Tag Archive for: Marketing Trade Shows

Lead Liaison Press Release
Lead Liaison

Lead Liaison Announces Free Lead Generation Tool Dubbed Website Visitor Converter

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Lead LiaisonDallas, Texas – Lead Liaison, the leader in sales and marketing automation solutions, has added yet another free tool to their growing list of resources available to sales and marketers worldwide. The solution is appropriately named Website Visitor Converter.

Brad Froese, Director of Marketing, acknowledges one of the primary challenges marketers must overcome:

“Marketers are constantly trying to figure out what type of content to put on their website. They understand inbound marketing is a critical growth strategy. However, it’s hard to figure out where to draw the line. What should be given away for free and what should be gated?
Gated content should be valued enough by a visitor to exchange for their coveted email address. Once they’ve determined what that valuable “free” content is going to be, marketers can use Website Visitor Converter to gate it for free. They can also set up and manage passcodes, and easily style gated prompts to match corporate branding. It’s a really flexible plugin for any website built on the WordPress platform.”

The solution can operate in one of two ways. First, it can be used for free to gate valuable website content. Interested website visitors can provide their email address to access the content. Through an integration with a leading email validation provider, email addresses can be verified for authenticity prior to accessing the content. Alternatively, content can be gated by a pass code. The pass code can be handed out ahead of time and used to unlock access. Second, the solution can integrate with Lead Liaison’s sales and marketing automation platform. When a visitor provides their contact information, they can easily be added into an automated workflow or drip campaign.

Website Visitor Converter is a free, downloadable WordPress plugin available directly from the WordPress.org catalog, and can be downloaded here.

About Lead Liaison
Lead Liaison provides cloud-based sales and marketing automation solutions that help businesses accelerate revenue by attracting, converting, closing and retaining more prospects. Filling a void in the small pool of automation providers that focus on marketing-centric functionality, Lead Liaison gives equal focus to sales providing sophisticated visitor tracking and sales automation to boost sales effectiveness. Additionally, Lead Liaison is the global leader in event lead management, enabling companies to capture and manage leads from trade shows and events. Lead Liaison blends ease-of-use, a flexible architecture, deep external integration, marketing across social, web, mobile, email and offline channels and powerful functionality into a single platform, called Revenue Generation Software®. Lead Liaison is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.leadliaison.com or call 1-800-89-LEADS (895-3237). To access our Press Kit, visit www.leadliaison.com/press-kit.

About Lead Liaison
Lead Liaison provides cloud-based sales and marketing automation solutions that help businesses accelerate revenue by attracting, converting, closing and retaining more prospects. Filling a void in the small pool of automation providers that focus on marketing-centric functionality, Lead Liaison gives equal focus to sales providing sophisticated visitor tracking and sales automation to boost sales effectiveness. Additionally, Lead Liaison is the global leader in event lead management, enabling companies to capture and manage leads from trade shows and events. Lead Liaison blends ease-of-use, a flexible architecture, deep external integration, marketing across social, web, mobile, email and offline channels and powerful functionality into a single platform, called Revenue Generation Software®. Lead Liaison is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.leadliaison.com or call 1-800-89-LEADS (895-3237). To access our Press Kit, visit www.leadliaison.com/press-kit.

Lead Liaison

Here’s Why You Should Consider Text Message Marketing in Your Post-Show Follow-Up

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Thinking about how you will manage your post-show follow-up, after a trade show or other marketing event, is a critical step in finding success with event marketing.

There are several methods of communication that you’ll probably consider using in your follow-up, but have you considered text messages?

Text Message Marketing in Post-Show Follow-Up

You want an omnichannel approach before, during, and after the trade show. In addition to email marketing, you want to harness the power of social media. You should consider the often-overlooked channel of direct mail marketing. And here’s a channel you might not have thought about—text message/SMS marketing.

Used wisely as part of your well-provisioned “marketing toolbox”, before and during the event, and as part of your post-show follow-up, text message marketing can help you reap major dividends.

Before your trade show, text/SMS marketing can help you build name recognition for your brand, not to mention the kind of curiosity and anticipation that guarantees attendees will gladly go the extra mile at the show to seek you out and discover more about what you can do for them.

When you are at a trade show, you can use text messages to notify attendees of agenda items you do not want them to miss, like an after-hours party you are hosting, or an intriguing product demo that will answer many of their questions and lead them to eagerly engage with you and go further into your pipeline. You could also send a text blast to announce a drawing or fun contest you are hosting.

How About After The Trade Show?

After an event, life for them, and you, is hectic. You are back at work. You are trying to get back into a normal routine. So are the leads you met at the trade show. At this point, you are at a marketing “fork in the road”. They have a lot on their minds and their plates. They could get distracted and easily forget about you. You could get complacent and forget to follow up with them.

This scenario happens a lot. Many marketing and sales teams struggle with post-show follow-up; their lead generation and nurturing efforts fizzle out. Please don’t let that be the case for you and your team. You have put in too much time, effort and financial investment to not enjoy a substantial return.

You captured the leads. You and your staff met many of them face-to-face. It’s critical that you now build Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) and nurture them with an omnichannel post-event follow-up campaign. Text message marketing can help you.

A Huge Benefit Of Text Message Marketing!

With almost any marketing initiative or channel, you face a big challenge: it’s difficult to grab and keep your audience’s attention. It can be a major uphill battle to get your busy, distracted leads to stop what they are feverishly doing, focus their limited attention on your message, open and read it.

Text message marketing helps you overcome this challenge. Think about it. When they receive a text, almost everyone stops what they are doing, opens it up and reads it immediately. I do this. Chances are you do too. The engagement rate with text messages is off the charts. The open rate for SMS marketing messages is huge – as much as 82%!

What other marketing channel has that kind of open rate? As effective as they are, certainly not email or direct mail.

Bottom line: your post-trade show text message is very likely to get opened. And if it gets opened, it’s likely to get read. And if it gets read, assuming you wrote it well (more on this in a moment), it’s likely to help your post-show follow-up by leading to a conversion where the reader takes the step you want them to take.

Text Message Marketing Use Cases. The Sky Is The Limit!

There are a multitude of potential use cases for text message marketing. You can notify your subscriber list of your latest blog article. You can send a Happy Birthday greeting. You sales team can send reminders of upcoming scheduled phone calls…

You are limited only by your imagination!

To show you that we “practice what we preach”, here is an example of how Lead Liaison recently harnessed the power of text message marketing as part of our post-show follow-up. 

At a recent trade show, we asked our new leads if they were comfortable sharing their mobile phone numbers with us. 90% said “Yes”.

We told them to expect a text message that would include their Lead Liaison Representative’s contact information, so they could save it in their phones, in case they thought of more questions after our in-person conversation. 

On the backend, our post-show follow-up included a text message, personalized with the lead’s first name. That text was triggered within minutes of submitting our lead capture form, meaning that we were most definitely the first to follow up with them.

Avoid “Shiny Object” Syndrome

This is true for any marketing channel or tool, including text/SMS: don’t use it just because “it’s cool”, or “it’s popular and everyone else is using it”. Plan out your marketing strategy and objectives. Then plug in the tools to help you reach those objectives. There’s a great likelihood that text message marketing should be one of those tools; after a trade show, and in general, it can be a valuable part of your lead capture and nurturing efforts. 

A Couple Of Text Message Marketing Best Practices

Although a detailed explanation is beyond the scope of this article, it’s important that you follow all relevant laws and regulations related to text message marketing. Don’t spam anyone. Only market to those who have specifically given you permission to. And make it super-easy for them to opt-out of receiving your messages.

Even though your text message is likely to get opened, it won’t get the response you want unless you follow good copywriting and content marketing practices. So make your text personal. Use the word “you”. Make your message “conversational” and lively, not stiff, formal and “corporate”.

When they are reading your text, readers are wondering “What’s In It For Me?”
So tell them what’s in it for them. Tell them how they stand to gain by clicking the link in your message. Keep it brief, and build curiosity in your readers’ minds and hearts; use the text to “sell the click”, that is to persuade them to click through to a landing page or website where you can include a lot more copy and marketing content.

Do You Want To Win At Text Message Marketing? Lead Liaison Can Help You!

Are you beginning to see how text message marketing can boost your lead generation and nurturing results before, during and after your trade show? Do you want to take full advantage of this powerful marketing channel to help you gain more leads and sales from your next event?

Lead Liaison can help you. We offer text messaging automation through our drag-and-drop, cloud-based interface. So when you are looking to a text message marketing platform that is super simple to use, turn to us. We will help you create new possibilities and opportunities as you pursue success with trade show lead generation!

Lead Liaison Press Release
Lead Liaison

Lead Liaison Releases Trade Show Success Kit: How to Prepare For, Execute, and Evaluate a Successful Trade Show

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Lead LiaisonDallas, Texas – Ever since Lead Liaison launched their event lead capture solution, GoExhibit!™, in 2017, the company has been hyper-focused on helping businesses achieve greater success at marketing events like trade shows and conferences. They achieve this by offering the most flexible lead capture solution on the market, as well as a copious amount of educational content they produce around trade shows and events. 

This week, they’ve released a kit containing their most popular trade show-related content which they’ve dubbed the Trade Show Success Kit. 

The Trade Show Success Kit contains a checklist to help marketing event managers stay organized when planning exhibitions at upcoming trade shows. The checklist gets down to the nitty-gritty with reminders for when to finalize lead retrieval, how to structure post-event workflows, and more. The checklist even includes a sample packing list and sample itinerary, because as Lead Liaison Director of Marketing Jen Worsham says, “It makes it so much easier to have all of those things in once place – especially during pre-event team meetings.”

Lead Liaison’s Trade Show Success Kit also contains a step-by-step guide to implementing an independent lead capture solution. “We wanted to include this because this always seems to be the biggest hurdle to cross when considering the use of lead capture outside of what the show organizer provides,” says Worsham. “There’s so much to benefit from when using a consistent lead capture method across all events, so we wanted to remove the only real obstacle: the unknown.”

For marketing event coordinators wondering what their role looks like during a B2B event, Lead Liaison also includes a list of 10 things event managers should be doing at the trade show. This list includes suggestions like, “find the show organizer contact to collect booth feedback” and “take a photo of your team at the booth for more personalized follow-up.” 

Post-event strategy is not missed in the Trade Show Success Kit. It also contains a Post-Show Questionnaire intended to assist in collecting feedback from team members after a show. And, if the return on investment (ROI) is a consideration (hint: it should be), then the resource, How to Evaluation ROI from a Trade Show, will prove to be extremely helpful. 

“Because of our hands-on approach to supporting our GoExhibit!™ clients, we live and breathe marketing events,” says Worsham. “Sure, using our lead capture solution aids in success. But, we know that’s not the only thing to consider when planning and executing a successful trade show. This kit covers it all!”

To access the Trade Show Success Kit, click here. 

About Lead Liaison
Lead Liaison provides cloud-based sales and marketing automation solutions that help businesses accelerate revenue by attracting, converting, closing and retaining more prospects. Filling a void in the small pool of automation providers that focus on marketing-centric functionality, Lead Liaison gives equal focus to sales providing sophisticated visitor tracking and sales automation to boost sales effectiveness. Additionally, Lead Liaison is the global leader in event lead management, enabling companies to capture and manage leads from trade shows and events. Lead Liaison blends ease-of-use, a flexible architecture, deep external integration, marketing across social, web, mobile, email and offline channels and powerful functionality into a single platform, called Revenue Generation Software®. Lead Liaison is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.leadliaison.com or call 1-800-89-LEADS (895-3237). To access our Press Kit, visit www.leadliaison.com/press-kit.

Lead Liaison Press Release
Lead Liaison

Event Lead Capture Provider Lead Liaison Unveils New Resources for Trade Show Event Planning

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Lead LiaisonDallas, Texas – Lead Liaison, the powerhouse behind the event lead capture solution, GoExhibit!™, is set apart from competitors in the industry due to their extraordinary level of customer support. In true form, they released two helpful resources this week which are geared to help trade show coordinators prepare for high-steaks events.

Their Trade Show Preparation Checklist takes the stress out of preparing for trade shows by keeping track of responsibilities in a simplified checklist, along with tips on how and why each item should be completed. It’s extensivity makes the checklist an excellent tool for beginners as well as seasoned trade show planners. The resource also includes a Sample Packing List, as well as a Sample Team Itinerary.

“I use our Trade Show Preparation Checklist for every event we attend,” says Jen Worsham, Director of Marketing at Lead Liaison. “It was something I’ve formulated over the years, and it’s my number one planning resource. I am excited to share it with others in the industry.”

In addition to the checklist, Lead Liaison has just published a collection of Questions to Ask When Implementing Independent Lead Capture Software. A hesitation often encountered by trade show exhibitors, when considering the implementation of an independent lead capture solution, is how complicated it might be to integrate the solution with the show-appointed lead retrieval. 

It is a process that sounds more complicated than it is, so Lead Liaison *created* this resource, which can act as a phone script when speaking with show organizers and lead retrieval providers, to *clear the fog*. The phone script was compiled during research performed by the Lead Liaison event marketing team, speaking to dozens of show organizers and lead retrieval providers. Not only does it provide a list of questions, but also the background as to why the questions are necessary. 

To access the Trade Show Preparation Checklist, click here. To access the Questions to Ask When Implementing Independent Lead Capture Software, click here. These, and many more trade show-related resources can be found in Lead Liaison’s Resource Library. 

About Lead Liaison
Lead Liaison provides cloud-based sales and marketing automation solutions that help businesses accelerate revenue by attracting, converting, closing and retaining more prospects. Filling a void in the small pool of automation providers that focus on marketing-centric functionality, Lead Liaison gives equal focus to sales providing sophisticated visitor tracking and sales automation to boost sales effectiveness. Additionally, Lead Liaison is the global leader in event lead management, enabling companies to capture and manage leads from trade shows and events. Lead Liaison blends ease-of-use, a flexible architecture, deep external integration, marketing across social, web, mobile, email and offline channels and powerful functionality into a single platform, called Revenue Generation Software®. Lead Liaison is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.leadliaison.com or call 1-800-89-LEADS (895-3237). To access our Press Kit, visit www.leadliaison.com/press-kit.

Lead Liaison

How to Prepare for a Successful Trade Show

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When preparing to exhibit at a trade show, it’s critical that you stay organized. The success of your trade show hinges on your team’s ability to execute each part of the process properly, and on schedule. No pressure, right?!

Take the stress out of preparing for your next trade show by keeping track of responsibilities in a simplified checklist. If you’re looking for a place to get started, you’re in the right place. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of tasks to help you prepare for a successful trade show.

To download the checklist, which you can edit and personalize to your business needs, click here. This is a resource you’ll turn to time and time again. In addition to the checklist, we’ve also included a Sample Packing List (tab 2), as well as a Sample Itinerary (tab 3). These additional resources are best stored together, in our experience.

Below, we’ve outlined the tasks in a bullet-point list, so you can get a feel for what’s included in the downloadable checklist.

  • Research show information & request application materials for exhibitors – Be sure to note how much your desired booth space might cost, along with any other required fees such as carpet or power.
  • Review Event Manual to understand all event-specific details – Do this early so you can plan accordingly. Note any special events that your team will want to attend, and add that to your itinerary.
  • Research booth display vendors and artwork deadline(s) – If you plan on creating a new booth display, start looking into vendors to understand cost and deadline(s) for artwork.
  • Outline your budget – Outline the expected budget for this show. Include the cost of the booth space, booth display, booth attractions, lighting, rigging, electrical, Wi-Fi, carpet, T&E, lodging, and lead retrieval.
  • Evaluate promotional opportunities (like mailers sent from show organizer, for example) – Most trade show attendees create an agenda for who they’d like to visit. Make sure you’re on their list! Interacting with attendees ahead of the event is key, so educate yourself on the opportunities that the show organizer will provide for exhibitors. Mailers sent from the show organizer are a great example of interacting with registered attendees in a way that stands out from the rest of the email blasts. Find out what your options are, and the due dates for submission.
  • *Evaluate lead capture options – Most trade shows partner with a lead retrieval provider for exhibitor lead capture. Badge scanning is antiquated and cannot fully integrate with the technology you already have in place. Consider an event lead management solution, like GoExhibit!™, which integrates seamlessly with their in-house marketing automation, sales automation, and CRM solutions OR the 3rd party CRM software, marketing automation software, or other technology you already have in place.
  • *Request Developer’s Kit (or API) from Lead Retrieval Provider – This step will only be necessary if you plan to use an independent lead capture solution. The benefits of using an independent lead capture solution are extensive, but one is that it provides a consistent experience for your booth representatives across all of your events. You’ll simply need to facilitate a connection between your lead capture solution and the show-appointed lead retrieval provider per event.
  • Host a Team Meeting, #1 – Use this time to announce company attendance and discuss details such as who will attend, what your goals are for lead capture, and so on.
  • Register booth personnel – After your team decides on who will be in attendance, make sure to register them with the event organizers.
  • Submit Directory Listing -The show organizer should provide a deadline for when you’ll need to submit your information for the Directory. Don’t miss this key step, so registered attendees know that you’ll be there.
  • Outline your promotion strategy – How will you advertise your attendance and entice visitors to stop in? Try an omnichannel approach, which can include direct mail, email, social media, and more!
  • Plan booth design – Where will you set out business cards? How will traffic flow through your booth? Where will you display your product or solution?
  • Plan booth attractions – Everyone loves a good booth attraction. We recommend announcing your booth attraction in your promotional material to increase the hype around your booth.
  • *Outline your post-show workflow – Map out how you plan on communicating with Prospects post-show. We recommend an omnichannel approach. Sending a text message immediately upon lead capture can be very impactful, and will keep your brand top-of-mind. Email follow-ups a few days after the event has concluded (so that you miss the Out-of-Office window) with a picture of your team at your booth will remind your Prospect of their conversation with your team. A handwritten letter that includes a business card (or even a $5 Starbucks gift card!) sent a week or two later will really drive home your message and further solidify the relationship you team started at the event. *Pro Tip: Personalize your follow-up by merging any combination of data collected from your lead capture form. Include links to educational content based on the product or solution that they were most interested in.
  • Finalize attire – Do this early in the process so that you have time to order anything you’ll need customized (matching collared shirts with company logo, for example). And don’t forget to advise on required pants/shoes, too. You’d rather be over-prepared than run the risk of having a newbie show up in jeans and flip flops.
  • Host a Team Meeting, #2 – In this meeting, review your promotional campaign, post-show workflow, booth design, booth attractions, attire, and more. Make sure everyone is on the same page before creating all of the material.
  • Notify show management if using the show organizer-appointed contractor – If your trade show requires that you use a show organizer-appointed contractor of things like installation, make the proper arrangements early to avoid last-minute fees.
  • Analyze all existing exhibitors – Most show organizers will provide a list of other exhibitors. Of your direct competitors, who will be in attendance at this event? Stalk their Twitter to find images of their previous booths and make sure yours is up to par. Are there any companies in attendance that you could partner with for booth attractions or takeaways?
  • Create and execute your social media strategy – What’s great about social media is that you can go ahead and schedule all of your posts leading up to the event. This is a great task to get out of the way early. Make sure to include relevant event hashtags!
  • Order booth giveaways (t-shirts, pens, etc.) – Make sure you order these in plenty of time, and provide a cushion in case they don’t turn out as planned. If you have access to the event attendee list, go a step further and poll attendees ahead of time to see what they might like to receive most. Then, they’ll really be looking forward to visiting your booth!
  • Secure travel arrangements & lodging – If your event involves travel, make sure that everyone on your team has appropriate travel arrangements and lodging. Make sure to account for setup and breakdown of your booth. Rumour has it that Tuesdays are the best day to purchase airfare. Also, most trade shows offer a discounted rate with a local hotel. Check for that first!
  • Order Carpet – Carpet is required for most indoor trade shows. If you don’t need to match the carpet to your booth theme, consider using the same color as the event organizers are using in the walkways to encourage traffic flow into your booth.
  • Order Electrical – If required. Tip: Find out how much power your booth lighting will need, and order that at a minimum.
  • Order Wi-Fi – If needed. Tip: Bring your own hotspot to avoid costly fees.
  • *Create your lead capture form – If using a customizable solution like GoExhibit!™,  you’ll want to create your lead capture form early and share with your team. Ensure that you are collecting everything you need from booth attendees. Create conditional questions based on interest, and include voice recording and voice-to-text functionality so that your sales team can record important data quickly and easily.
  • *Create the content for your post-show workflow – You already mapped out your post-show workflow. Now all you have to do is create the content and piece it together!
  • Prepare for technology needs (iPad, laptops, mobile devices for lead capture, etc.) – Make sure that each piece of required technology is on your Packing List, and don’t forget extra phone charges, charging blocks, extension cords, etc. (This checklist has a Sample Packing List included on tab 2!)
  • Plan exhibit setup/dismantle – Assign responsibility for showing up early to help with setup and assign team members to the breakdown process, as well. Make sure to give anyone setting up or breaking down enough cushion between travel to make it work without stress.
  • *Create an itinerary – Outline when your team should be where, so there’s no confusion. Include time frame for badge pickup, setup, exhibit hours, session hours, happy hours or client dinners, tear down hours, etc. If you are using an independent lead capture solution that supports documents, include your itinerary in the app so that your booth reps can easily access. (This checklist has a Sample Itinerary included on tab 3!)
  • Host a Team Meeting, #3 – In this meeting, review your packing list and itinerary. Send a follow-up email to each of your team members with the exact items they are responsible for bringing. Answer any last-minute questions.

Lead Liaison offers one of the most powerful and holistic event lead management solutions in the industry, GoExhibit!. Above, we’ve noted which line items GoExhibit! can support with an asterisk (*).

To see a demo of GoExhibit!, request one here!

PHOTO CREDIT: https://uk.edubirdie.com/
Lead Liaison

After the Event: Post-Trade Show Questionnaire

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The actions you take after exhibiting at a trade show are equally as, if not more, important than what you did to prepare for it. Following up with prospects in a meaningful way is the top priority. The amount of business you close from the event is likely the most telling sign of a successful trade show. But, that’s not the only way you can evaluate your participation. Another means of evaluation, which is often overlooked, is asking your team what they think about the event, your booth, and your methods. After all, they were the ones in the midst of it. They have first-hand experience about what worked, and what didn’t.

While you aren’t expected to make every change suggested, it’s very helpful to collect input from the team that was onsite or “in the trenches” as they might say. It doesn’t hurt to ask. And you never know! You might be surprised to find some easy changes you could make at your next event to make it even more successful.

This Post-Show Questionnaire is free to download and makes it easy to collect valuable information from your event staff post-show. Its easy-to-read format is perfect for winding down on the plane ride home. We’ve also included the questions below, and why they are important. Add this resource to your trade show process now!

Download the Questionnaire

Bonus Hack: If you are using a marketing automation solution with a form builder and landing page builder, consider creating a simple form/landing page to include these questions. That way, all you have to do at the end of each event is send them the link to your survey page. They can take it online and their answers will be recorded for future use.

What was the most useful part of our trade show lead capture form? (i.e. Which questions were most helpful?)

While you probably made it very clear to your team which fields were most important to complete, they undoubtedly gravitated to the ones they felt were most important mid-show. (They are salespeople, after all!) Let them tell you why, while it is still fresh in their head.

What was the least useful part of our trade show lead capture form? (i.e. Which questions were least helpful?)

Make sure you understand which questions become more of a distraction than a helpful prompt. Sometimes our desire to collect ALL THE INFORMATION overpowers our better judgment to keep things simple. Or perhaps you included some custom content in your lead form, like a video demonstration, that not a single booth rep used. Learn more about what you need to eliminate next time around.

Did visitors like our booth? Did it help with engagement, or distract?

Here’s where you can collect great feedback about your booth attractions, displays, banners, demo stations, kiosks, and more. There may be one overly-opinionated booth rep that absolutely hated the demo station, while several other mild-mannered booth reps actually appreciated the ability to show off your solution in real time. Instead of asking this in a group setting, a 1:1 survey helps eliminate the fear of speaking up and will give you a more accurate representation of opinions. 

How do you feel about the location of our booth within the trade show exhibit hall?

Location is everything. Although your location probably depended more on your budget and the time you registered for the event, it’s still helpful to see what others think about the booth you chose. Did your team appreciate being closer to the bathrooms because of the additional foot traffic? Did they hate being towards the front due to the increase in uninterested attendees taking up space?

What would you add to our booth to better present ourselves to trade show attendees?

We’ll ask about specific booth attractions in the next question. For this one, your team should focus on what they recommend adding to your booth next time that adds value to their conversations. Perhaps a demonstration table would have been helpful, or a tall bistro table for better conversations.

Do you have any cool ideas for booth attractions next time?

As your team is winding down from an event, competing booths will be fresh on their minds. What did they see that they thought could be easily incorporated into your booth? The timing of this question is everything. Asking prior to the event might result in lukewarm input. Asking this immediately following the event will elicit feedback that is driven by recent experience. That’s invaluable.

Is there anything else that we should consider bringing to the show to make our team more successful (more power blocks, gum, pain reliever, duct tape, etc.)?

This question can help you build a Trade Show Survival Kit that your booth representatives will appreciate tremendously. It may also help you pair down the kit so that you are only providing things that you know your team will need/want. 

Do you have any feedback about our post-show follow-up, as of now?

This question could be considered premature, but it’s worth asking anyway. If you’ve thoroughly covered your post-show workflow with your team, they will undoubtedly have changes or feedback they want to provide now based on their actual conversations. For example, if you included a follow-up text* sent within minutes of submitting your lead capture form, your team might determine that the text should actually come an hour or two later instead of immediately upon submission. 

Which exhibitor had the best booth at the event and why?

This will help you set your goals even higher for next time. Plus, it will be interesting to see the variety of answers you collect since everyone will have their own unique opinion about it. 

While you were at the show, did you hear of any other shows that you think we should consider attending? Why do you think we should attend?

Event attendees are always buzzing about other events “you have to attend!” Your team may learn of a trade show or conference that wasn’t even on your radar. Or, their feedback may further endorse your current trade show schedule.

Conclusion

Asking your team to complete this questionnaire is only half the battle. Show them that you read their feedback and that you care about their opinions. After collecting everyone’s answers and reading through everything, consider having a team meeting to review common concerns or to clarify anything that seems unclear. Let your team know that their feedback has been heard and that it matters. If this isn’t a key part of your process, you can count on getting fewer and fewer responses as time goes on.

*If you are interested in learning more about an event lead management solution that supports all of the capabilities mentioned above (like the post-show text message), contact us for a demo!

Lead Liaison Press Release
Lead Liaison

GoExhibit! Enhancements Released As Peak of Trade Show Season Nears

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Dallas, TX – Lead Liaison’s event lead management solution, GoExhibit!™, is growing in popularity among event marketers across the globe. With the increase in users comes an uptick in user requests. At Lead Liaison, an uptick in requests means more innovation at a faster rate. The sales and marketing platform that is “built by its users” released a list this week of Q1‘19 enhancements to GoExhibit!™.

Enhanced customization was a key focus in this update. Users are now able to change the app’s color, insert their logo, and custom content sections for embedded content like maps, videos, and more. When event managers give their reps access to the mobile lead capture app, they can now customize the invitation. Users can send those invitations by email and/or text message.

GoExhibit!™ also released lead capture support for NFC badges as well as automatic post-show reconciliation, a method that can be used when Lead Retrieval providers do not offer a Developer’s Kit for integration. With these enhancements, GoExhibit!™ now supports nearly every method of lead capture. If exhibitors are able to obtain a list of attendees, they can now import and merge that information with the data captured by their team.

Voice memos and voice-to-text capabilities up the ante, enabling booth reps to spend more time having conversations and less time typing notes. “Remembering all of those important little details after a conversation is an issue that booth representatives often face,” says Ryan Schefke, Customer Success Manager at Lead Liaison. “They don’t want to spend precious time writing on a notepad or typing into their mobile device. We wanted to create something that allowed them to move onto the next opportunity as quickly as possible, while still collecting enough information to form meaningful relationships post-show. That’s why we developed voice capabilities inside of our mobile app.”

Users with a GoExhibit!™ – Run Your Own Event license now have the option to print multiple badges at one time with Avery labels, or one-at-a-time with a Dymo printer. The new Self-Service Badge Printing feature allows event attendees to register or check-in at the front desk and print their own badges at the same time.

To read a full recap of Lead Liaison’s updates, read their Enhancement Round-Up Q1’19.

About Lead Liaison
Lead Liaison provides cloud-based sales and marketing automation solutions that help businesses accelerate revenue by attracting, converting, closing and retaining more prospects. Filling a void in the small pool of automation providers that focus on marketing-centric functionality, Lead Liaison gives equal focus to sales providing sophisticated visitor tracking and sales automation to boost sales effectiveness. Additionally, Lead Liaison is the global leader in event lead management, enabling companies to capture and manage leads from trade shows and events. Lead Liaison blends ease-of-use, a flexible architecture, deep external integration, marketing across social, web, mobile, email and offline channels and powerful functionality into a single platform, called Revenue Generation Software®. Lead Liaison is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.leadliaison.com or call 1-800-89-LEADS (895-3237). To access our Press Kit, visit www.leadliaison.com/press-kit.

Lead Liaison Press Release
Lead Liaison

Lead Liaison Makes Splash in Lead Capture Category at EXHIBITORLIVE 2019

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Dallas, TX – GoExhibit!™ made its trade show debut at EXHIBITORLIVE in Las Vegas this week. The event lead capture & management solution has been sweeping the industry since its release in late 2017. This was the first time the company showcased it live.

Conference attendees were highly attracted to the revolutionary solution for event lead capture. Lead Liaison’s booth buzzed with excitement as the staff demonstrated GoExhibit!™ by using it to collect their own lead data. GoExhibit!™ integrated with ITN International, the show’s lead retrieval provider, to support lead capture via NFC badge scan. Booth attendees received a text message follow up, often before they had even left the booth, and ensuing communication as post-show engagement continued. Real-time demonstrations emphasized the company’s belief in immediate, intentional, and personalized follow up. GoExhibit!™ was mentioned in several of the educational sessions and conference panels throughout the week, as well.

“The show reinforced the fact that we have an industry-leading solution with distinct competitive advantages that people are craving,” says Jen Worsham, Director of Marketing at Lead Liaison. She continues, “Hand-held badge scanners are antiquated, and alternative lead capture solutions don’t hold a flame to the fully-integrated, easy-to-use features of GoExhibit!™”

Lead Liaison surpassed its goals for the show. Much of their success can be credited to the use of their own solution at the event. In addition to using their mobile lead capture app, aptly named GoCapture!™ in the app stores, Lead Liaison had laptops on-hand tracking real-time event data. Representatives were able to demonstrate the Events Dashboard, a key feature of GoExhibit!™. The Events Dashboard displayed live data such as Total Prospects Captured, Average Engagement Score, Top Performing Sales Representatives, and more. Lead Liaison also showcased another crowd pleaser with their Run Your Own Event solution. This solution was on full display at EXHIBITORLIVE 2019, demonstrating how businesses can use it to run user conferences, vendor conferences, and road shows.

What sets GoExhibit!™ apart from the other lead capture exhibitors is the fact that it enables businesses to foster stronger relationships from capture to close. GoExhibit!™ integrates with a multitude of CRMs, including Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics, as well as marketing automation platforms such as Salesforce.com Pardot, Oracle Eloqua, Salesforce.com Marketing Cloud, Adobe Marketo, and HubSpot. It supports all types of events; even those without badges. It’s compatible on all devices and Lead Liaison doesn’t charge per user, so companies can have as many lead capture devices onsite as they want.

Lead Liaison plans to attend several other shows in 2019. “This kind of environment is exciting because we can actually see the spark in people’s eyes,” says Worsham. “It solidifies our position in the market with a solution that stands out from the crowd. We were so excited to be a part of the show this year, and we enjoyed connecting with both current and prospective clients. This year’s theme was “Connect With Your Species” and that’s something I believe we did well. You’ll definitely be seeing more of us.”

To access an overview of GoExhibit!™ features, click here.

About Lead Liaison 
Lead Liaison provides cloud-based sales and marketing automation solutions that help businesses accelerate revenue by attracting, converting, closing and retaining more prospects. Filling a void in the small pool of automation providers that focus on marketing-centric functionality, Lead Liaison gives equal focus to sales providing sophisticated visitor tracking and sales automation to boost sales effectiveness. Additionally, Lead Liaison is the global leader in event lead management, enabling companies to capture and manage leads from trade shows and events. Lead Liaison blends ease-of-use, a flexible architecture, deep external integration, marketing across social, web, mobile, email and offline channels and powerful functionality into a single platform, called Revenue Generation Software®. Lead Liaison is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.leadliaison.com or call 1-800-89-LEADS (895-3237). To access our Press Kit, visit http://www.leadliaison.com/press-kit.

event lead management
Lead Liaison

Creative Uses for Lead Capture

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Download the PDF here!

To access our Event Lead Management Kit, which includes this resource, click here. 

Businesses can use Lead Liaison’s GoExhibit!™ in many ways – it’s not just for trade shows! GoExhibit!™ is an event lead management solution, powered by a slick mobile app, aptly named GoCapture!™. If you’re using an event lead management solution like ours, this article will help you explore the other ways you can use the system and/or mobile app to capture leads. We’ve rounded up seven creative uses for event lead capture using our system.

Everyday Lead Capture

Let’s say you are a salesperson running into a meeting with a client at their office. In the elevator on the way up to your appointment, you meet someone that might benefit from your service or solution. You grab their business card and hope to A) not lose it, and B) remember to enter the information into your CRM later. Or, you could open GoCapture!™ on your mobile device, quickly take a picture of the business card, have it automatically transcribed, and sync it with your CRM. Problem solved!

Corporate Event

Does your company host, or attend, corporate events or conferences? Use the power of GoExhibit!™ to collect lead information in a streamlined, unobtrusive way. The system also includes options to create your own custom badges with QR codes. A customized registration and check-in portal can be used at the front door to help manage attendance.

Trade Shows

Exhibiting at an industry trade show? Forget those antiquated badge scanners and opt for end-to-end event lead management. Use GoExhibit!™ to announce your attendance at the event via marketing emails, social media, and more. Go a step further and use complementary marketing services that integrate with GoExhibit!™ to book demos/meetings at the trade show. Then, have your team use the GoCapture!™ app at the trade show to collect lead information via badge scan, business card transcription, attendee list search, or manual form fill.

Lead Kiosks

Speaking of trade shows, another way to encourage excitement with potential prospects about your service or solution is to set up individual kiosks at your booth that allows visitors to fill out their information if they are interested.

Experiential Marketing

Instead of a table, a sign, and a person – create an experience at your booth. Your experience should engage the prospect in some way. Consider these 20 examples of experiential marketing to get your creative juices flowing. Be smart about setting up the experience though. When people engage, capture their information. GoCapture!™ can be configured to display custom content, such as videos, text, maps, and more to perfectly pair with your experiential display.

Product Showcase

Consider setting up your booth with individual solution areas. Each area could showcase specific solutions. Have each solution on display with a tablet sitting next to it. The tablet could run a purpose-built lead capture form that has an explainer video embedded into it. This approach helps you tailor the experience to specific solutions and results in higher lead conversion rates.

Sales Qualification

One aspect of GoExhibit!™ is lead qualification. Lead Liaison uses a system of scoring and grading to qualify leads. Have your sales team use GoCapture!™ as the primary method to get new leads into your system. Set up automated processes around each new lead that qualifies them. For example, give all CMOs captured with GoCapture!™ a grade increase from C (default you might set) to B. And, if the person is located in the USA then increase their grade another level, to A. On the backend, administrators can filter out ideal buyers captured anywhere, anytime, by your sales force using GoCapture!™.

Check-In System

If you host your own marketing events, then using GoExhibit!™ should be a no-brainer. With the ability to create custom badges ahead of time or on the fly, sign people in at the front desk, or register new attendees, your team can streamline the check-in process across all of your events. Leads are readily available after the event, in GoExhibit!™, for export or further processing. Statistics on attendance and return on investment (ROI) for your event is visible in the GoExhibit!™ dashboard.

 

To learn more about GoExhibit!™, request a free, customized demonstration here.

Lead Liaison

9 Trade Show Booth Design Ideas to Delight Visitors [Infographic]

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Social media may have transformed the way that brands and customers engage with one another, but trade shows persist as a cornerstone of face-to-face marketing. And precisely because so much brand interaction has been digitalized, the potential for trade shows to create a meaningful and memorable brand experience has only become greater. 

One of the greatest benefits of participating in trade shows is that attendees, simply by virtue of deciding to be there, are incredibly receptive to your message. A striking design is arguably the most important factor when it comes to attracting these open-minded, warm leads into your booth.

But standing out in a crowd of competitors is no easy task. While more traditional, tried-and-true booth design schemes that consist of a graphic backdrop, spandex table covers, and a few banner stands may be the best option for traditionally conservative industries, the trends in trade show booth design have in recent years taken a turn for the stunning and creative. Trade show attendees are increasingly expecting more from the exhibits they visit, and a well-designed booth space plays a decisive role in all of these expectations.

Effective trade show booth design ideas serve to do a lot more than just look good. They are the backdrop against which an entire brand experience can unfold. From the first encounter, to interacting with your staff, to leaving your booth with a goodie bag, your trade show booth design can either enhance or detract from a visitor’s experience every step of the way. Engineering your exhibit to be both attractive and functional, both unique and on-brand, may be the single most important project you undertake to make your brand’s next trade show appearance worthwhile.

Looking for some trade show booth design ideas? The following graphic offers nine creative trade show booth design ideas that are eye-catching, versatile, and sure to impress:

Author Bio:

Joseph Robison is the Marketing Manager at Coastal Creative, a large format printing company based in San Diego that specializes in designing stunning trade show booths and branded spaces. He is also the founder of Green Flag Digital, an SEO and digital marketing consultancy.