Trade Show Strategies That Build Brand Equity

For B2B marketers, trade shows have reclaimed their dominance as a highly productive tactic for getting a company’s offering and value proposition in front of an engaged audience. However, only setting up a booth won’t guarantee a positive ROI. Marketers are doing much more to emphasize brand equity over brand awareness as a leading KPI.  Simply put, it’s not enough for a trade show audience to notice your brand. They must engage and believe in your brand to activate a path to conversion. Many companies are leveraging new technology to attract more eyes with a wow factor. But don’t forget there are tried and true strategies that can effectively position your brand at the forefront of consideration. Read on to learn more about these strategies.

3 WAYS TO BUILD BRAND EQUITY AT TRADE SHOWS

1. Plan activations outside of a traditional expo booth.

A robust and eye-catching exhibition booth is mandatory if you’re investing your marketing budget into a trade show appearance. However, there is far too much competition on the trade show floor to rely on only one tactic. To maximize your investment, your brand’s presence, and your ability to build brand equity over awareness, find opportunities to present your brand away from the trade show floor – whether it’s a street team outside the venue, or brand ambassadors welcoming guests as they enter the trade show. Brand activations that align your message to the activation or experience are a great way to drive engagement and build positive brand perceptions with your customers before they visit your booth. It’s also a way to create and enhance one-to-one connections between your audience and brand.

2. Hire on-site professional event staff

The effort and planning that go into a trade show exhibition is immense. However, the impact made on the exhibition floor is only as successful as the people delivering your brand’s message. Hiring professional trade show staff and brand ambassadors amplifies your physical presence on the floor or event space, meaning deeper connections can be formed. Professional staff makes each customer interaction stickier and more likely to convert down the path to purchase.

In the planning process, make sure you have the right event staff in the right role. Everyone working the trade show on your behalf is a physical representation of your brand – from the person welcoming attendees to your booth to the person facilitating activities and conveying messaging. Match the staff to the outcome you want in every customer interaction – it’s the best strategy to ensure your audience builds equity with your brand. The right staffing partner can help you execute this goal.

3. Plan for pre- and post-show touchpoints

The most important thing to remember about trade show marketing is that the actual show is only a part of the customer journey. Customers aren’t likely to convert after one brand touchpoint. To earn brand equity, target an audience with your reasons to believe multiple times and follow through on the brand statements made as much as possible. A trade show is an excellent opportunity to engage with that follow-through because it’s sometimes the first and only opportunity to connect with customers face-to face. Marketing to trade show audiences before the event means you can do more with that personal interaction beyond a brand introduction. Conversely, if the trade show is the first touchpoint in a customer’s journey, capturing information for post-event marketing is a requirement. 

Bottom line: brand equity is built over time and trade show marketing goes a long way to speed up the path to purchase or conversion because of the personal nature of the interactions. The right people delivering your brand’s message to a captive and engaged audience is the right strategy to achieve a number of business goals.

ATN is a premier event staffing agency that has staffed thousands of experiential marketing campaigns, conferences, trade shows, and more over the last two decades!  We will work with you every step of the way to ensure that we provide you the very best staff based on your needs.  If you would like to learn more about our event staffing solutions, we would love to chat!