Email marketing creates an unprecedented level of connection with a large number of prospects, past clients, and website visitors. It is easier than ever to collect emails and use that contact [1] information to announce new developments within your company, launch new products, and advertise upcoming events. E-marketing has many applications to assist trade show booths, both before, during, and after the convention.
Before The Event: Build Hype For Your Trade Show Booth
If you trust the promotion of your unit to the promoters for the convention, you're taking a big risk. The convention promoters are interested in the overall attendance for the exhibition, not with your particular stand. While having more people come in through the front door of the exhibit hall is not a bad thing for your own results, those people are no more likely to come visit your trade show booths than any other presentation in the hall. If you want them to choose you over your competitors, you have to reach them yourself.
Email marketing provides a low-cost option to achieve just this result. There are many ways to collect contact information online, ranging from a contact form to a simple subscription option for a newsletter or news updates. When people sign on for these services, it's because they want to know about upcoming events like a trade show booth appearance, so don't hesitate to inform them. Keep the emails short, to the point, and friendly. You should keep multiple lists for different customers and edit the emails accordingly. For example, you'll want to use a different message when addressing past customers versus new business prospects.
During The Event: Collecting Information For The Future
When you are at the convention, getting email addresses from visitors to your trade show booths should be an absolute priority. Email is the most commonly used form of communication alongside instant messages through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. For long communications like a newsletter, email is the easy choice. You won't necessarily want or need to send out any messages while the event is going on, but you certainly want to gather additional emails to add to your lists for future notifications. In addition, you'll want to use these emails to follow up with your most promising leads after the show.
After The Event: Following Up Beyond The Trade Show Booths
Once the convention is over, email provides an immediate option for following up with your most promising leads. It's less invasive than a phone call, and also gives your leads the opportunity to forward your messages elsewhere in the company if further approval is needed before you can make a sale. In addition, email tends to be even more widely received than phone calls or snail mail because people can typically check it anywhere on their cell phones. Even if they feel they have no time to make a call, they will still take the time for email. Snail mail may be ignored, but email is much more likely to go through.
If you work to collect email information from visitors at your trade show booths and then promptly put that information to use after the convention, you'll see great results. When leveraged well, the internet is a great tool for marketers at any company to use.