tradeshow attendee: how to stay connected after the event

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Attendees Staying Connected After the Show

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Page 1: Tradeshow Attendee: How to Stay Connected After the Event

Attendees Staying Connected After the Show

Page 2: Tradeshow Attendee: How to Stay Connected After the Event

STAYING CONNECTED AFTER THE SHOW PAGE 2

Bartizan Connects, a provider of Lead Retrieval systems for trade shows, recently surveyed trade show

attendees across a range of industries and show profiles. The focus of the survey was to determine how they

view the show experience and how they deal with what they’ve learned from the show when they return

home. The methodology used for gathering this research was a series of online focus groups used to solicit

attitudes and opinions regarding trade show industry experiences from the unique perspectives of trade show

Attendees. These online groups were conducted by Joyce McKee & Company, over a multi-day time frame in

April and May of 2009 allowing respondents to candidly discuss and debate topics. The respondents did not

know who was sponsoring the survey.

When we analyzed what we learned from our interaction with Attendees in the context of similar interactions

with Exhibitors and Organizers, we were struck by how ineffective post-show interaction was between

Attendees and Exhibitors. We don’t mean the communication with possible prospects, but rather the

communication with all those Attendees who were “just looking.” Those Attendees with no intention to buy,

who make up the vast majority of visitors to any booth.

If broader marketplace visibility plays a role in your show strategy, then how you handle those visitors who

aren’t active sales opportunities becomes important to you. In this paper we pinpoint where we see Exhibitors

lose that visibility with the broader marketplace. And we suggest a general approach to solving it that some

might find worth pursuing.

Specifically we focus on:

1. A profile of the “curious” Attendee.

2. The breakdown of the connection between Exhibitors and those Attendees.

3. The problem that breakdown causes.

4. The collaboration between Exhibitors and Organizers that can repair that connection.

Attendees Staying Connected After the Show

Page 3: Tradeshow Attendee: How to Stay Connected After the Event

STAYING CONNECTED AFTER THE SHOW PAGE 3

The Curious Attendee

We probed what Attendees wanted to get out of

show attendance. There were a few answers, but

only one common one. Here’s Lyn to tell it

succinctly.

Learn as much as I can in the short time I have.

This is what we learn from every study about

show attendees. The vast majority are on a

knowledge hunt. We imagine this aligns with

most Exhibitors’ experience. Most of their traffic

isn’t interested in buying. They’re walking the

floor. They’re engaging in informal professional

development. Learning who’s out there, and what

they have that’s new. They may be on the floor

between learning and breakout sessions. They

may be passing your booth on the way to another

company whose product they are interested in.

They may just be looking for stress balls.

This is the “broader market visibility” part of your

show objectives. The objective is to become

somehow part of the conversation when this

group of Attendees returns to work. To have

made enough of an impression that when the

post show review session takes place your

product and company are remembered . . . along

with your stress ball.

Connection Breakdown

During the show, your connection to this broader

market is active. The show is designed that way,

designed to guide people to see as many

displays as possible: to connect curious visitors

with exhibiting companies. It’s a very limited

connection to be sure: neither the curious

Attendee nor the sales rep in the booth wants to

interact with each other. But they do want to

connect: the rep wants to scan the badge and the

Attendee wants to see what his company does. A

quick connection. But a connection nonetheless.

But after the show, instead of being something to

build on, the connection breaks down and

eventually disappears.

Let’s piece together the phases of that

breakdown using quotes from both our Exhibitors

and Attendees.

When Attendees Get Back To the Office

Things are informal for our Attendee respondents

when they get back home. Few have any rigid

obligations (reports, summaries, meetings, email)

coming back from the show.

Let’s sit back and let Pat speak for them all:

When I return it is expected that I have learned

more about the products we utilize and what is

coming from this product in the near future. It is also

expected that I share any information of products

that may interest one of our departments so that

they can follow up and see for themselves. It is also

expected that I share what I have learned with my

Administrators if I think there is something that may

be beneficial to our instructional technology.

(Laughing) I am also expected to come back and

spread out any 'freebees' collected for everyone to

grab.

Our Attendees all described the same kind of

thing. If they thought it was interesting, they

shared it. If not, it was forgotten. Your fate is

entirely in their hands.

When Exhibitors Return to the Office

Our Exhibitors were equally unanimous in

describing what they did upon their return. Follow

up was the same across the board. Keith does a

good job of representing the Exhibitors group

when he describes that follow up.

We use the show scanners and read almost

everyone who we talk to. These are cold leads.

They will get a catalog mailed to them and "thanks

for stopping by...." note.

A thank you email. Sometimes an offer. In Keith’s

case a catalog. Paths to more information. And,

always, an invitation to call if there are any

questions. Sometimes a call or two. Everybody

with the same lead qualification code gets the

same letter.

When Attendees Receive the Follow Up

Our Attendees view this follow up as unavoidable

and irrelevant. Only a couple of comments are

needed:

It can result in several annoying calls from the

vendors desperate for a lead.

Page 4: Tradeshow Attendee: How to Stay Connected After the Event

STAYING CONNECTED AFTER THE SHOW PAGE 4

Usually results in more junk e-mail/mail.

The Problem

Here’s the issue. This group of attendees, the

merely curious, have let you know in action, word

and behavior, that they’re just learning what’s out

there. Keeping up to date. That they aren’t

interested in your product.

And how do you follow up? With information

about your product. So it’s no surprise that your

message falls on deaf ears. Let’s let Pat finish

her story be describing her reaction to follow up:

What I usually hear on the other end of the phone is

"Thank you for your interest in our product" or "you

requested a call" when I never really spoke to

anyone or in anyway requested contact.

The conclusion is clear. If you want to maintain

your goal of “broader market visibility,” you need

to deliver a message they do want to hear.

A Joint Action

And what is that? Our Attendees have already

told us the answer to that question.

Remember what Lyn said?

Learn as much as I can in the short time I have.

Broad industry knowledge. To stay in front of this

group you have to deliver more than information

about your product. You have to deliver

information that they can use for their own

professional knowledge.

Such an easy answer. The practical answer,

though, is not easy. There are three big

obstacles:

1. Cost

This is not a critical marketplace, this is a

“good to have” group. No Marketer has a

significant budget to allocate for brand

awareness to this group.

No Marketer has a significant budget, but a

tiny one they do.

2. Having a continual supply of interesting

content.

No individual exhibitor has the ability or the

motivation to become a conduit of broad

market knowledge. Something within their

product category yes, but not across

categories.

No individual exhibitor does. But working

together they do.

It’s an extension of lead sharing. They

contribute interesting articles encountered

and make it part of a broader package of

information. Two articles for company A and

one from company B and two more from C .

. . and you have a useful package of

information that extends beyond any

individual company’s sphere of interest.

3. Having a delivery infrastructure in place to

send it out on a regular basis.

Exhibitors don’t have registration

processing systems, or data analyses that

point to qualified collaborating companies,

or content management systems, or

sophisticated email creation, delivery and

tracking methods.

They don’t. But Organizers do.

Organizers have the registration systems.

They have access to data that can tell them

that this person visited these booths, and

they can use that information to suggest

collaborations. They have email and postal

mail systems in place. They can develop

SIGs and focus groups.

Our Call to Action

That’s the collaboration we’re suggesting. Using predominantly existing resources, and making only the

most modest of additional investments, Exhibitors and Organizers can together create a message

delivery vehicle that supports the often-critical goal of broader market visibility. That allows companies to

Page 5: Tradeshow Attendee: How to Stay Connected After the Event

STAYING CONNECTED AFTER THE SHOW PAGE 5

stay in front of people and organizations who may not have a need today, but who still contribute and

make purchasing decisions within the broader industry. And that continues providing the full value of the

show to everyone, after the show has closed.

It’s a win/win/win opportunity.

1. Attendees get what they want: access to industry trends and insights. And they credit the

participating companies and the show itself for it.

2. Exhibitors get what they want: ongoing visibility in the industry, at a price that makes it worth doing.

3. Organizers get what they want: value-add to attract Exhibitors and Attendees (and possibly

additional revenue by providing participation as a service option).

A Final Note

This is not a prescription. It’s an observation. Something we at Bartizan thought worth sharing with our

customers, and our customers’ customers. We don’t expect that it will apply to all of you. But we do expect

that it will apply to many of you. In a landscape where show attendance is at risk, delivering this kind of added

value for everyone may be good territory to explore.

Corporate Headquarters:

Bartizan Lead Retrieval

217 Riverdale Ave

Yonkers, NY 10705

(800) 899-2278

Fax: 914-965-774