Contacts are the new gold

Whether advertising budgets, advertising budgets, planned events or trade fair appearances: Corona has not spared the sales and marketing world either. In recent weeks, countless companies have rescheduled, cancelled and tried out a lot of things. Those responsible have asked themselves numerous questions: How much of a cut can my advertising budget take? How much potential would my trade fair presence have in the completely digital version? How can generated leads be turned into paying customers as efficiently as possible from now on? The question marks will remain with us for some time to come. But we can already be certain that post-corona leads will be worth much more than new customer contacts generated before the pandemic. Here's how you can deal with them effectively ...

A GLANCE INTO THE FUTURE

Trade fairs act like an economic engine for industry - before, during and after the pandemic. And it is not only in terms of sales figures that Germany ranks highly in a global comparison as a trade fair location. The industry association AUMA estimates that in the past two years, around 180,000 exhibitors have vied for the favour of around 10 million visitors each year. You don't have to be a prophet to predict that these figures will be lower in the near future. And we all know that: When something becomes scarcer on the market, its value increases.

THE NEW GOLD

If in future less and less visitors can be expected at trade fairs, every new customer contact acquired will become even more important - we think, almost like the popular precious metal. Now is the time to promote the popular "raw material" lead. But can this be done effectively? This is precisely where there are extensive opportunities to scrutinise existing processes and, if necessary, optimise them before the next upcoming trade fair appearance. Here we show you the best way to do this:

UNCOVERING DATA TREASURES AT YOUR OWN TRADE FAIR STAND

Marketing and sales staff all know this: "Should we still exhibit at trade fairs at all?" is a question that is usually asked far too quickly by budget allocators. Yet trade fair appearances can now generate similarly accurate figures as digital campaigns. Resourceful marketers or their sales colleagues have the start and reason for the stand visit, contact details, conversation details and follow-up actions for individual contacts at their fingertips just as quickly as precise insights into the total number of visitors to the stand. And the tools are extremely easy to use. Individual leads are quickly qualified through scans, voice or electronic notes and with the right electronic means, the "Thank you for visiting us" newsletter is guaranteed to go out faster than the competition. Conclusion: There are real data treasures lying around on your own exhibition stand. They will not only help you to effectively optimise your own business processes in the future. The next discussion about future trade fair budgets will also be held under completely different auspices with the corresponding data.

ORGANISERS: ENDEAVOUR TO BUILD LONG-TERM BRAND LOYALTY

Let's assume you are organising a sports and leisure trade fair. A person in their early 20s attends because they can get fashion items or sports equipment there before anyone else. Years go by and the person successfully completes a degree and starts a career. Fifteen years later, they have long since built up a strong brand loyalty thanks to their positive experiences at the sports and leisure fair and countless interesting newsletters and social media posts. The example person is now a decision-maker in a large company. And it is particularly important to her to close the decisive deals at her sports and leisure trade fair. This is why the company outlined has long since become a regular exhibitor at the instigation of the former student.

Sounds too good to be true? We believe that the scenario described can become reality if trade fair organisers use the time wisely and ask the right questions: Am I capturing all visitors and their interests? Do I only do this at the entrance and exit or do I also want to know exactly how many people visit each hall? Do I have the right IT infrastructure in place to process the collected data sensibly and effectively? And once the technical side has been clarified, is there also a comprehensive data utilisation strategy?

MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN EVER BEFORE

Corona has already forced the world - just like the trade fair industry - to rethink. So why not use the current situation as an opportunity to say goodbye to old, entrenched processes? Now is the time to learn how to use digital tools to your advantage. So that you can soon be more successful than ever before.

Munich, 16 September 2020, © adventics GmbH