Presented by Cvent

The return of in-person trade shows is welcome news to most marketers. There are few marketing channels that generate more qualified leads and grow relationships better than a trade show. As we return to these types of events however, you might be wondering how to really make the most of these experiences and ensure you see a positive return on your investment.  

A primer for the return to in-person: Typical traps

A great way to approach trade shows in 2022 is to measure yourself as an organization. Are you simply re-booting your pre-pandemic processes? Or are you taking a modern approach? While trade shows provide many unique networking opportunities, most organizations are just scratching the surface when it comes to ROI because of outdated thinking.

One example is the common business card. These cards collected at the show are either still in the hands of their sales representatives or hurriedly typed into an excel file waiting to be uploaded into the CRM. Old School thinking not exactly in line with our new digital world. Here are some of the common problems faced by trade show marketers after an event:

    Leading marketers are saying goodbye more and more to manual processes, because frankly, whenever data is entered manually, there is a high risk of human error and missing critical information. So, how can trade show marketers avoid reinventing the wheel each time in the future? By honing strategy, moving towards more digital solutions, and focusing on the three phases of the trade show marketing process.

    Maximizing your strategy for better ROI

    We spoke a bit about data above. Let’s dig into it a little more here, because it is crucial to improve data visibility in order to prove the impact of your trade show. Today, the right technology can easily help take conversations from the floor to your sales team at the tap of a button.

    You need trade show solutions that can help you at each stage of your event, be it pre-event appointments, onsite lead capture, post-event reporting or off-site networking events after the show. Let’s look at how you maximize your trade show strategy during these phases:

    Before the trade show

      During the trade show

        After the trade show

          Conclusion

          As you plan and strategize for in-person and hybrid events in the future, be fully prepared and stay one step ahead by streamlining your processes. It’s a new digital-first world, and that has had significant impact on in-person events as well.

          Learn more about how Cvent can help maximize the ROI at your trade shows.

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