10 top tips for smashing your trade show lead target

Exhibitors at RX events enjoy access to a uniquely powerful suite of digital and data analysis solutions to help them turbocharge and measure their event performance. We asked our Head of Customer and Business Services Hannah Ware to share her top tips on how you can use them to boost your brand awareness and rake in more leads.  

1. Define your goal

Different goals require different event tactics. Do you want to generate new sales leads? Reconnect with existing customers? Launch a new product? Position your company as a thought leader? Set yourself a clear target, then chat with your RX account manager or customer success representative about the best digital solutions that can help maximise your event performance and  grow your business.

2. Complete your profile to boost your views                 

94% of buyers plan their trade show visits ahead of time by checking the online exhibitor listing for products and suppliers. If your profile is complete, you’re more likely to capture their attention. Our data shows us that exhibitors with complete profiles get up to 17x more views on average. (Bonus Tip: Many buyers come to trade shows to see what’s new. If you’re launching a new product, let them know!)

3. Go big with a priority profile

Want your brand and products to leap out of the online listing? Then upgrade to an RX Silver or Gold Listing for ultimate visibility. With double height listings and product previews, Silver Listings receive an average of 5.1 more interactions with their profile, products and content. As a Gold Profile user you also get branded promotion on the event home page and in your chosen product categories, generating 19.9 more interactions on average. Perfect if you are launching a new product or want to build brand awareness.

4. Capture richer lead data and qualify on the go

If you want to gather as many leads as possible, RX’s Emperia lead manager app is a game changer - and it’s included as standard in your exhibition package. Just download the app onto your phone activate it,  and scan each visitor’s badge at your booth to capture rich lead data. It’s available for every member of your sales team. Why not make it a competition to see who gets the most leads? Emperia lead manager app consolidates all your lead data and sources into a single report for you to download daily, or after the event, for quick follow up. Exhibitors tell us they also love how it supports going paperless by emailing digital content to scanned visitors automatically.

5. Qualify your leads for a smarter follow-up

Some leads are hotter than others. Which is why the Emperia lead manager app helps you to qualify them as you go with custom questions, notes, and lead scoring.  Before the event, decide what the most important buyer qualifications are for your business, then create custom questions to capture this valuable data from each buyer. For example: ‘How much do you have to spend?’ ‘Do you have purchasing authority?’, ‘What products are you interested in?’ or ‘How soon are you looking to buy?’ You can also prioritise the leads for smarter follow-up by qualifying them with a star rating and adding notes from your conversations.  

6. Don’t lose potential customers - let visitors connect with you

With the best will in the world, there is never enough time to engage with every attendee on your stand – which is why RX developed Colleqt QR Code. Colleqt QR Code enables visitors who want to connect with you to independently scan your QR codes using their phone, without the need to download any app. They automatically receive your digital content as well as exchange contact details  ̶  so you get the lead even if you’re busy with another customer, or in a meeting! (Bonus Tip: Make the most of this easy lead gathering solution by asking your account manager or customer success rep to share your Colleqt QR Code in advance so you can build it into your interactive booth design.)

7. Stage an irresistible interaction on your booth

Staging a fun interactive experience is a proven way to draw visitors to your stand and generate more leads. As they arrive, make sure to scan their badges with Emperia lead manager app as a condition of participation. Spinning the wheel for a prize; staging a live demo; hosting a celebrity; holding a networking reception; or giving out cup-cakes to energise attendees are just some of the ideas I’ve spotted on the exhibit floor!  

8. Bag an additional 279 leads (on average)

Everyone loves a freebie or a special offer. Even the smallest reward can make us want to engage with a new company or stay loyal to an existing brand. Regardless of your booth's location, you can transform it into the ultimate hotspot using Digital Incentives! Create an irresistible offer for visitors and ask them to claim it at your booth. Your offer is emailed to every registered visitor before the event as part of a digital ‘Goodie Bag’. Get a larger number of leads with offers and giveaways, or access fewer but better qualified leads with business-related offers, such as demos and whitepapers. Choose a strategy to achieve your lead generation.

9. Monitor your event performance in real time to boost your results

As part of your RX event experience, you get access to your own Exhibitor Dashboard – a real-time analytics ‘scorecard’ to help you succeed.  It consolidates all your leads, digital engagement, and matchmaking recommendations in one place, before and during the show. Use it before the show to check out your most popular products and tailor your booth presence accordingly. Track your profile views to see how much engagement your profile is attracting and consider opportunities to boost your results. You can also compare your performance with other companies in the same category and decide if you need to take action to boost your results. Exhibitors have long been asking for a data-driven approach to measuring and improving their event performance. Here it is!  

10. Follow-up!

After the show, download your leads from Exhibitor Dashboard and get started on your follow up. Use the star rating to identify high priority leads for immediate attention. Use the ‘View by’ option to drill down on the different types of leads and sources to create targeted follow-ups. As an exhibitor, you can also measure your performance against your targets, and track key metrics like leads, views, downloads and times you were recommended to help you measure your ROI. Exhibitor Dashboard offers you a full 360 view of your performance at the show, offering you data and insights to measure your results. It even nudges you to follow up your leads if you neglect to do so! Ask your RX sales team for more info.

*Based on 12 RX global trade shows, March to May 2024.

Check out Episode 57 of the TSNN Podcast: Trade Show Talk - Driving Digital Transformation at Exhibitions: Insights from RX Chief Digital Product Officer Gaby Appleton

Gaby Appleton joined Trade Show Talk to share her experience as Chief Digital Product Officer at RX, a public company that produces more than 400 events in 22 countries. In this newly created position that she’s now held for three years, Appleton and her team have been building and commercializing digital products that enhance the value of RX events, by connecting buyers and sellers across 43 different industry sectors. With more than 20 years of experience in product development, sales and marketing, digital transformation and strategy, she told us she loves tackling complex problems. In fact during the pandemic, she led the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) Covid-19 contact tracing app, which was the second-most downloaded free app in the UK in 2020 with 30 million users. 

At RX, she has overseen the rollout of the company’s own registration system Mercury, the mobile badge-scanning app Emperia and an Exhibitor Dashboard to analyze their results and improve their performance. Most recently, RX introduced Colleqt QR, where visitors can capture information about RX exhibitors, sponsors, and their products by scanning Colleqt QR codes at exhibitor booths and at product feature zones with their mobile phones. We talked about the company’s digital strategy and execution. She shared insight on how and when RX determines whether to build proprietary systems vs. buy services from vendors. Find out the scoop on what’s working to increase adoption and engagement of RX’s digital products.