Trade shows are an excellent source of qualified prospects. However, many businesses return from these events with fewer leads than anticipated or many unqualified leads.

How can your brand improve your results from trade shows? Our trade show advertising specialists at Oser Communications Group have put together some top tips for collecting leads at trade shows.

1. Design a Lead Generation Plan

Before heading off to a trade show, you must determine what you intend to achieve from the event.

What type of leads do you intend to capture? What are your goals?

Perhaps you want more signups for a free product sample or to grow your email subscriber list. No lead generation campaign can be successful if it doesn’t have a goal and a plan to achieve it.

2. Promote the Trade Show

As the date for the trade show draws closer, it’s important to let prospective attendees know that your brand will be at the event.  

Write a blog post about attending the event. Schedule a few posts about the show on social media. The goal is to encourage as many people as possible to meet you at the event.

3. Send a Qualified Team

The best team to send to a trade show is one that combines some of your best sales personnel. Send people with the right experience and training to talk to highly qualified leads.

4. Create a Streamlined Process for Your Booth Management

A quality booth management process helps you separate real prospects from random attendees. Here’s an example of what a successful booth process looks like:

• Greet the visitor
• Scan the visitor’s badge
• Ask qualifying questions (to weed out unqualified suspects)
• Demonstrate your products to qualified suspects
• Get a commitment for a call, physical meeting, or other forms of follow-up communication

Collecting leads at trade shows is easier if you have a quality process in place.

5. Pay Attention to Your Booth Design

You want your booth to stand out from the dozens of other businesses at the trade show. Ensure it is welcoming enough without losing your brand identity.

A colorful booth with neatly designed, legible banners can help boost booth traffic.

6. Don’t Be Quick to Dispatch Promo Material 

Excellent booth management ensures you don’t hand out promo material and literature prematurely. However, even if you don’t have a booth management process, you should still avoid handing out literature too quickly. Otherwise, you’ll find most materials on the floor and in trash bins.

7. Leverage Technology

The days of lugging writing pads and paper forms to trade shows are long gone. You should incorporate technology into your trade show planning.

Using digital tools to scan attendee badges and collect their business card will significantly simplify the follow-up process.

Get More Expert Advice On Trade Show Lead Generation

Do you need more guidance on collecting leads at trade shows? Are you looking for a qualified event marketing consultancy group to work with?

Call our experts at Oser Communications Group at (520) 721-1300. We can offer guidance on everything from literature material to booth display colors for trade shows.

Setting up at a trade show or expo event puts you in direct competition with hundreds or thousands of other vendors also seeking attention. Using the right trade show booth displays color helps you stand out and attract customers, especially if your color choices match your brand.

Help customers find you and pique their interest with these tips for trade show display color schemes and effective trade show advertising.

Tips for Trade Show Display Colors

Consider these pointers when choosing which colors to use in your trade show booth design.

Choose Brand Colors

You may be tempted to use eye-catching color schemes to attract attention, but straying too far from your brand colors makes it harder for customers to recognize you in a crowd. Instead, focus on your brand’s brightest or most unusual colors as background displays and accents for your booth.

Cater to Your Audience

Marketing to your trade show’s audience may mean choosing different color schemes. While you should stay true to your brand’s colors, consider the people coming to your event and your event’s location when designing your display. For example, choosing to incorporate colors of an opposing sports team for your area may inspire dislike in customers during that sport’s season.

Consider More Than Your Table

While choosing the right colors for your table and its display, consider the area surrounding the trade show booths. Should you install a floor beneath your booth, hang a backdrop, or use colored lights to brighten up your booth? Hire an interior or graphic designer to help you land on a stunning trade show booth displays color.

Trade Show Booths Color Choices

Putting colors together for your trade show booth requires special attention to the color wheel. Colors that fight for attention can create a confusing atmosphere in your booth that puts off potential customers. Consider pairing colors that work well together for your booth.

Booth colors can inspire certain feelings and associations in customers, including:

• Red: Attention-getting, inspires a sense of urgency
• Orange: Energetic and playful, associated with modern industries
• Yellow: Positive and eye-catching, best used as an accent or background color
• Green: Cool and calming, associated with economy, ecology, and health
• Purple: Sophisticated and high-end, known as the color of royalty
• Blue: Trustworthy and soothing, simple but easy on the eyes
• Brown: Understated and humble, ideal for eco-friendly businesses
• Black: Classic and bold, safe for any business
• White: Minimalist and clean, associated with high value and purity

Make the Best Use of Your Colors in Your Trade Show Publications

While your trade show booth displays color helps you stand out on the show floor, follow your customers home with similarly colored publications. Leaflets, booklets, and flyers help visitors remember you long after the show ends. Call Oser Communications Group at (520) 721-1300 for the most beautiful, spot-on colors and designs in your trade show publications.

Which publication type offers the most marketing advantages? Learn the beneficial use of flyers in trade shows.

Every business benefits from participating in community expos, trade shows, or industry-specific events. Choosing a strategic booth location at a trade show gives you the best chance to engage with potential customers and teach them about your products or services.

Check out these professional tips for picking the best booth location at a trade show from Tucson’s reliable trade show advertising company. 

Reserve Your Booth Early

Popular trade shows quickly fill with previous vendors and newly interested businesses, many of which may include your competitors. Reserving your booth as soon as possible gives you a better chance at snagging a desirable booth location.

Some events offer early bird specials on booth spaces. Other events only allow a few vendors to sell the same services or products. In any case, take the first chance to beat your competitors to the punch.

Be Wary of the Entrance

You may feel tempted to choose a spot directly in front of or next to the entrance. This booth space may put you at the forefront of the exhibition hall. However, the entrance often becomes congested as visitors flood in.

Most potential customers will want to get away from the crowd. As they move away from the entrance, they’ll easily overlook your booth because of your location.

Neighbor a Major Brand or Sponsor

When choosing the best booth location at a trade show, consider the major brands sponsoring or attending the event. These brands often guarantee heavy foot traffic since they’ll attract many potential customers to your area, allowing you to engage with them. Settling in next door lets you take advantage of these brands’ clout.

Choose a Corner or Intersection

Corners and intersections offer prime locations where customers may find you while traveling from multiple directions. Besides routing visitors through the aisles, corners or intersections serve as places for visitors to catch their breath. Potential clients may then wander into nearby booths to get out of traffic.

The more your booth space integrates with traffic flow, the higher the chance a weary guest will visit you to escape the crowd.

Land a Booth Close to Refreshment Spots

Trade show exhibits often last for hours, attracting attendees with a high interest in engaging with businesses in your industry. These extended hours often produce hungry, tired guests needing refreshments and restrooms.

Placing yourself close to these areas allows these newly refreshed attendees the opportunity to visit you, increasing their engagement and interest.

Boost Your Trade Show Booth with Beautiful, Eye-Catching Advertising

Even with the best booth location at a trade show, you need a way to follow your visitors home. You want them to keep you top of mind when they need services or products from your industry. Call Oser Communications Group at (520) 721-1300 to learn more about trade show publications designed and printed by experienced professionals.

What else can you hand out at expos or industry events? Read more about common trade show freebies.