event Emails
Stay top of mind with your trade show connections with a prompt follow-up email. Personalise email content to let prospects know you valued their time, understand their pain points, and want to help by offering a solution.
The B2B buying cycle tends to be long and not every lead will be sales ready. It’s worth setting up an automated email drip campaign to nurture prospects until the point they’re ready to make a purchase. Build trust and establish your expertise by sharing content, case studies, valuable resources and offering a free trial, consultation or product demo.
By following the above steps to create an optimised email cadence, you will be on track to boosting awareness, driving increased footfall to your stand, nurturing leads and closing those all important sales.
