Katie Enriquez
Campaign Strategist at Postal
Trade shows are a goldmine for generating leads, but the real challenge begins after the event ends. How do you transform those promising conversations into long-term customers? That’s where post-trade show follow-ups can prove crucial. Sending a generic email or waiting too long to reach out can undo all your hard work on the trade show floor. Without a strategic follow-up plan, your brand risks being forgotten in the flurry of post-event communication.
To truly capitalize on the potential of trade show leads, thoughtful and personalized follow-ups are the key.
Ready to maximize your ROI? Read on to discover proven techniques and strategies for delivering follow-ups that turn trade show interactions into measurable business results.
Preparing for Effective Post-Trade Show Follow-Ups
Organizing great follow-up campaigns can’t be left until after the event—you need to start before. Preparing your strategy ahead of time ensures you’re ready to hit the ground running once the event is over.
Segmenting Your Leads Before the Show
Not all leads are created equal. Segmenting your audience beforehand helps prioritize high-value prospects and nurture those who might need more time. Here’s one way to segment your leads:
- Hot Leads: These are your high-value prospects who have expressed interest in your offerings or requested immediate follow-ups.
- Warm Leads: These are interested attendees who showed some interest but require more nurturing to reach a decision.
- Cold Leads: These are casual booth visitors that may not convert immediately, but still hold long-term potential.
Setting Follow-Up Goals
To find out if your follow-ups are working, you first need to define what success looks like. Here are a few ways you can keep your efforts on track:
- Define Success Metrics: Pinpoint metrics that matter, like response times, engagement rates, or lead-to-sale conversion percentages. This data can keep your team motivated and provide a clear picture of what’s working and what’s not
- Align with Sales Objectives: Make sure your follow-up activities align with your broader sales and marketing goals, whether that’s increasing demo bookings, driving webinar registrations, or closing deals.
With clear goals and a segmented approach in place, your follow-up plan will be off to a great start.
Crafting the Perfect Follow-Up Message
A great trade show follow up email or call is one that feels personal, timely, and action-oriented. Here’s how to get it right:
Personalizing Outreach
Personalization isn’t just a nice touch—it’s essential for breaking through the noise when following up on trade show leads. Plus, personal touches remind leads why they stopped by your booth in the first place. Here’s how to make your outreach stand out:
- Use Specifics: Reference the attendee’s name, their company, or a memorable part of your conversation at the trade show to make the message feel like it’s written just for them.
- Offer Value: Did the lead ask about a particular product? Bring it up. Highlight how your product or service addresses a specific challenge they mentioned.
Timing and Frequency
The timing and frequency of your follow-ups can make or break your efforts. Reach out too late, and your lead may have forgotten you; reach out too often, and you risk becoming a nuisance. Keep these best practices in mind:
- First Contact: Send a trade show follow-up email or make a call within 24-48 hours of the event while your interaction is still fresh in their mind.
- Consistent Follow-Ups: Space follow-ups thoughtfully to keep the conversation going without overwhelming your leads, aiming for a cadence of 2-3 touchpoints over the first two weeks.
- Personnel: Depending on the event, rather than a sales rep, it could be helpful to have marketing or sales leadership reach out to offer some personalized, peer to peer communication before looping in a rep for a demo.
Effective Subject Lines and Messaging Techniques
Subject lines can determine whether your email gets opened or ignored. Structure your message body to be concise, engaging, and clear about the next steps. Use these tips to craft an effective follow-up trade show email:
- Writing Subject Lines: Keep it short, include their name or company, and hint at value inside the email.
- Messaging Best Practices: Start with a friendly introduction, a recap of their show interaction, and finish with a clear call-to-action.
- Examples: Use lines like “Great meeting you at [Trade Show Name]!” or “Here’s the info we discussed at [Trade Show Name]”
Follow-Up Channels and Tactics
A multichannel approach ensures your message gets through and keeps leads engaged. Let’s take a look at your options:
Phone Calls and Voicemails
Phone calls add a personal touch that email alone can’t achieve, and help reinforce your genuine interest in building a relationship. Follow these tips for making calls that stand out:
- Use Call Scripts: Have a clear structure for your conversation. Introduce yourself, reference the trade show, and outline the purpose of your call. Address the lead’s pain point and let them know how your solution addresses them.
- Voicemail Tips: If they don’t answer, leave a concise voicemail that includes your name, company, and an actionable reason to call back.
Social Media Engagement
Social platforms like LinkedIn are great for staying connected. Here’s how to use them effectively:
- Send a Connection Request: Connect with leads and include a personalized note referencing your trade show conversation.
- Share Relevant Content: Post articles, case studies, or success stories to keep your brand top-of-mind without directly pitching.
Trade Show Email Follow-up Campaigns
Design a series of trade show follow-up emails tailored to different stages of the buyer’s journey. Here’s how to structure an impactful email series:
- Content Strategy: Start with a warm welcome email, followed by value-driven content like product information, customer testimonials, and a clear call-to-action.
- Automation Tools: Use automation tools to streamline scheduling and personalize email sequences for consistent communication.
Direct Mail and Gifting
Want to make a lasting impression when you’re following up on trade show leads? From direct mail to surprise gifts, you can stand out by sending something tangible.
Direct Mail
In 2024, we have a wealth of digital channels including email, social media, paid search, and even the metaverse, so people are often surprised to discover the continuing effectiveness of physical direct mail over a follow-up trade show email. In fact, this tried and tested method has a response rate of 5.1%—more than 8 times higher than email, paid search, online display, and social media combined! Here's how to leverage this sort of offline engagement effectively in your post-trade show follow-up:
- Time your sends strategically—aim to reach prospects while the trade show interaction is still fresh
- Include clear calls-to-action with every direct mail piece
- Track delivery status and engagement through automated platforms
- Follow up through other channels once the mail has been delivered
Gifting
Personalized gifting can be an even more powerful way to reach out and convert prospects, offering engagement rates that far exceed traditional marketing approaches. While standard marketing emails struggle with a 39.64% open rate and just 3.25% click-through rate, gift emails achieve an impressive 83.9% open rate and 65.7% click-through rate. This translates to a remarkable 56.9% overall conversion rate from send to acceptance.
Selecting the right gift can make or break your follow-up strategy. The key is choosing items that are both memorable and valuable to your prospects, rather than sending generic branded merchandise that might end up in a drawer. Gift cards are particularly effective, with a 90.3% acceptance rate, while electronics gifts pull slightly ahead as the gifts most accepted by recipients at 90.8%. Even modest investments can yield significant results, as the average gift spend is just $23.95, making this an accessible strategy for following up with multiple trade show contacts.
Consider these thoughtful options that can help nurture meaningful connections:
Personalized Gifting Strategies
- Send thoughtfully selected gifts that align with your prospect's interests and role
- Use an intelligent gifting platform, like Postal, to automate and track sends
- Include personalized messages referencing your trade show conversation
- Consider gifting before requesting a follow-up meeting to increase acceptance rates
- Only pay for gifts that are accepted by recipients to optimize budget
- Consider creating custom unboxing experiences for VIP prospects
Remember to position your gifts as genuine gestures of appreciation rather than attempts to influence decisions. A thoughtful approach to gifting can significantly boost your meeting acceptance rates and help nurture meaningful business relationships.
Check out our ebook for more insights on how gifting via Postal has delighted and converted recipients across the world.
Nurturing Leads with Valuable Content
Valuable content keeps your leads engaged and positions your brand as a trusted authority. Here are some content ideas to share:
Educational Content and Resources
Informative materials can help leads better understand your offerings. Resources like blog posts, whitepapers, and webinars that align with the conversations you had at the trade show can offer value and address challenges discussed at the trade show
Tailoring the content you share to the lead’s stage in the buyer’s journey can boost conversions post-trade show.
Case Studies and Success Stories
Highlight real-world examples of how your product or service has solved similar challenges for other clients. Include metrics and testimonials to demonstrate your expertise and build trust with leads.
Invitations to Future Events
Keep the relationship going by inviting leads to webinars, workshops, or even your next trade show. Continued engagement builds familiarity and strengthens the relationship.
Tracking and Measuring Follow-Up Success
Tracking your progress ensures your efforts are paying off and highlights areas for improvement.
KPIs to Track in Post-Trade Show Follow-Ups
Keep an eye on these metrics to gauge success:
- Lead Response Rate: The percentage of leads who respond to your outreach.
- Conversion Rate: How many leads advance to the next stage of your sales funnel.
- Engagement Metrics: Track email opens, clicks, and social media interactions.
Using CRM and Analytics Tools for Tracking
Set up tags and tracking tools in your CRM to monitor lead interactions and conversion rates. These insights make it easy to measure the impact of your follow-ups and identify which tactics are working best.
Refining Your Strategy Based on Data
Analyze which tactics perform best and double down on what works. If certain segments respond better to direct mail, focus more resources there. If email subject lines drive higher open rates, test variations to optimize further.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Even the best strategies can fall short without careful execution. Guard against these common mistakes to ensure your follow-up email after a trade show is effective:
- Avoid Over-Following Up: Bombarding leads with messages can push them away. You’ll know you’re overdoing it if you start seeing declining open rates, increasing unsubscribes/blocks, or fewer responses. Use your previous campaigns as a benchmark and monitor these metrics to judge how to pace your outreach and avoid overwhelming leads.
- Impersonal Messaging: A generic follow up email after a trade show doesn’t inspire action. Always include personal touches to make your follow-ups feel genuine.
- Neglecting Lead Segmentation: Treating all leads the same reduces the effectiveness of your strategy. Tailor your approach to each lead category for maximum impact.
Trade show follow-ups are where lasting business relationships take shape. By personalizing outreach, using a multichannel approach, and nurturing leads with valuable content, you can turn trade show leads into loyal customers.
Ready to simplify and supercharge your post-trade show follow-ups? With Postal, you can create, automate, and track personalized follow-up strategies that truly connect with your audience. Start building meaningful relationships and boosting your ROI today, try Postal for free.
