Promoting An Event? 4 Steps That Will Deliver Sales

For some leads, you only get one opportunity to seize the sale: at the event. But this is rarely down to chance – you need complete control of your environment and to have built up prior engagement so that they’re primed for business conversation.

In the run-up to the event, it’s crucial to determine your opportunities and how you can tailor your presence to appeal to your ideal audience. In this blog, we discuss the four necessary steps in event promotion to deliver sales.

1. Identify all opportunities and threats

Not all event hosts release the attendee list, although they usually mention big industry names to sell space. You may therefore be in the dark about some of the smaller prospects you could encounter on the day. If you’re a B2C business, visit the social pages of the leads you’ve been chasing, or regularly check engagement on the event host’s social media to identify potential contacts.

For B2B events, check on the competition. See where they’re located on the event map, monitor how they’re marketing themselves, and make a note of the event team that they’ll be sending on the day. This can help guide the way you present yourself through merchandise and branding – you may want to opt for more unique signage to set yourself apart from the rest, for example, or bring a couple of extra pairs of hands in company t-shirts.

2. Promote your presence beforehand

If your audience doesn’t know who you are and your stand is off the beaten track, why would anyone seek you out? Yes, guests will have your name on the exhibitor list, but unless they’re familiar with you, they won’t visit. So, create a presence prior to the day by interacting with the host on social media, regularly promoting your attendance and letting leads know what they should expect by visiting you.

Promote your team to make it less intimidating for guests to meet you as well. Providing a human face for the brand prior to the day helps your event team introduce themselves and increases the likelihood of a deal on the day.

3. Create an offer that draws traction

Simply stating that you’re going to be attending isn’t always enough to get traction. Offers or promotions that reward visiting your stand typically get a higher level of engagement. If you can offer a free limited trial of your service or a prize of some kind, you can be more creative with how you extract customer information.

Reveal to your followers that you’ll be running a business card draw for a chance to win a bottle of champagne, for example. Alternatively, create a competition whereby entering an email address into your system gives visitors a chance to win a raffle, with the option to share your competition to increase their likelihood of winning.

4. Have a stand worth visiting

Now that you’ve generated a lot of interest online, it’s time to do something significant with your stand. You can’t expect visitors to stay and talk if it’s just a table and your salesperson. Add colour and branding to your stand. Get some promotional material to convey your values. And, if you want to do business on the day, make sure you have chairs!

Align your promises online with your presence on the day – incorporate banners, flags and shelters so people never lose sight of why they’re speaking to you and what they’re set to gain from it.

Recognising who your best leads are and luring them towards you helps generate business, but you won’t keep their attention unless you have the relevant branding. That’s where we come in. At Surf & Turf, we provide premium event products that are certain to match the hype you create in your pre-event promotion. Speak to a member of our team today and ensure you don’t miss a single opportunity this event season.