What You Should Do After Trade Shows?
Trade shows are a great way to showcase a new product or talk to people in your industry about an idea. You also could line up investors. But, do you know that trade shows also are great ways to meet journalists and build a relationship with then? You should take steps before the show, during the show and after the show. This three-part series will explain what you need to know to help journalists attending the trade show know you and your product. Part 3 explains what you want to do when you leave the trade show.
When entrepreneurs get on the plane to leave the trade show, they are exhausted from all the hard work of exhibiting at a large conference. Despite the fatigue, they accomplished much. You met potential customers and investors. You talked with journalists and began to build a relationship. However, while business owners want to take a few days to relax and recuperate, they shouldn’t. They need to take steps to solidify their relationship with the journalists they met. These actions should be done as soon as you get back to your office.
1 -Thank Journalists
Go through the list of journalists that you collected who visited your booth. Thank them for stopping by your booth and getting to know your company. Refresh their memories on what company you represent and who your executives are. Remind them of your product and service. Remind them of the story ideas you provided them. Ask them if they have any additional questions about your products that were launched. Ask if they plan to write about your product or service and when they can expect to see it in print or on the air.
2 – Write Two Press Releases
When you return, you want to write two press releases. The first will discuss the product and service. Go into more depth than you did when you wrote about it before the show. Give details that resulted from the launch. The second press release should focus on what happened at the show. You want to talk about investors who might have provided funding for your product or service, a great speech provided by your executive, a major client you acquired during the show, or other newsworthy events. Faselis Growth will help you write your two press releases. Make sure you include quotes from your executives who were at the show.
4 – Send Releases
After you have written them, send the releases to the list you acquired from the show, to your local media and to those who are local in the city of the trade show. It is important that you cast a wide net. Journalists in the city where the show took place will want to do a wrap up on the exhibition, which is why you don’t want to delay in sending your releases. The local media in your city might want to feature your success after the show. And, the rest of the journalists also want to cover the show in more detail. Make sure you include the industrial publications that cover your industry. These are the ones who probably attended the trade show. Every time to send press releases, journalists get to know more about you and become familiar with you, your company, and your products and services. It is the first step in building a relationship with journalists. When a story arises, journalists are more likely to call you for quotes if they have met you at the show. If you are unsure where to send the press releases, Faselis Growth has a platform that is easy to use to write and send press releases.
5 – Follow Up
About a week after the show, call or e-mail those journalists who attended the show. Ask if they have any more questions that could be answered. Ask if they plan to run a story.
6 – Monitor for Pickup
Use a media monitoring service or check yourself to determine whether the publications have run stories. Search for the show’s name and your company. Your executives might be quoted even if the story is not about your product or service. A media monitoring service will be able to check more sources, but if your budget is tight, you can use a simple Google news search. Faselis Growth’s distribution platform provides you statistics on who read your press release. This will help you figure out who might have run a story on you. Use these articles for your marketing throughout the year after the show.
7 – Post to Social Media
After the show, you want to post videos and pictures of the trade show and its success. You also want to use those videos and pictures to send with your press releases and as marketing for a product without creating new material. Post any links to stories that have run about you in print or on-air.
Although trade shows are a lot of work, entrepreneurs can get publicity and financial investment if they take steps before, during and after the exhibition.
Speaking or exhibiting at a trade show is newsworthy. You want to maximize your return on your trade show investment, so make sure you get help with your press releases and media exposure. If you work with experts, like Faselis Growth, you will be able to make your show experience beneficial. You might be getting media coverage for your prototype.
by Louise Harris
