An exhibitor and an attendee are both part of a show management’s audience acquisition. With today’s digital presence, following the acquisition, those exhibitors and attendees enter a phase of audience engagement. This phase begins pre-show marketing by engaging your audience members. Why wait? This discussion will talk about the interactive online floor plans and exhibitor listings.

Audience Engagement in Advance

The days when audience engagement meant meeting face-to-face at the show, are history. Today, as soon as registration opens, exhibitors must be ready for business. Therefore they must be ready for attendee engagement.

The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) webinar series recently featured Ron Rosenberg, President at Quality Talk, Inc.  The webinar was titled “Turn Your Trade Show Booth Into A Cash Machine”. Especially relevant was the pre-event strategies discussion that could relate to audience engagement.

Attendees have an opportunity to develop their plan for attending the Exhibit hall, in advance. Attendees can access the online programs to:

• Search for companies by keywords, products and finally, categories
• Communicate with exhibitors directly while online
• Create a personalized plan with their must see exhibitors
• Build an online profile introducing themselves to exhibitors in advance

In addition, there is an opportunity to access information on the show’s website for those who do not plan to attend the show in person.  Especially relevant, these non-attending participants are able to conduct audience engagement.

Consequently, it is an exhibitor’s responsibility to take advantage of resources available through the online programs provided by Show Management.

Pre-Event Strategy

Finally, with a pre-event strategy exhibitors will:

• Build awareness of their presence with the show
• Create excitement that makes their booth the destination
• Offer incentives that your audience will want to stop by their booth

These programs enable you to contribute to the success of this strategy. Do your exhibitors take advantage of them?

The interactive floor plan and exhibitor listing programs offered will vary between shows. Often, participation in these programs is included as part of a booth package. There are opportunities for exhibitors to upgrade and increase one’s visibility. An exhibitor enters the company’s information directly. Once they know their password, just follow the step-by-step directions. A few thoughts to share with you as your exhibitors engage in this process:

• First of all, instead of listing a website address, develop a landing page that is specific to the audience attending the show. Use of a landing page will allow the exhibitor an opportunity to track the traffic to their site.
• Make their description easy to read. Make the description about their audience and not their company. Furthermore, list features and how the audience will benefit. Give the audience a reason to want to stop by their booth.
• Review the category options and select all categories that apply.
• Identify the brands that their company represents.

Upgrades are available that consequently provide increased visibility. Enhanced Packages may include:

• Priority Alphabetical Listing
• Company Logos
• Videos
• Featured Products
• Press Releases
• Show Only Specials

In conclusion, while a trade show might operate with face-to-face meetings for 2 or 3 days, the opportunities to generate business spanning pre-show, onsite and post-show are tremendous.