5 essential things to do after a trade show

Hundreds of travel fairs are held in Europe every year, are you making the most out of every trade show you attend?

The travel industry related Nordic Travel Fair (Matkamessut) took place in Helsinki just a month ago; the Business Travel Show in London last week (check out the top 3 reasons for why you should visit the Business Travel Show here), and next month TUR Swedish Travel & Tourism Trade Fair will take place in Gothenburg.

We all know how important the activities during these trade shows are; strengthening relationships with existing customers, looking for new potential leads, and keeping up to date with trends in the travel industry. So does Hotelzon. But for most corporates, the actual business activities are initiated after the trade show. If you do not want to miss out on your business opportunities, check out the following tips for post-event marketing:

Send a thank-you note to your visitors as well as the event organisers. Sending a thank-you note via email is commonly recommended, but why not try sending thank-you notes via your social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to boost your social media interactivity? Via social media, you can also send a thank-you message to the event organisers, e.g. mentioning how the atmosphere was or suggesting what could be improved until next time.
Follow up your leads. According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), nearly 80% of leads generated are never followed up. If you want to succeed, you must belong to the 20% who actively follow up potential leads. Choosing when, how and who to contact depends on your company. At Hotelzon, we contact all our leads, no matter if they are hot or cold leads. Even if they are not potential leads at the moment, it’s still a good idea to say ‘thanks for visiting’ and ask them to contact the company for future cooperation opportunities.
Keep all the promises you made during the show. Update the new quotes? Send the company brochure? Fulfill your promises as soon as possible to maintain new business contacts. Exchange business cards and add notes to the visitor’s card if they request brochures or any other follow up activities after the fair. This will help you to keep track of who requested what.
Measure the success after the fair. It is recommended to evaluate the success of the trade fair both right after the show and again after a longer period of time has passed. There are several ways to measure your success: at Hotelzon, the number of leads, number of contacts and booking volumes are the top three most important measurements. Normally, the achievements can’t be seen immediately, as it takes a while to transform business opportunities into real success (e.g. the number of bookings). Also, remember to learn from the feedback (if you receive any) to find out what to improve until the next time.
Publish stand pictures/ photos on your social media channels – engage with your visitors by showing your presence at the fair. Enjoy some photos of Hotelzon and our visitors at the Nordic Travel Fair below.