In your mind, what is the most effective approach for a trade show? Calm and collected, short and sweet or a hard sell? The truth is there are so many different approaches to consider, and the same one strategy won’t work for every business at every exhibit.
Exhibition shows can be fantastic opportunities for you to engage potential customer and produce a real ROI for your business. Download our guide on how you can make the most of your exhibition with an effective strategy.
However, a new report by The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) suggests that, when it comes to people-to-people engagement, attendees particularly enjoy talking to marketing and sales-focused trade show staff at booths.
When it comes to people-to-product engagement at a trade show, the report suggests that interactivity with the products on show is the key to success. Interestingly, 85% of exhibitors want their trade show staff to use emotion to engage with prospects, using this tactic to convey the impression that their company is credible, trustworthy and friendly.
Can your existing trade show staff properly convey emotion?
There can be a few problems with this approach. There’s nothing wrong with using emotion as a tactic, but it’s a wide-ranging and highly personal value, and it needs to be used in incredibly precise ways to engage with prospects sensibly and sensitively.
Get the emotional pitch right at a trade show and it could be the key to unlocking high value business opportunities. Get it wrong though, and it could not only turn prospects away from your brand, but negatively affect your reputation inside and outside the industry.
Let’s come back to the example of people-to-product engagement. How well do you know your product and what’s the best way to show it off at a trade show? Some exhibitors will know the product inside-out, but their creative pitch may fall flat with them coming across as an infomercial-type salesman instead of a viable business opportunity.
Knowing how much engagement a prospect should have with a product, and delivering an engaging and emotional pitch in the right way is crucial to converting leads. Working with the right agency can introduce you to professional product demonstrators who are dedicated to learning about a company, its products and how to pitch them in the right way to generate interest.
How to engage prospects properly with emotion at a trade show
An astonishing 80% of prospects who attend a live demonstration at an exhibition claim that it helped them significantly in making a purchasing decision. On top of this, 65% also say that live events can help them to get a better understanding of a product or service.
To target and attract the best prospects a strategy for the show is key, but it needs to be executed in the right way by an experienced, multifaceted team of professional exhibition specialists. These individuals need to understand how to attract a crowd, emotionally engage with them and keep your business fresh in their mind long after the exhibition has finished.
A mixture of the right staff can help to complement a strategy that has emotional connections at its core. Working with a brand ambassador and lead generator to spread your message, for instance, can help draw crowds. Meanwhile, a product demonstrator or presenter takes things to the next level in regards to emotional engagement.
Not just any trade staff will do in this regard. An experienced team able to properly convey emotion in the right ways, and at the right time, will not only help you generate leads, but will help your business to connect with them on a new emotional level.
Find out more about building an engaging trade exhibition strategy, complemented by a highly-experienced team of trade staff, contact Expo Stars today.
