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There’s a minimum of four emails you need to prepare before a trade show before you ever arrive; because as soon as that show is over, you’re going to be moving on to the next project.
- Pre-show
- Mid-show
- Post-Show
- Drip Campaign
1. THE PRE-SHOW EMAIL
Notify any attendees you know – not to advertise your product, but to mention you’re going to be available to meet with them in person and perhaps demonstrate some useful solutions.
Use CRM data and merge tags to generate relevant and more personalized emails.
Let people know what (and maybe even who) you’ll have at their disposal. Maybe it’s a panel discussion, a subject matter expert, a product demo, a cocktail meet at a nearby restaurant after show hours – sometimes even a nice free tchotchke is all you need.
2. THE MID-SHOW EMAIL
It could be a daily update of who came by and what you were up to, or information about what’s coming up in the next few hours or on the next day of the show. Once people get into convention mode, they won’t want to miss anything!
It’s okay for the email(s) to be short, as long as they’re valuable.
3. THE POST-SHOW EMAIL
Here’s an interesting tip; instead of (or right after) exchanging contact info with someone, take a picture with them right then.
And depending on whether you have a spare minute right after meeting, record a message to them right after they leave. “Hi, Jim! Just finished chatting with you at the booth, can’t wait to talk again about X,Y,Z!”
Either item is something you can potentially send them in your follow-up email. That way they remember you, and they know that you’re not sending them a generic mass thanks-for-coming email.
4. THE POST-SHOW DRIP CAMPAIGN
Not every lead is going to be a hot lead…
…but if you don’t stay top of mind, there’s no guarantee those lukewarm leads will remember you in six months when they’re ready to buy. Yes, you need a series of emails to prepare before a trade show, but also you need a series to send out afterwards! Send your leads these messages every once in a while to ensure that relationship doesn’t grow cold.
Because B2B sometimes means long buying cycles…so you need to play the long game.
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