How to Use the Web to Boost Trade Show Traffic & Profit

 

As soon as you make the decision to exhibit at a trade show, you have the opportunity to promote your company’s website, increase your visibility on the Internet, and also use the Internet to sell your products and services.

Clients who plan to attend trade shows often want to know about techniques for maximizing their trade show appearances, using the Internet. Your trade show exhibit marketing efforts can definitely benefit from increased traffic to your website. By using the Internet, you add another dimension to your trade show display before, during, and after the event.

In what ways can the Internet increase your trade show marketing efforts? Here’s an idea for your website visibility:

By promptly posting your trade show attendance on a separate trade show web page on your company’s website, you gain increased visibility because of search engines crawling your website for news of a specific trade show.

By putting a page on your website with information like your booth number, a map of the trade show floor, and a picture of your booth, you will gain traffic by making it easier for your prospects and clients to find you. If your page is online early enough—at least two months (or, even better, four months before the show)—you’ll attract additional traffic, as the search engines will crawl and index your new show page and return the link to a search like “CES XYZ Company”.

Post your news on a separate page on your website ideally four months prior to the trade show to give search engines time to crawl your website. Some companies merely provide a link from their website homepage directly to the website of the trade show, and they miss the opportunity to promote their company’s website and provide information to the website visitor.

A better way to go is to make a trade show reference on your website, such as, “We’re exhibiting at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2016. Click here for details.” A hyperlink would open a new webpage in a new window, providing full details, with company contacts. Search engines will give your company webpage a higher ranking when searching for the specific trade show where you plan to exhibit. If this page is constructed appropriately, it can itself be highly ranked in a search for “Consumer Electronics Show” (CES). When business executives search for the CES Show, your company trade show web page will be high on the search engine ranking list. It’s an opportunity for your company name to be seen and associated with the trade show. Visitors may also choose to click through to visit your webpage.

Another Internet tool is the use of email marketing to help you sell your products and services. Email targeted, industry-specific customer prospects an invitation to your trade show exhibit. Offer them an incentive to drop by your trade show booth. For example, send them half of a gift coupon via email, and ask them to pick up the other half at your booth to claim their special prize. Everyone loves to receive a gift, and this technique builds qualified traffic to your booth.

You may also want to offer free Internet service at your trade show booth. By providing weary trade show attendees a valuable service, you have them pre-disposed to appreciate your company and its showcased products and services.

Finally, be sure to accelerate sales to your client prospects by following up with emails the day after the show. Of course, you will have made sure your email list is honed from a tightly screened base. This strategy simplifies the sending of personalized e-mail messages to your highly qualified booth visitors.

By combining high-tech techniques with face-to-face trade show exposure, you are able to attract your customer prospects on a variety of levels that reinforce your company’s presence.

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Take the first step towards next-level exhibits

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