No Trade Show? No Problem.

The Importance of Trade Shows

2020 has changed the way we do just about everything. From our interactions with friends and family to the way we do business, life as we know it has changed. While some industries were able to adapt and find success, a wide array of companies experienced a sharp decline in business. Many companies that rely on trade show lost their most lucrative prospecting and networking opportunity of the year.

You may understand how crucial trade shows can be, but the scale of their importance is not to be misjudged. Attending these shows allows companies to create face-to-face connections, boost brand visibility, research the competition, showcase new products, get live feedback, and, most importantly, generate leads.

The professionals at Expo Stars put it best: “Tradeshow[s] should be taken very seriously as a business opportunity. It is an opportunity to meet more prospective buyers face to face in one day than your salespeople will potentially meet during a whole year! It is about face-to-face interaction. However, the tradeshow environment is not a typical sales environment. Seldom will you have an opportunity to close a multi-million deal there and then!”

Although in-person interactions are invaluable to the sales process, circumstances can inhibit the overall frequency and effectiveness of it. There are ways to close the gap and find success during uncertain times. One way, to close the gap, is with social media.

Social Media & Investing in Success

Social media has become a major part of everyday life, including how we do business. Many brands have found significant success in creating new connections on the digital front. You may already have a slew of personal profiles to interact with family and laugh at entertaining content, but do you have a professional account that you use to generate new leads? If you did not answer that question with an emphatic yes, it’s time to learn the ropes and discover how important platforms like LinkedIn can be to the sales process.

Although your company may already have a corporate account that is used to engage your current customer base about general company updates, your sales team could greatly benefit from their own strategic social media plan. LinkedIn, for instance, is a platform for connecting professionals with other professionals in hopes of building meaningful connections that could lead to new business relationships. With robust profiles that include invaluable information regarding company, position, and experience, as well as integrated lead generation tools, LinkedIn is an all-in-one social media platform that can find you worthwhile leads and connect you with the right people.

We know how much you were planning to spend on a trade show booth, space reservation, and travel costs. Trade shows are not inexpensive.  For as little as a quarter of the investment, you can have a list of leads within your target market and the marketing tools in your hands.

How to Get Started

With trade shows being canceled, lead generation can and should bring marketing and sales closer together than ever before. Follow these steps to get started:

• Get your list ready. Past clients. Prospects. Current clients. If your CMS is not in order, now is the time to get it there. If you don’t have a way of developing new leads, now is time. We can have dozens of prospects in your hands within a week.
• Upgrade your personal online brand. You were successful at trade shows by being yourself. Now your online profile has to do the heavy lifting. Your checklist should include reviewing your profile picture, garnering client testimonials, and preparing case studies.
• Prepare to communicate. At a trade show, you had a sales message ready to tell customers. That same message has to come through in a different format. Be thinking about blog posts, videos, photos, and stories that will differentiate you from your competitors.

When you’re able to build a shared view of the customer journey, and how your marketing contributes to closing deals, it drives more effective sales and marketing synergy and will help you find success. If you are looking for course correction and want to learn more about how you can build a successful social strategy, contact Kleidon. Our team of marketing professionals is here to grow your business and take your lead gen to the next level.