3 Ways to Unlock Game-Changing ROI From Trade Shows

Digitize your materials to ensure industry meet-ups don’t become a marketing black hole. 

After the disruption of the COVID pandemic, trade shows are back: every year, 60 million people flock to trade shows in the U.S. and Canada, and last year over 1.5 million companies spent an average of $805,223 on trade-show marketing. 

But while trade-show marketing is a must-have, it can be hard to quantify and track the brand value generated by industry meet-ups. In fact, 70% of firms lack clear objectives for conference attendance, and almost half of marketers say they struggle to make a compelling business case for trade-show outreach. 

To ensure trade-show spending doesn’t go to waste, brands need to get smart about managing outreach, tracking results, and maximizing ROI. That’s where Conveyer comes in: our digital tools empower companies to leverage existing resources to connect with current customers and new prospects in more dynamic, engaging, and forward-looking ways. 

Time to go digital

Using our AI solutions, marketers can rapidly turn product documentation, trade show materials, and other assets into easy-to-navigate web apps that attendees can access by scanning a custom-branded QR code. Instead of lackluster fliers and crumpled business cards, users get a dynamic digital experience that demands attention, drives results, and makes it far easier to elevate and optimize your marketing efforts. 

Below are three key ways Conveyer helps brands to get more ROI from their trade show exhibition efforts.

1. Make it accessible ℹ️

Attendees can be a surprisingly shy bunch, shuffling past booths without making eye-contact — and even when people walk up and introduce themselves, there are only so many face-to-face interactions your team can handle. Adding a scannable digital channel gives you a smarter way to make a strong first impression. Custom-branded QR codes can be placed on your products, T-shirts, booth displays, and fliers or business cards to open more opportunities for exposure, give prospects the answers they're seeking, and free up sales reps to more deeply engage in conversations.

2. Make it trackable 📈

Each scan by a trade show attendee becomes a data point, helping you to figure out how effectively you’re promoting your brand. No more marketing black holes; you can get granular data showing the times of day when people engage, the conferences that deliver the best results, and more. Add on metrics tracking what people search for, access, or download when they scan, and you get a powerful resource to make your trade show marketing smarter and maximize results. 

3. Make it actionable 🎬

Instead of handouts and trinkets that get stuffed into totes and quickly forgotten, digitized trade-show marketing lets you turn an attendee’s fleeting initial interest into an enduring relationship. Anyone who scans your code can be steered to links that enable them to schedule time with sales reps at the conference, or forms prompting them to provide their contact info for post-event followups. The result: a long list of outreach opportunities and new leads who have self-selected by indicating their interest in your industry and your brand. 

Don’t settle for second-rate

Trade shows are more essential than ever to business growth — and it’s never been more necessary to track performance, manage budgets efficiently, and stand out from the crowd. 

In today’s mobile-first world, it’s time to look beyond posters and paper handouts with URLs printed on them. Instead, use intuitive, consumer-grade digital experiences to put your information, links, forms, and multimedia resources at attendees’ fingertips. 

So if you’re planning for your next trade show, get in touch with the Conveyer team today. It’s time to take your conference marketing to the next level.