Marketing

Trade show marketing starts weeks before the show and keeps going after it. It sounds obvious, but if nobody knows you're coming, nobody's coming. At my first show we did no pre-show marketing at all, not by email, phone or mail, and we ended up with fewer leads than the year before.

Before the show

Tell your customers and prospects where you'll be and give them a reason to stop by. A short email from the person they already know, with your booth number and an offer to set a meeting time, works well. I've shared the templates I'd use in pre-show emails that actually book booth meetings. If your show has an online exhibitor directory, fill out your listing, and ask your sales team to invite their own contacts directly.

At the show

Your staff should be telling the same story your graphics and demos tell. Brochures and giveaways rarely do the work on their own, and a lot of them get left in the hotel room. Collect contact information instead and send something useful after the show. A trained booth team matters more than any giveaway, and my staffing page covers how to get them ready.

After the show

Follow up fast with the hot leads, and don't forget the rest. Leads that aren't ready to buy yet should keep hearing from you, so they can turn into sales-ready leads later. Set up the follow-up plan before you leave for the show, so no leads get dropped. The lead follow-up page has more.

Picking the shows to market

Marketing works best when you've picked the right shows in the first place. My 2027 trade show calendar lists the major U.S. shows by month, and how to choose which trade shows to exhibit at has a scorecard for comparing them.

Start here

• Pre-show emails that actually book booth meetings
• One of my biggest trade show mistakes
• 25 of the most common trade show mistakes
• 2027 trade show calendar
• Have a marketing question? Ask Michael