Pre- and Post-Trade Show Marketing: How to Extend Your Impact

1. Find your ideal pre-show cadence.

Your trade show marketing strategy should begin early, but that doesn’t mean you need to bombard people every day for months. Reach out no more than four weeks before the event. Trade show attendees are already being overwhelmed with information about sponsors, logistics, and formal events, so they will appreciate your restraint.

If you sponsored an event and got a list of attendees, use it. But don’t send the same message to each person. CUSTOMIZE. If someone doesn’t meet your ideal customer profile or partner persona or if you send out an inauthentic request, your outreach will come across as too salesy. We all know when we are being sold to, so it’s even more important not to be lazy here.

With that in mind, you should think about what you’re going to say in your outreach. What’s a big enough reason to be in their inboxes? Will you be speaking on a topic you think they would benefit from? Do you have something at your booth that would be of value to them? Do you want to learn about their success over coffee or a happy hour drink? If you don’t have anything with this kind of value to offer, just connect with them on LinkedIn and say you hope to run into them at the event. Save your true outreach for after.

You can also make a good first impression by keeping your messaging short and sweet. An initial announcement and sign-up link could come a month out, followed up by more details about a special giveaway a week before the event. Last-minute buzz simply reminds people of the hype you’ve already created and gives attendees practical information they can use to find you at the show.

2. Keep the momentum going with post-show personalization.

While following up on trade show leads might seem like a formality, your post-trade show marketing can actually be the most personal, rewarding part of your strategy.

Picture this: A Loom video pops up in recipients’ inboxes, and there’s a familiar face from your booth genuinely thanking them for their time and referencing a shared conversation or joke. That human touch is priceless. It’s about acknowledging their presence and rekindling the rapport you built.

This illustrates the importance of just being human. So many people have surface-level conversations at the events. Take the time to connect on LinkedIn, send an email with a few bullet points of why you enjoyed the actual conversation, and see whether you can reconnect again after the show. And really mean it.

Of course, you should also invite these contacts to your next webinar, share your follow-up blog post on the event, and encourage them to sign up for your mailing list. We are content marketers, after all. But we know even the most effective marketing strategy isn’t as impactful as genuine human conversations that cut through the inauthentic, exhibit-floor prattle.

And you don’t have to stop there. You can make your follow-up communication stand out even more by offering exclusive content tailored just for recipients. Maybe it’s a whitepaper diving deep into a topic you discussed or an invite to a niche webinar that aligns with their interests. The goal is to prove your value. Show them that you’re not just another brand vying for their attention but a partner who can add genuine value to their business.

If you aren’t doing all of these content marketing efforts, your ROI isn’t going to be as high. Coincidences don’t just happen. Convert your ideal leads by being prepared.

3. Measure everything.

Trade shows are an investment, and like any savvy investor, you need to know whether you’re getting a return on that investment. To do that, you need to meticulously measure ROI and tie your tactics to tangible outcomes.

Your customer relationship management software isn’t just a tool to log conversations; it’s your treasure chest of insights. Every conversation and interaction is a data point. Regularly updating your CRM, checking in with leads, and understanding their post-event behavior will give you a clearer picture of your efforts and their impact.

Now, let’s talk metrics. Beyond showing you numbers of leads or sales, they can help you understand the story those numbers tell. Some of the most important metrics you can monitor include:

• Referral traffic.
• Social media engagement.
• Meetings booked.
• Email subscribers.
• Introductions made.
• Organic traffic from location-based or event-specific keywords.

Notice a spike in sales in a particular region post-event? Perhaps your booth resonated well with that demographic. Spot a trend in website traffic or a surge in social media interactions? That’s your brand basking in the limelight, gaining traction and building its reputation. A sudden surge in website traffic or an uptick in social media mentions? That could be a direct result of your presence at the trade show. The qualitative, often intangible aspects, like brand exposure and reputation, can also be gleaned from trends in digital footprints.

Still, it can sometimes take months or even years to see the value of these events. But if these efforts become part of your long-term marketing strategy, I am confident this authentic, thought leadership-driven approach to trade show marketing will lead to qualified leads and more referrals. In fact, we built our business on this strategy for the first several years of Intero Digital Content & PR Division.