Exhibition Marketing Essentials: Build Awareness Before Opening Night

Want to fill your stand with the right crowd on opening night?

The majority of exhibitors just show up and set up then cross their fingers. Then they complain why people won’t come by their booth and the leads are garbage.

Here’s the truth:

Opening night begins before the doors open. Sometimes weeks. Sometimes months. The exhibitors who win are the ones who have created buzz long before any attendee walked through the door.

In this tutorial you will learn step by step how to accomplish just that without breaking the bank.

Here’s what’s coming up:

Why Pre-Show Marketing Wins Every Time

How To Nail Your Exhibition Listings

5x Marketing Tactics That Drive Real Footfall

How To Measure What Actually Works

Why Pre-Show Marketing Wins Every Time

Pre-show marketing is the difference between a packed stand and a quiet one.

Industry stats show that only 28% of exhibitors begin marketing their event 1-2 months prior to the show. The rest of your competition is panicking at the last minute.

The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll have a jump start you can’t overcome.

Partnering with exhibition stand builders is one piece of the equation… but true elevation comes when you know how to target the right exhibition listings, generate excitement and give trade show attendees a reason to head straight to your booth before the doors even open.

Why does this matter so much?

92% of attendees go to trade shows to learn about new products. That’s what people want. So give them what they want. Show them you have something new BEFORE they set foot in the show.

How To Nail Your Exhibition Listings

Typically exhibitions release an online attendees list. This is your first opportunity to market for free.

But here’s where most exhibitors go wrong:

They provide only the essentials. A name. A booth number. Perhaps a single sentence bio. Nothing more.

Don’t do that.

Your exhibition listing should include:

A strong headline that says exactly what you do

Keywords your audience would actually search for

2-3 high-quality product photos

A link to your website or a dedicated landing page

Clear contact details

Think of your show entry as your own little landing page. It’s free banner placement on a high traffic site that your target market will visit.

Also…

Don’t just search on the exhibition organiser’s website. Check trade publications, industry directories, and exhibition aggregator sites as well. The more places your name appears, the higher your chances of being discovered via pre-show searches.

5x Marketing Tactics That Drive Real Footfall

These are the strategies that work — and most of them won’t hurt your wallet.

Build A Show-Specific Landing Page

Every exhibition you attend should have its own landing page on your site.

Why?

Because generic homepage traffic isn’t event traffic. A dedicated landing page lets you:

Show your booth number clearly

Tease what you’re launching at the show

Offer a sign-up for a private demo

Capture emails before the event

BIG deal for heating up leads. They are already warmed up when they walk by your stand.

Email Your Existing List

Your current email list is GOLD. These are people who already KNOW you.

Send them a short email letting them know:

Which show you’ll be at

Your booth number

What’s new (a product, a launch, a giveaway)

An incentive to come and find you

Don’t just send a single email. Plan to send 3-4 emails as part of your lead up: one month out, one two weeks out, one a few days before and one on the day of the show.

Use Social Media To Tease The Show

This one is super easy and most exhibitors are still bad at it.

Choose one channel your audience frequents (LinkedIn for B2B, Instagram for B2C) and post regularly in the days/weeks leading up to the event. Examples:

Behind-the-scenes shots of your booth being built

Sneak peeks of new products

Team intros and quick interviews

Booth number reminders

“Come say hi” invites

Hashtag the exhibition name every single time. When people look at the hashtag, they will find you and your brand.

Partner With Other Exhibitors

Exhibitors generally consider other exhibitors to be their competition. They’re not — well, mostly not anyway.

Partner with other businesses exhibiting at the same show that share (non-competing) audience. Together you can:

Cross-promote on email

Share each other’s social posts

Run a joint giveaway

Co-host a happy hour at one of the booths

You both win because you both reach a wider audience for free.

Pitch Press And Industry Bloggers

Trade magazines and industry bloggers are constantly searching for new angles for stories. Send information about something newsworthy you will be doing at the show: a product launch, a partnership or experience people can enjoy at your booth.

One article in the right trade magazine can bring the right people swarming to your booth on day one.

How To Measure What Actually Works

Here’s the thing about exhibition marketing:

If you cannot measure it you cannot improve it. Most exhibitors do not measure anything past “we got X leads”.

That’s a miss. Especially considering 72% of attendees buy more from exhibitors after meeting face to face.

You need to know which marketing effort actually brought the right prospects to your booth. Monitor:

Where each lead heard about you (ask at the stand)

Email open and click rates on your show campaigns

Landing page visits and conversions

Social media engagement on show-related posts

After the show, sit down and figure out:

Which tactics drove the most visitors

Which tactics drove the most qualified leads

Which tactics flopped

Then double down on what worked the next time around.

Final Thoughts

Marketing an exhibition doesn’t happen in one day. It is a campaign that begins weeks (if not months) before opening and lasts well after closing.

Those who view it as a campaign and execute accordingly (not an afterthought) will fill their booths with qualified traffic, create qualified leads and drive revenue from shows.

To quickly recap: