3 Alternatives to Trade Shows to Market Your Business

There’s hardly any aspect of our lives that hasn’t been affected by COVID-19, especially how you market your business. With social distancing and quarantining, in-person marketing opportunities, like trade shows, had to be put on hold. Now, as trade shows begin to reemerge into the business landscape, it’s easy for companies to fall back into old habits used for marketing their products & services and seeking to generate leads.

However, COVID-19’s shutdown of in-person events has put a lasting mark on how businesses approach their marketing strategy, from promoting themselves and their product offerings to meeting new customers and closing deals. So, while business and trade shows return to their state of normalcy, you need to market your business, tout your unique brand, exhibit thought leadership in your industry, and gain consumer trust through additional marketing activities. Here are three ways how.

Double Down on Your Digital Marketing Efforts

Many companies are failing to leverage digital marketing to stay present in customers’ minds in between events. This lack of awareness is a massive problem for B2B organizations that are overly dependent on in-person meetings to create a sale, making the need to find alternative ways of engaging customers higher than ever.

A global survey from McKinsey states that 96 percent of B2B companies have shifted their GTM model to a digital approach and are 80 percent more likely to keep their digitally native process in place.

Consider some of these ideas while you look to enhance your efforts to market your business digitally:

• Improve your SEO strategy.
• Increase your company’s thought leadership and blog content output.
• Enhance your website’s design and user experience.
• Enable live chat capabilities on your website.
• Engage in account-based marketing campaigns to identify sales opportunities.
• Update your newsletter databases and newsletter send-frequency.

Remember: improving your digital marketing efforts will not only serve your business well now, but you’ll also be well versed in best practices to keep your marketing strategy alive well into the future.

Generate Leads Through Webinars and Virtual Workshops

Although COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, for the most part, companies have been scrambling to identify new routes to market without in-person events and trade shows. As a result, creative and long-term marketers will be increasingly reliant on webinars to fill sales pipelines and get replenished with qualified, sales-ready leads.

Before the pandemic, InsideSales.com reported that 73 percent of marketers and sales leaders found webinars to be one of the most reliable ways of generating quality leads. And as we return to an ordinary business landscape, the convenience and ease of virtual events and workshops will ensure that number continues to grow.

Webinars can help engage your existing pipeline since customer engagement is critical to secure that valuable market share and brand recognition aren’t lost. Additionally, as part of a comprehensive content marketing strategy, webinars provide a valuable opportunity to achieve the “top-of-funnel” leads that are critical to future sales opportunities.

First, consider what your target audience needs to know immediately. Then, choose experts on your team to host a webinar or online workshop on that topic (or topics). Not only will you show thought leadership, but the registration data you gather is golden. Once you have registrants’ names, companies, and contact information, you can continue to engage them and market your business through email and other communication channels throughout the sales process.

Amp Up Paid Social Media Efforts

Another great way to market your business in between trade shows is through paid social media advertising. Paid social media advertising guarantees that your company’s information, products, and services will be seen by your chosen audience, paving the way for increased leads, website traffic, and sales.

The reach of paid social advertising extends to the local, regional, state, national, and even global level — from top-of-the-funnel brand awareness content to end-of-the-funnel brochures and literature. So, paid social media campaigns can play an essential role in reaching your customers and prospects even when you can’t see them in person.

Conclusion

Despite the lasting effects that COVID-19 has left on trade shows and in-person events, you can still fortify how you market your business. There are creative and innovative measures you can take to ensure your marketing efforts are successful and help your business continue to close sales in the absence of trade shows and between them as the business landscape returns to normal.

Consider taking advantage of your business’s online presence by investing in your website’s user experience, blog content, and more. If meeting your audience in person isn’t a viable option, webinars are perfect for engaging customers while keeping your business accessible at a safe distance. Or, let consumers find you on any visibility level by increasing your brand awareness through social media advertising. With these marketing alternatives, you no longer have to center the way you market your business around trade shows. Instead, embrace the change and take back control of your marketing plans.

The SkyRocket Group is ready to help your marketing efforts thrive between trade shows and in-person events. Learn more about us and see how we can help your business grow today.