To ensure that your tradeshow marketing is successful, you should have a solid follow-up strategy after the event. A lot of research done on post-show follow-up reveal that exhibitors often ignore the importance of having a complete plan for follow-up campaigns to engage the leads generated during the event.
There are several common mistakes that exhibitors commit when it comes to post-show follow-up on the leads. In today’s blog post, we’ll highlight some of the most common mistakes you should avoid to design a strategy that helps you gain convert leads to consumers and maximize your ROI.
Mistake #1: Not Evaluating Your Leads
This is one of the most common mistakes that exhibitors make. They don’t direct their sales team to evaluate their leads. The key to marketing success is to grade or evaluate the leads and differentiate between hot leads and cool leads. Hot leads are those prospects that have shown interest in your services and requested a follow up during the event. Cool leads are a term used for attendees who haven’t directly engaged with your products and services.
If you don’t segment your leads properly, you can’t come up with an appropriate follow-up plan to appeal to each specific group after the event. It’ll only make the whole process of follow-up more difficult with a higher chance of failing to achieve satisfactory results.
Mistake #2: Not Determining the Proper Time for Follow-up
The sales team often forget to ask prospects about when they would like to be contacted after the event. If you want to increase your sales, following up on your leads at the right time is of vital importance. However, if the prospects haven’t given you any particular time, it’s recommended to start as soon as possible to increase your chances of making a sale.
Therefore, once you segment your leads, first design prompt and professional response emails for hot leads. Send response emails immediately after the event (preferably within 24 hours) or call them over the phone as this will help you stand out from your competitors. For cool leads, you can start following up within a couple of days.
Mistake #3: Not Using Different Follow-Up Strategies
Another common mistake is to use the same strategy or campaign for all segments of your leads. Depending on your leads, determine your calls-to-action, subject lines, and the content of the mail. It’s also a good idea to personalize each mail and include the name and contact details of the sales representative.
You can also include a small picture gallery of your trade show booth in the follow-up emails to especially cool leads. Make sure to attach different types of pictures, including some that show your demonstrations and interested prospects crowding at your help desks or kiosks. This will convey to the prospects the buzz around your products. However, make sure to keep the gallery strategically placed in the email body so that the calls-to-action and the main message doesn’t go unnoticed.
According to market research, almost 80% of leads don’t get any follow-up from exhibitors after the event. Fixing this mistake can take your sales to another level. But keep in mind that you won’t get an immediate response from all your prospects and this is no reason for you to give up. Not getting a response or finding it hard to reach some prospects doesn’t mean that they won’t like to hear from you. Don’t stop with your follow-up efforts.
