How Millennials are Changing Trade Shows

Winning Millennials over at Trade Shows

Millennials are now 20-38 years old.  That means that they are quickly becoming influencers and decision makers that are walking exhibit halls and driving change at companies of all sizes. But has your Trade Show strategy changed to accommodate them?

Here are a few key points to consider about Millennials:

1. They are used to trying items before buying.
2. They tend to be more product/brand loyal once they have made a decision that they are happy with.
3. Price is more important to Millennials in the B2C world, and to a lesser degree that the B2B world.
4. Millennials were raised with a self-education mindset over sales presentation.  They are less trusting of what they are told, and more trusting of what they have learned.
5. Peer recommendation and social influence plays a major role in buying decisions.
6. Product reviews that focuses on service and quality are major influences in their buying habits.

So, how does this effect your trade show booth?

First, the design of your booth should be very informational.

Instead of cramming a large booth staff into a small space, you want to make your booth as interactive as possible.   Millennials are conditioned to avoid salespeople.  Touch screens, games, and videos are compelling and trusted forms of content distribution.  Instead of handing out physical information, find ways to go green by offering the ability for visitors to send themselves interactive emails that are highly targeted to their interest(s).

Make connections between your guests and their colleagues.

If you can find a way to amaze one guest, give them multiple ways to promote your product socially (Pinterest, Instagram, etc).   Before you know it, there will be a large organic buzz around what you are doing at that show and your success rates will multiply (often at little or no cost to you)!

Bring product reviews to life.

Offer multiple resources and case studies that your guests can review at their leisure.   Even better, offer free samples/trials of your product when possible.   Can you set up a screen in your booth that just plays testimonials and snippets from happy clients?

Next (this should be obvious), put your guests first.

Don’t think about YOUR NEEDS, but instead of think about what motivates THEM.  For example, instead of driving people to scan their information;  offer a reason to scan which benefits THEM (ie, to play a game, so that you can easily ship them a sample after the show, etc).  Make sure that you coordinate with your sales team to provide follow up that is sensitive to your audience and be sure to pass quality notes to them in real time.  Small things, like differentiating the best time to call (purchase-ready leads might welcome your call the day after the show, whereas others might be more appreciative of a slower response time that is less “in your face” and aggressive).  Again, this may not show the 100% rapid follow up that your CEO and Marketing Team may typically desire, but it will lead to the results that are most beneficial to your bottom line.

Lastly, remember to utilize the technology that Millennials love.

Texting is often preferred to a phone call.  Emails should be brief.  Pinterest and Instagram are powerful platforms to drive buying behavior and social acceptance.

Put all of this together and you will have trade shows that yield more prospects, more discussions, better brand emotion and most of all… more revenue.