Trade shows, exhibitions and conferences are great opportunities to spread the word about your small business and to network with industry colleagues and potential customers.
Here are a couple of surefire ways to get your business noticed and build a great buzz around your brand well before an event, and they won’t cost you a fortune.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
Specificity is vital these days. Associate your brand with each show using search engine marketing (SEM).
Long-tail keywords specifically related to trade shows and events allow you to put your message in front of a relevant audience quite cheaply. Include qualifying terms like cities and dates to capture the most relevant traffic and win a positioning boost in google thanks to reduced competition for those particular keywords.
Go one step further and supplement your long-tail keywords with event-specific ad copy. This makes it more likely that your ads will catch the attention of anyone researching the event and it will also lower your CPC due to the alignment between your ad copy and the targeted keywords.
If you want to target specific brands or individuals at a trade show, get personal by using dynamic keyword insertion. Your ad copy will be automatically modified depending upon which keywords people search for, effectively taking customisation of your advertising to the next level.
Display Ads
Display ads certainly have their place in your pre-trade show marketing campaign, but do be sure to target them for maximum effect.
Buy ad space in trade magazines within your industry sector and think about carrying out flyer printing to include high-quality designed and printed flyers to draw subscribers’ attention to your brand, this will increase conversion rate in comparison to standard magazine adverts as it will be loose inside the brochure.
Direct Mailing
Consider a direct mailing campaign timed to coincide with the run-up to the event. Also utilise promotional business flyers or leaflets and place them around local businesses to remind people of your participation at the forthcoming trade show.
Check out one of our previous articles for help with your direct mail campaign: How To Get Great Results With Your Direct Mail
All of these tactics help to create the anticipatory buzz you are looking for.
There is often no single channel or platform guaranteed to earn you significant exposure before an event. Create a diverse media plan that incorporates digital and hard copy advertising and printed promotional material well in advance, and target your ads to the audience that is most likely to be interested in your message. For all your graphic design and printing needs, whether for a trade show or otherwise, contact PrintUK.com today.