Using Email to Get the Most of Your Events
We have all been there. This year’s AwesomeCON is weeks away. Your company has spent tens of thousands on your booth, staff presence, and extramentals.
How can you make sure you get the most of it?
Email.
From start to finish, Email can be the easiest to use, and also the best tool in your arsenal.
How, you ask? Let’s go into the details…
Pre-show
Many shows will provide, either for purchase or as part of your registration, a list of attendees. Use this list to send out pre-show emails inviting people to a special experience or intentional meeting at your booth. If the show provider doesn’t provide such a list and you have been to the show previously, you can pick out previous attendees linked to that event in your database who are likely to return to the show based on previous years’ attendance.
If you’re running a contest or incentive to visit your booth experience, detail it in your pre-show email. It’s also a good idea to offer calendar scheduling for people to arrange time to meet with you.
Offer PDF documents teasing incentives, special offers, or explanations of your unique products and solutions to build interest. Pre-show email is your first touch, and provides a gateway to building interest. Be sure to include your booth number and a simple map or illustration so people can easily find you. This can even include downloading a show floor map indicating your location to make your booth easier to find.
During the Show
People will often request documentation about your products or solutions. Why burden them with paper they might lose or damage when you can offer digital content that will arrive at their email inbox for them to preview at their convenience? This has a secondary effect of reminding them about the topic of your conversation, which can be handy as they speak with dozens of exhibitors throughout the day.
When to send such an email varies and is up to your professional discretion. Sending the email right away when prospects are still on the show floor indicates that you deliver what you promise while it is still fresh on their minds, but this approach may also result in reduced open rates since it is unlikely they will see the email until they get back to their hotel room, or return from the event to sort through – and delete unwanted emails. Our suggestion is to include follow up email timing as a key question that you ask when discussing the material you will send them.
If you’re using a Universal Lead Capture platform such as Captello, you can ask them if they want the documents immediately, at the end of the day, or after the show, or any other time frame as a qualifier for sending the email. This way prospects get the documentation exactly at the time they specify.
On average, trade show attendees spend 8.3 hours visiting booths and displays…
So the courtesy of showing that you value their time can go a very long way in building relationships.
End of Show
The post-show email is likely the most important email you can send out. Personalize it with discussion recaps and send out thank you messages for spending time at your exhibit. The work week following an event is generally the best time to send post-event emails, as people will be back in the office and a simple reminder can do wonders to keep the conversation alive.
If you did not schedule meetings during the show, make sure to offer a calendar link in post show follow up. Toss out a meeting link and invite the people you met to connect again and discuss in further detail how you can help them.
On average, event attendees will tell 6 other people about their experience at the event.
If you were memorable, this is a great way to increase word of mouth marketing.
Carefully planning pre-show, during the show, and post show emails is a critical step that is guaranteed to help increase those valuable post-show conversation, and overall show ROI; and will also help with brand awareness as they see – and remember – your company’s brand and solutions.
Captello is a multifunctional event platform that provides: Universal Lead Capture, User Customizable Gamification, Marketing Automation, CRM, Lead Management, Sales Enablement, Leader Boards, Point Rewards & e-Gift Cards, Waypoints for Sessions & Scavenger Hunts, Player Profiles, and more with over 3,000 integrations for all common CRM and Marketing Automation platforms.
To see how Captello’s growing library of digital activations (games), universal lead capture, and reward-based solutions can help your company generate more leads at your trade shows, contact us today!
