3 Pitfalls to Avoid to Maximize Your Tradeshow ROI

We’re in the middle of show season, and I’m seeing a ton of content from EdTech vendor partners heading into ASCD. So, I wanted to share some common pitfalls I have seen partners fall into in my experience, with the hope that you may avoid them and make the most of the time your team dedicated to participating in these events.

1.     Not being “present”

It’s easy to show up to a tradeshow, set up your exhibit, and wait for show attendees to come to you. Ok, maybe it’s not easy, but it certainly is only a part of the puzzle. But, if you want to maximize the impact of attending the tradeshow, you must be present and that means more than simply showing up. Let’s dig into what that looks like. Whether you are sending executives or sales representatives to attend or you have a large booth presence, it is important to be present during your time at an industry event.

Have you walked a show floor and seen exhibitors on their phone or laptop drinking their coffee, eating their breakfast waiting for someone to interrupt them. Or even worse…they left their booth totally empty! Does that seem welcoming? How about seeing attendees spend their whole time during the show on conference or video calls rather than attending sessions, networking opportunities, or walking the show floor? If you aren’t able to prioritize being present while you attend, you probably aren’t going to maximize what you could accomplish during the days you are there.  

That’s why pitfall number one is to be present.

In addition to outlining company goals, I’d encourage you to set personal goals for your attendance such as a goal for the number of meetings, outlining specific sessions you want to attend, or planning the networking events you will attend. Of course, if you have a booth, you not only want to be physically present in the booth, but you want to engage attendees as they walk past your booth on the show floor with the goal of drawing them in for a conversation if you can help them.

2.     Not having a follow-up plan before the event

We all know the importance of immediate follow-up. So how can you follow up immediately if you don’t have a plan for following up before you head into the event?

Define your follow-up strategy before you head on-site to the show and ensure the team attending is all on the same page for who will follow-up, when that follow-up will occur, and what the expectations for follow-up are.

Maximizing events requires much more than flawless on-site execution. When this follow-up strategy is not well-defined ahead of time, the leads can get lost in the shuffle post-event.

3.     Treating every engagement the same

To go along with pitfall two, pitfall three is treating every engagement the same.

How often have you received the “It was great to meet you at [Show XYZ]” email post-event from a vendor or partner you don’t remember meeting or that asks you to meet with their sales representative for a demo when you only dropped your business card to get some swag.

Follow-up should look different depending on how you engaged with attendees at the show. Someone who dropped their business card should not receive the same post-show communication flow as someone who stopped by your booth and received a demo or someone who attended a networking reception you hosted.

Think about the event as one of many engagement opportunities you have with a current or potential customer. How would you expect or want to be communicated with after you engaged in these different ways? The type of engagement you choose could be the difference between someone immediately unsubscribing and having a bad impression of your company or the start of a beautiful mutually beneficial relationship.

What other pitfalls have you seen companies make? And what is your advice heading into show season?

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