Trade shows can be a great way for businesses to network, promote their products and services, and generate leads. In fact, 70% of businesses who attended a trade show in 2022 reported that they it helped them capture more leads.
However, simply showing up at your booth is not enough to guarantee success. To get more leads at trade shows, you need to have a well-planned strategy that includes pre-show preparation, effective exhibition stand design, and post-show follow-up. In this guide, we will provide you with some tips on how to capture more leads at trade shows.
- Set clear goals and objectives
- Pre-show marketing
- Exhibition stand design
- Engage with visitors
- Follow-up leads
Set clear goals and objectives
Before the trade show, you should set clear goals and objectives for what you want to achieve. These should be specific and measurable, such as the number of leads you want to generate or the number of product demonstrations you want to give.
Having clear goals and SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time dependent) objectives will help your team focus their efforts and measure success.
Calculate what revenue you need to generate
This method involves adding up your total trade show expenditure in order to calculate what revenue from leads would constitute a ‘win’.
Event stand creation, pre-show marketing, accommodation, travel, staff – it all adds up. Understanding how much you’ve spent means you can set a revenue target for your team to meet to be profitable.
Set daily goals
People are motivated by achievable goals, and you should consider giving each of your sales team a daily target to reach. This could be to gain the contact information of 15 potential new customers, for example. This helps create accountability throughout the team and makes it clear what the focus should be.
Pre-show marketing
To generate leads, you’ll need potential customers to know you’re there. Pre-show marketing will help drum up interest before you arrive and get people excited about your brand. In fact, 91% of exhibitors who incorporated pre-show marketing and tracked results found that it met or exceeded their expectations, leading to an increase in foot traffic and leads.
Pre-show marketing campaigns can include social media, billboards, email marketing, and direct mail campaigns. You can also offer incentives for visitors to come to your booth, such as a free demo or a special offer.
According to a study, 63% of exhibitors believe that pre-show marketing will only become more important in the future, so it’s a tactic you shouldn’t neglect when it comes to your own event.
Target the right people
It is important to ensure that you are targeting the right audience with your pre-show marketing campaign, after all, quality is much more important than quantity.
Marketing to the wrong crowd will only fall on deaf ears, lower your conversion rate and increase your costs. Making sure that you only target people who are likely to be interested in your product or services is a much more cost-efficient method of pre-show marketing.

Image credit: https://www.exhibitoronline.com/
Event stand design
Your event stand’s design is crucial in attracting visitors to your booth. Your stand should be eye-catching, with clear signage and messaging so that visitors instantly know what your brand represents.
Employ experiential marketing
Your stand should be interactive and engaging so that you can hold interest long enough to get that all-important lead. Employing experiential marketing is a great way to achieve this. Product demos, interactive displays, taste tests, and giveaways are all great methods for catching visitor attention and keeping it.
The potential benefits of experiential marketing for ROI cannot be understated. In a survey by EventTrack, 91% of consumers admitted that they were more likely to purchase from a brand after participating in a brand activation or experience and 40% said that they felt more loyal to the brand as a result.
At Extreme, we’ve designed breathtaking event stands for clients across all industries, featuring interactive designs that fully leverage the benefits of experiential marketing. We can help you create a bespoke trade stand that’s sure to captivate your audience and help you generate leads.


Engage with visitors
If a potential new customer has made the effort to come to your stand, it’s no good if there’s nobody on hand to answer their questions and share the great benefits of your brand. It’s therefore essential that you have a well-trained and friendly team available to engage with visitors and provide information about your products and services.
You should also make sure that your team is knowledgeable about other aspects of the industry and can engage in meaningful conversations with visitors.
Follow-up after the show
Your work is not done when the trade show is over. To capture more leads, you need to follow up with the visitors who showed interest in your products and services – in other words, convert those ‘warm’ leads.
This can include sending personalised emails or making phone calls to follow up on the conversations you had at the show.
Conclusion
Ultimately, capturing more leads at trade shows requires a well-planned strategy that includes pre-show marketing, effective stand design, engaging with visitors, and effective post-show follow-up. By following these tips, you can increase your chances of success at trade shows and generate more leads for your business!
When it comes to creating unique branded environments that encapsulate your brand and message, Extreme Group are second to none.
We’ve attended trade shows all over the world, helping hundreds of businesses coordinate the perfect event. We offer a complete trade stand service, from design through to material sourcing, shipping, and set up.
After taking the time to understand what you want to achieve, we’ll design the perfect exhibition stand to bring your ideas to life. Contact us today to speak to our team on 01202 620550.