How to Work a Manufacturing Trade Show Booth?

Article by: Darren Fox

Trade Show Marketing Tips for Manufacturers: Part II

This article is the second in a three-part series helping manufacturers maximize their return on investment in trade shows.

In this part, we discuss how to generate leads at trade shows. Trade show lead generation is effective both in person and through digital marketing – a mix of both strategies can work synergistically in terms of your marketing return on investment. What you have to keep in mind is your ideal customer ‘persona’ and how you can be the best guide to meet your customer needs. This means zeroing in on the right approach to attract and retain a particular client base. And in our experience, one of the best approaches when it comes to trade show marketing is attracting leads through foot traffic.

Part I: How to Increase Manufacturing Trade Show Booth Traffic
Part III: How to Follow Up with Manufacturing Trade Show Leads

How to Work a Manufacturing Trade Show Booth — Share:

Stage 2: Drawing Traffic vs. Engaging Leads

Manufacturers exhibit at industry trade shows to gain brand exposure and begin conversations with an audience they couldn’t access otherwise.

If you rely on trade show leads to fill your business development pipeline, the tendency may be to focus on quantity over quality. But, if you want to come home from your next trade show with opportunities instead of contacts who aren’t a good fit for your company, you should focus heavily on attracting and engaging the right visitors during the trade show.

Every trade show exhibitor has to address two challenges: Getting people to their booth and determining which ones to follow up with later.

The approach that works the most is exuding authenticity and your own personality and showing prospects how you can be of help. By focusing more so on prospect needs and less on showcasing how remarkable you are, you will begin to nurture relationships that are based on mutual trust and satisfaction.

Attract the right foot traffic to your trade show booth

Like most manufacturers, Butterfield Color likes to highlight what’s new in its industry. When the World of Concrete trade show began, the company leveraged social media to share photos of the incredible week-long process involved in building its booth on-site. The timely post generated a strong response among its followers–many of whom may have been attending the event.

Each year, Butterfield also presents its three Project of the Year awards in person at the World of Concrete event. The year-long contest encourages residential, commercial or municipal installers to submit images of their completed projects in order to qualify for a trip for two to the following year’s World of Concrete.

By exhibiting their work in person and recognizing quality examples of it, Butterfield was able to attract people who were already fans of their work. That type of foot traffic also drew the interest of passersby who may not have otherwise stopped.

Creative ways to drive traffic to trade show booth

There are countless ways to draw foot traffic to your trade show booth. But, what Butterfield Color and BW Manufacturing did well in their build-up was create what Idea Graphic Designer, Erin Karper, calls a “WOW factor.”

“If you can’t convince people in advance to visit your trade show booth, you’ll have to get them to stop as they’re walking by,” Karper said. “That WOW factor is the next level of attraction that goes beyond giveaways, candy dishes, and branded SWAG.”

Karper previously worked for Nimloc, a leading manufacturer of trade show equipment, booths, banner stands, and flags. Having supported 8-10 trade shows each year, she gathered a number of helpful tips for exhibitors who want to stop traffic.

Beyond simply having the largest trade show booth, the best-dressed exhibitors or the most dynamic videos playing on the biggest screens, Karper said it helps to engage attendees in activities or trade show games to drive booth traffic.

She cautioned though, to be sure any trade show gimmicks are on-brand for your company and don’t distract from winning new business.

Your booth is an extension of your company and its people. It should communicate what it’s like to work with you–whether that feels like a day at the beach, a night on the town or somewhere in between. Karper also said that most of the people who came to the booth did so to personally meet their sales rep. The excitement around that face-to-face moment shows the importance of customer relationships.

How to engage trade show attendees

Engaging trade show attendees and quickly qualifying leads is still a major challenge for many manufacturers. The temptation may be to immediately reach for the badge scanner or ask for a business card every time you get someone’s attention. But, that excitement can result in a database of unqualified leads.

Attendees don’t like being tricked into stopping any more than normal people do when they’re shopping with their family on the weekend. So, skip sneaky quips like, “Hey, can I ask you a question?” or “That’s a really nice tie, where did you buy it?”

Having a systematic process for engaging, qualifying, and documenting leads will maximize your time and effort. A repeatable process will also make post-show follow-up easier to do and more effective.

Questions to ask when qualifying trade show traffic:

What is it that your company does?
What was it about our booth that caught your eye?
Are you already a customer of ours?
What’s the biggest need you’re facing in the next 12 months?

Another way to engage trade show attendees and stand out is to engage in a conversation that brings attendees back to your beginnings and why you do what you do. That passion and commitment to your craft will stand out and create an emotional response in leads looking for manufacturing brands that seem to love what they do and have a personal stake in their business growth.

Trade show booth best practices

Trade show attendees may visit 20, 30, or 100 different booths over a three-day period. Make your booth stand out visually.
Most trade shows encourage attendees and exhibitors to download an event app and use a specific hashtag for related social media posts. Take advantage of the opportunity to connect with others on-site.
Take plenty of photos and post to your social media accounts each day. Show your team interacting with visitors and your products. Be sure to capture your entire booth and an establishing shot of the crowd in attendance.
Prepare a short list of qualifying questions to ask when attendees visit your booth.
Take some time to walk the show. Look for competitors and take note of what others are doing to stand out or engage attendees.

Pro Tip: Attendees don’t like being tricked into stopping at booths. So, skip the sneaky quips like, “Hey, can I ask you a question?” or “That’s a really nice tie, where did you buy it?”

Continue to Part III: How to Follow Up with Manufacturing Trade Show Leads

About: Since 2009, Idea Marketing Group has helped manufacturers who are invested in digital. We build custom websites paired with digital marketing strategies to grow your customer base and improve inbound lead generation. We are highly rated on Google and Clutch.co as a top web design agency for manufacturers. We eat, sleep, and breathe websites!

Back to Blog

How to Work a Manufacturing Trade Show Booth