Mastering B2B Trade Shows: A Guide for Startups
This guide is for B2B startups aiming to maximize their trade show presence. While tailored for early growth companies—perhaps just kicking off their first conferences program—most of the strategies are valuable at any stage.
Exhibiting at conferences is one of the few in-person growth channels and offers unmatched opportunities to connect, sell, and build awareness. How else can you meet prospects at scale, show them your product, and then wine and dine them alongside happy customers who will speak you up?
At the same time, trade shows often represent the largest line item in a Sales or Marketing budget, and they can make or break a startup’s success.
Here’s actionable advice drawn from my experience managing events for a B2B unicorn:
22 Tips to Launch and Run a High-Performing Trade Show Program
Shortcut to the essentials:
Tip #4: Plan with the Organization in Mind
Tip #10: What to Measure by Event
Tip #12: How to Measure Success
Tip #13: If You Do Anything, Do This
Tip #16: Booth Design
Full table of contents:
Getting Off the Ground: Spend time upfront on a strong show list, and include a hypothesis for why each is worthwhile. Which shows you attend will have an outsized effect on the program's performance:
Tip #1: How to Find and Choose the Best Shows
Tip #2: Simplify Stakeholder Buy-in with Tiers*
Tip #3: Time your Booth Reservations
Think Beyond Lead Gen: Define business-wide goals and involve key stakeholders early on:
Tip #4: Plan with the Organization in Mind*
Tip #5: How to Tackle Goals Together
Tip #6: Share the Excitement*
Tip #7: Return with Gifts (i.e. intel)
Tip #8: Partner Up at the Show
ROI or Bust: Measure everything—costs, pipeline impact, and lead generation—no matter how basic your startup’s level of participation. You’ll eventually need this data for make or break decisions.
Tip #9: The Value of Trade Show Performance Data*
Tip #10: What to Measure by Event*
Tip #11: Program-Level Evaluation
Tip #12: How to Measure Trade Shows*
Continuous Improvement: Strong strategies and execution require collective input and review mechanisms. Meet with your team before, during, and after each show to gather insights and refine your approach.
Tip #13: If You Do Anything, Do This*
Tip #14: Tips to Control Costs
Making the Most of Your Booth: Tips for a Highly Effective Booth and Booth Location:
Tip #15: Booth Location
Tip #16: Booth Design*
Tip #17: Pre-Show Marketing and Promotion
Tip #18: Finding Real Audience Lists
Tip #19: Post-Show Follow-Up and Nurturing
Process = Progress: Preparation and precision will ensure it all goes smoothly. Checklists are your friend:
Tip #20: Helpful Checklists (But Write Your Own)
Tip #21: Optimal Meeting Cadence
Tip #22: Remember Self-Care and Fun!
Getting Off the Ground | Tips 1-3:
Tip #1 - Is your Startup Just ‘Starting Up’? Here’s How to Choose the Right Shows:
Especially if you’re just starting out, the events you choose will substantially impact success, so this step is important.
Here are some tips to help you fill your calendar with the most impactful shows:
Leverage Team Insights: Collaborate with founders, colleagues, and customer-facing teams to identify key events.
Connect with Industry Peers: Non-competitive industry peers, perhaps from your founder’s network or investors’ portfolios, will help.
Analyze Competitors: Research 3–5 competitors’ event strategies via websites, LinkedIn, or Google searches with Boolean terms like: “[Competitor]” AND (“speaking at” OR “exhibiting”) AND [Year].
Query AI Tools: Ask an LLM to suggest events aligned with your industry, ideal customer profile (ICP), and regional focus.
Mine Past Data: Check your CRM for historical trade show metrics or use data platforms (e.g., ZoomInfo) to explore attendee lists for relevant events.
Now, refine your shortlist to hone in on the most promising shows:
☐ The timeline allows sufficient time to prepare effectively. Rushed events can be overpriced and risky.
☐ Key competitors or partners are attending, indicating a strong fit.
☐ The event is a good positioning fit (e.g., don’t bring an SMB product at an enterprise-geared show).
☐ The dates do not conflict with any major industry or (internal) company events.
☐ The event is conveniently located and will be easy to staff (especially crucial for small teams)
☐ The event duration justifies the cost and aligns with expected value (e.g., reasonable cost/day, sufficient time for pipeline generation, and no diminishing returns for multi-day presence).
☐ Is this a ‘must-attend’ event for the industry, i.e. if you’re not in attendance, you’re not in the consideration set?
☐ The event location is practical, aligning with company goals (not just a fun location. Majorca, anyone?!)
Pro tip: Aim for a mix of must-attend events and unexpected gems that could exceed expectations e.g. niche, regional, or up-and-coming shows for more targeted audiences. Your conference calendar will begin to come together organically as your program and teams mature, usually over a period of years.
Tip #2 - Simplify Buy-in with Tiers
As you build stakeholder buy-in on a final show list and the level of investment and approach at each show, you’ll need to simplify the decision-making for team members who don’t have time to get into the weeds.
To do this, start with a shortlist of shows and present a tiering rubric to help quickly align on an overall approach. For example, let’s say you’re going to 12 shows on a tight budget. After a team discussion, your shows in tiers 1-4 might look like Figure 1.1 below.
Important: This tiering process is for alignment purposes only. Your event plans and budgets won’t—and shouldn’t—fit perfectly.
Figure 1.1 Example of simplified investment tiers to simplify buy-in discussions
Tip #3 - Need to Reserve a Booth? Probably?
How to time the reservation, event if you’re unsure:
When to Reserve a Booth: If you’re sure you’ll be exhibiting (event tiers 2-4 above), plan to reserve 3-12 months in advance. Reservation delays lead to poor booth location, missed speaking slots, unavailable accommodations, and higher costs from late bookings and rush orders – not to mention the stress on your team due to late planning.
Factor in Uncertainty: If you’re unsure about attendance (which is common for startups!) ask your show rep to hold a booth while you decide. Be firm, even with refund or credit offers, and don’t miss the follow-up deadline. If you haven’t already, also take this opportunity to ask the vendor about the milestones, terms, and deadlines relevant to the show.
Think Beyond Lead Gen | Tips 4-8:
Tip #4 - Start with Collaboration for Trade Show Success
Involve key stakeholders at the start of the planning process: sales reps, business development managers, partnership marketing owners, and any other potential stakeholders. While lead and pipeline generation are crucial, a world-class conference program supports organizational goals.
Set clear objectives and at least one KPI representing what each stakeholder hopes to gain from the trade show program. (See Tip #10: Measuring Trade Show Goals)
Ensure efforts are measured and justify future investments.
If you or your team members are tempted to ‘wing it’ regarding their participation or KPIs, be reminded that this is a high-stakes—and potentially even the highest—spend line item growth channel.
When a colleague from another team joins the show, they might have goals that require them to spend time away from the booth team. Even so, have them join the booth team for at least one segment of the show—it’s guaranteed they’ll learn a ton. Furthermore, clarify how they can take on actionable takeaways for the organization. Communicate these expectations to their managers for extra motivation.
Pro tip: Explicitly encourage everyone to network and take in information with clear goals to enhance the conference’s overall value. Illustrate this with a concrete example from when you’ve done the same.
Tip #5 - How to Tackle Goals Together
Conferences are chaotic, and proactive collaboration is the only way to make the most of them.
Having everyone stack hands on each other's goals will go a long way, so document and socialize them. Before the show, give the team some examples to drive this point home, and encourage them each to choose at least one partner in the org to help:
Example 1: If a sales rep wants to work on their strategic accounts at the show, the team should be on the lookout for attendees from the target company so they can facilitate the connection.
Example 2: If BD is seeking partners in a particular category (e.g. integration software, reagent companies, etc.), and booth staffers should stop by booths in that category and get the contact of the best point person.
Example 3: If Hardware wants feedback on a physical prototype feature (there are better places for software feedback than a conference), bring a few non-competitor attendees to the side, give them a ‘special access’ prototype demo, and bring back notes for the hardware team.
Pro Tip: Have high-stakes attendees? e.g. a single buying committee member for a deal about to close worth millions? Prepare a printed binder with their names, photos, and relevant background information, and share it with your team to ensure everyone is aligned and prepared.
Tip #6 - Share the Excitement (with the team back home)
Goodwill and morale are important business goals! When you go to a show, you’re representing every individual working at your startup, and they’re more interested than you might think.
Share images of the booth, the team, and other highlights in your comms platform (e.g. Slack or LinkedIn) to keep the energy high back at the office. Updating and involving the team will build widespread support and interest in your conference program.
Proactively share upcoming shows with the team and ensure each show is updated on your events page as soon as it’s confirmed. Publish to a static location so that both web visitors and your internal team can keep themselves informed, as well as the internal comms channel, instead of relying on people checking the webpage. Finally, leave past show details at the bottom of your site’s event page for future reference and SEO.
Figure 1.2 Simple images of your booth (accompanied by lead stats or a show’s campaign successes) motivate the team back home!
Tip #7 - Channeling your Customer and Team, Return with Gifts i.e. Intel
Trade shows are a fleeting yet unique and invaluable opportunity. Think about it — each booth represents a frontier of your industry, and you’re there in real life to take advantage of this.
No matter how tired you may be from helping exhibit at the show, make the most of this opportunity and go walk the floor to see what you can learn and document it. Go the extra mile to bring back intel for the business and build goodwill for colleagues.
To help with this, think beyond immediate conference goals and focus on the broader challenges your customers and business partners are facing, using this opportunity to gather insights that resonate with each role on your team:
For the Product Manager:
Key Question: What customer needs (directly related to the solution you provide) are going unmet, and is someone at this show addressing them?
Approach: Seek out companies filling gaps in your product’s offering. Take notes on their approach, technology, or messaging that could inspire enhancements or integrations for your roadmap.
For the R&D Team:
Key Question: What can we learn from competitors’ offerings, positioning, or technology to guide our development roadmap?
Approach: Visit competitor booths and engage in conversations to understand their products, features, and value propositions. Be transparent that you’re a competitor. Take note of emerging trends, customer questions they address, and potential gaps in their approach. If your product is technical, ask for a demo, take photos, and grab product materials. (again, ask permission; you’ll be surprised how open some teams can be)
Pro tip: Startups will use trade shows to exhibit their beta products. Ask R&D if there’s a competitor they’re particularly interested in, and look out for any pre-launch products they may be unaware of.
For the Partnership Manager:
Key Question: Are there startups or established companies here that align with your vision?
Approach: Explore partnership opportunities with organizations that can amplify awareness or strengthen your product’s value proposition. Look for synergies in customer bases or complementary expertise.
For the Business Developer:
Key Question: Could your product be a valuable add-on or white-label solution for any companies here?
Approach: Identify startups or businesses that could benefit from your product as a complement to theirs. Frame your offering in terms of their growth potential, and explore how you can help them scale or differentiate.
For the Trade Show Marketing Manager:
Key Question: What are other booths doing to attract and engage attendees, and how can we improve?
Approach: Observe standout booth designs, attendee engagement tactics, and presentation styles. Note what works, what feels outdated, and ideas to discuss during post-show debriefs for refining your approach.
For the Content Marketing Manager:
Key Question: Which content strategies are resonating with the audience, and what can we adapt?
Approach: Collect printed materials from booths that catch your attention. Observe how booths present their messaging and storytelling. Identify creative formats or topics that align with your brand and can inspire your content calendar.
For the Digital Marketing Manager:
Key Question: What campaign ideas or themes stand out that could fuel digital marketing efforts?
Approach: Look for trends in booth messaging and graphics that could translate to ad campaigns. Identify opportunities to parody competitors or build campaigns around popular show themes. Track hashtags, visuals, or concepts that are drawing attention.
By aligning your observations with these roles, you’ll bring back fresh ideas to enhance your marketing efforts and strengthen your product and business strategies.
Now that we’ve decided on our conference program objectives, let’s review ways to measure results and progress at the program and show levels.
Tip #8 - Partner Up at the Show
Official or not, leveraging partnerships at a show is an oft-overlooked opportunity.
Consider locating your booth near your partners’ booths so your teams can more easily send traffic to each other, especially if your products complement each other.
Consider featuring the partnership at each other’s booths through content, demos, and/or invitations to co-hosted talks and events.
If your products complement one another, consider pooling resources for a joint event and sharing insights on strategies, challenges, and solutions. You’re already spending time together at the show – use it to amplify your reach and strengthen partnerships! This approach works particularly well when led by a strong organizer, like a locally headquartered startup.
ROI or Bust: Why Measurement is So Crucial | Tips 9-12
Tip #9 - The Value of Reliable Trade Show Data, 6-12 Months Later
Consider these scenarios and how grateful you’ll be that you took collecting solid performance data seriously:
Slow Start, Big Payoff: A show had low foot traffic and initially disappointing lead volume, leaving the team skeptical. Months later, your reporting reveals it generated more closed-won, high-value deals than almost any other event. Should you rebook?
Budget Crunch for a Major Launch: You’re planning an expensive product launch next year, and the CEO insists it happens at a specific show. To make it work, you need to trim the budget. Which show can you cut or scale back without jeopardizing business results?
Testing New Tactics: At ‘Show ACME,’ you tried a new lead generation tactic and doubled the leads compared to last year. Did these leads convert into customers, or were they just vanity metrics? Should you roll out the tactic to other shows, or refine it first?
Evaluating Booth Training: Your team implemented new booth engagement strategies. Did the training make a measurable difference? If so, what aspects were most effective?
In each case, having both quantitative and qualitative data tied to each show simplifies decision-making. Trade shows span long timelines, but if you channel your future self (or the person likely to be in your shoes), it’s clear that diligent data collection now will yield significant benefits later.
Tip #10 - What to Measure
Trade show data guides decisions, and while not all value is measurable, the goal is to document consistent, actionable data for confident comparisons over time.
Before we look at how to track everything, let’s review example categories you should track and why:
Leads & Pipeline: Lead and pipeline generation remain the most direct and actionable indicators of a show’s performance. They may be a proxy, but they’re the best option available. Use these metrics as the key source of truth to evaluate what worked, refine tactics, and track improvement over time.
Partnerships: Attribute each new partnership to a source (show/tactic/person) in your post-show notes or a running partnership document. Trade shows are fertile ground for partnerships—track and manage these relationships diligently.
Awareness: In some cases, you’ll note quantifiable data without needing to actually tally it as data, but rather to inform your notes about the event. For example, note the rough attendance (low/medium/high attendance) at your talks, roundtables, and booth visits. You can also ask your digital team to monitor during or post-show web traffic or hashtag engagement which indicate increased interest and potentially validate a new tactic or approach you tried out.
Strategic Accounts: Treat strategic accounts like partnerships. Ask account owners to document meetings and update the record with key interactions from the show.
Edge Cases: Your trade show efforts might generate some alternative source of value, such that your leadership wants to attend for: recruitment opportunities, rebranding, competitive intelligence, investor relations, Customer Advisory Board (CAB) development, community and ecosystem leadership, and/or crisis management or reputation repair.
Pro tip: If these edge cases come up, consider separating them from your model or at least discounting them, so your overall program health is trackable in parallel.
Tip #11 - Perform Program-Level Evaluation
From time to time, it’s essential to run a health check on your overall trade show program—not just individual show performance but the entire effort as a whole.
For example, imagine you’ve allocated $250k of your year-to-date (YTD) budget to attend 10 trade shows. Despite your best efforts, you can only attribute $35k in new business revenue to these events. This signals a red flag and warrants a pause to evaluate what’s happening.
Note: Even with the best trade show measurement, some value may go underreported—potentially 20–50% based on reasonable assumptions. Consider this when reassessing your investment level, strategy, and tactics. But as you implement improvements, measure the results against apples-to-apples baselines for meaningful insights.
Pro tip: While evaluating the health of your program, remain open to unconventional data sources. For instance, if your Account Management team frequently hears leads mention they saw you at a trade show—without those leads being tied to the opportunity in Salesforce—you may need to adjust your estimates upward.
To ensure your trade show program is on the right track (and to demonstrate your data-savvy efforts!), leverage the data categories outlined in Tip #10 to connect measurable progress to your program’s trajectory.
Let’s say you pull together the data, and it aligns with your and your executives’ beliefs that both of the following are true. This probably indicates the program is on a positive trajectory and no major pivots are needed.
Are you consistently tracking and improving your key value categories (e.g., the five examples mentioned earlier)?
Are you making measurable progress toward break-even at the program level, even if reaching it may take a few more years?
Pro Tip: If breaking even seems out of reach, consider factors like your product approaching critical mass in the market, a substantial increase in your average order value (AOV) or customer lifetime value (LTV), or other growth-stage dynamics. In such cases, maintaining a strong calendar of events may still be strategically valuable.
No matter the scenario, trade shows require significant effort and often account for a large portion of your budget. Make sure to track and manage them effectively!
Next, we’ll delve into how this tracking works in detail.
Tip #12 | How to Measure Trade Show Success: Costs, Leads, Pipeline, and More
Let’s start with costs, which are simple, if tedious, to pull together.
Wait. Is that a spreadsheet?! Yes, since costs come from various people, tools, partners, and payment methods, it can be necessary to consolidate them with Google Sheets or Excel.
In the near future, we’ll probably see AI agents that help consolidate everything automatically from and back into payment management systems, but I think that’s a couple of years away. Here’s an example:
Figure 1.3 Example Conference Cost Tracking Sheet (fictional data)
Modeling your lead and pipeline metrics in the same sheet as costs lets you easily combine costs and results. This enables calculated metrics like Cost per Lead (CPL), Cost per Opp (CPO), ROI, and more:
Figure 1.4 Example Conference Performance Tracker (fictional data)
Once you have these two tables, updating original budgets and ROI estimates on a rolling basis is easy, with simple formulas that refer to your cost and revenue tables (see below).
Figure 1.5 Example Trade Show Analysis (fictional data, and the bottom right cell value should read -50%, not -.5x)
Note the "Adj. for Buying Cycle" column which helps you estimate actual outcomes based on your lead-to-opportunity and opportunity-to-close cycles. Use this only if your buying cycles are long (6+ months) and you need a rough estimate to plan next year’s budget. Avoid overcomplicating unless it's necessary for accurate forecasting.
You’ll want to automate the pipeline reporting as much as possible, so check out Salesforce Ben’s Guide to Salesforce Campaigns to Track Events.
Just remember that you still need to tie opportunities back to investments, and that by default SFDC campaigns double-count revenue if more than one campaign is associated with the allocated deal.
Continuous Improvement | Tips 13-14
Conferences are full of details and opportunities, making it crucial to gather feedback systematically. This will include a regular meeting cadence, structured feedback collection, and post-show retrospectives.
Tip #13: If You Do Anything, Establish Feedback Loops!
Pre-schedule an email to all participants with a four-question survey to go out on the morning of the show’s final day. Schedule a note of gentle encouragement as a reminder of how important their feedback is once everyone’s back in the office.
The 4 essential survey questions:
What went well? (Identifies standout successes, such as effective engagement tactics, valuable conversations, or smooth logistics).
What could have been improved? (Highlights any challenges or missed opportunities, like booth setup issues, printed assets, or gaps in preparation).
What specific insights or opportunities did you uncover? (Captures actionable takeaways, such as potential partnerships, customer needs, or competitive intelligence gathered at the show).
Would you recommend attending this show again? Why or why not? (Assesses the perceived value of the show based on participant experiences to inform future planning).
To systematically track feedback, categorize it into key areas (e.g., booth design, engagement tactics, printed materials). This approach allows you to identify trends and measure progress over time. For example, if feedback consistently highlights the need for better printed materials, you can track improvements in that category and ensure focused enhancements. What’s measured can be managed—and improved.
Here’s an example of what the internal doc might look like. Slides for presentation can include snippets of each feedback received, with a visual trend (bar charts, conditional formatting, or line charts) of how it and its category are progressing by quarter. In the example below, the numbers under Q1, Q2, etc. are the instances the issue was noted in feedback surveys.
Note that you’ll probably use a tool like Monday.com or Jira, but the value is the same:
Figure 1.6 Example Issue Tracker: Jane, a fictitious owner of trade shows, includes issues used to measure progress against herself since she has behind-the-scenes knowledge of the event.
Below is what this looks like in the slide format for quarterly review with leadership. This process drives accountability and reinforces to the team that their feedback is valuable and acted upon.
Figure 1.7 Trends from the progress tracker in a slide-friendly format:
Top: Lead quality remains stagnant. Significant action needed. Status: RED
Middle: Partnership opportunities consistent. Monitor downstream progress. Status: YELLOW
Bottom: Group demos enabled with new screen. Status: GREEN / RESOLVED
Tip #14 - Tips to Control Costs
First, what not to skimp out on:
Events are really expensive, so cutting 5% here and 5% there can make a significant impact on ROI. On the other hand, you’re there to achieve big goals, so don’t compromise your chances of success by penny-pinching in the wrong areas. Here are a few examples:
Booth quality: Unless you’re in an extremely scrappy early stage, invest in a professional and well-optimized booth setup. This should include backlighting, bold banners, areas for conversation, high-quality materials, a demo setup, and more. Refer to the section of this article dedicated to this.
Team event: Your team members are your ambassadors, and trade shows are exhausting. Always budget so everyone can connect, usually the night before the first full day.
Injury Prevention: This should also be provided if someone requests a standing pad. Also, have at least one chair for staff. They’ll need it when they're at the booth before and after the floor is opened.
A lead scanner: Your team can share a single scanner or two to save costs, but the ease of use that comes with scanners increases lead volume — likely your top success metric — so make this investment.
Avoid Rush Fees
Before you dismiss this one, remember that nobody plans to pay rush fees. Juggling so many deadlines, no wonder rush fees are so common. Here are some high-cost categories:
Get ahead of the team booking travel and accommodations late.
Plan ahead to avoid expensive rush shipping and production costs.
Ensure materials, signage, and shipments are ordered on time.
Grab early bird packages when you’re certain you’ll be attending.
Get Staffing Right:
Plan roles and schedules to maximize efficiency and minimize costs. e.g. staff with local team members when possible, limit staff overstaying or arriving early, unless necessary.
Send only essential team members with clear roles. It all depends on you business goals, but here’s who you might consider sending:
1 person? Send the founder, CEO, first Sales hire, or head of product.
2 people? Send a Salesperson and 1 product expert.
3 People? Send 2 Salespeople and 1 product expert.
Consolidate, Reuse, and Minimize
Reuse booth setups and marketing collateral for multiple events.
Decide whether to buy or rent equipment (e.g. screens) with shipping and lifetime usage in mind. Some shows don’t allow you to bring certain equipment, so double-check your contract.
Combine shipments to reduce handling fees.
Shop around for the best-valued vendors (e.g. logistics, printing, booth components, etc.) and negotiate when possible.
Skip unnecessary extras like premium booth furnishings or elaborate rugs.
Only invest in services that directly support your goals (e.g., on-site WiFi).
Making the Most of Every Show | Tips 15-19
Tip #15 - Booth Location:
A great booth location boosts traffic, engagement, and team morale, but finding the right spot requires a nuanced approach.
At large events, positioning a booth or two away from hubs like lounges, networking areas, or popular exhibitors can attract traffic without landing you in the middle of chaos. Avoid spots far from key attractions—or near restrooms—as these typically get less attention.
If the layout is unfamiliar or the floorplan isn’t clear, ask your show rep for clarification or to connect you with someone who has recent experience in the space. These perspectives can make all the difference.
Pro Tip: Proximity to competitors can be a smart strategic move. Established or emerging players draw highly relevant traffic, often bringing in the exact audience you want to reach. Sharing the spotlight can amplify your visibility, as attendees already interested in your competitor’s offerings will likely explore similar solutions—like yours. The chance to tap into their traffic and create meaningful conversations often outweighs the risk of being overshadowed. Just ensure your team understands this approach and its purpose in advance, and be sure to understand if your company’s offering and at-show presentation is strong enough to stand out positively alongside your competitors.
Tip #16 - Booth Optimization Tips:
Scope it Out from Every Angle:
One of the most obvious yet overlooked opportunities is seeing your booth through an attendee's eyes navigating the exhibit hall's chaos. Stand 20 feet away and approach from multiple angles. Ask yourself:
Is your main banner legible and visible from all common (physical) perspectives?
Does it clearly communicate what you offer and why it’s unique?
This simple exercise can uncover critical visibility and messaging gaps you might otherwise miss.
Design for Rush Hour:
Is your booth ready for primetime i.e. when you’re at your busiest?
Is the layout amenable to having multiple conversations (e.g. 1 per rep + 1-2 prospects) simultaneously?
Are each of these ‘sub-spaces’ laid out to include easy access to content, demos, lead scanners, etc. for smooth access?
Optimize Your Booth's Messaging and Content to Achieve Business Goals:
Your booth isn’t just a physical space, it’s a major marketing asset. Treat it like you would your company website or a major marketing campaign (just think how much design time and expertise goes into websites and campaigns!!). For example:
Does it convey a cohesive and strategic message, with your booth design, materials, demo, and staff all aligned?
Is it up-to-date with your most relevant products, messaging, and content?
Consider adopting a funnel-based approach tailored to your show goals. For instance, is your booth optimized to drive awareness, lead generation, deal acceleration, and strategic partnerships?
Pro Tip: Simplify the Call to Action (CTA):
Every element of your booth should guide visitors to a clear next step. Your CTA should be:
Obvious: What do you want visitors to do next?
Memorable: Will they leave with a clear understanding of that action?
Barrier-free: Is the action easy to take?
Examples of effective CTAs:
A sign that says, “Ask me for a 3-minute demo.”
A guidebook with the message: “Your CTO Will Thank You For This Guide …”
A banner reading, “Ask Us Why You Need to Switch From [competitor xyz].”
Each CTA should serve your broader strategy and make it easy for attendees to take the next step.
Tip #17: Pre-Show Marketing and Promotion
Take a proactive approach to direct outreach:
Many trade shows provide access to attendee lists through their mobile apps, allowing you to view and message participants weeks before the event. Leverage this opportunity by compiling and enriching these lists into a targeted attendee database. Assign outreach responsibilities across your team, aligning targets by seniority or relevance. To take this further (because the in-app messages can get overlooked), each team member can then send personalized messages via their social and email accounts to raise awareness of your presence and secure pre-scheduled meetings.
For high-priority targets or significant events, consider running a LinkedIn Ads campaign targeting the companies on your list. While LinkedIn currently doesn’t allow for precise targeting of both company name and job title simultaneously, it can still boost your visibility among key accounts.
Don’t skip this step, especially at the senior level. Attendees are trying to plan their show too, so they’ll also appreciate the outreach, when relevant. These tactics give you a significant advantage by fostering connections ahead of the event.
Offer low-lift, high-value content to boost pre-show awareness:
Create High-Value Event Resources: Develop and promote a 1-pager or checklist to help attendees plan their show experience (e.g., “5 sessions at Show ACME 2026 academic labs won’t want to miss).
Leverage Organizer Channels: Trying to reach conference attendees pre-show won’t be effective unless you know who they are in advance. Therefore, you’ll need to negotiate with event organizers to distribute your guide through official emails, attendee portals, or on their website to ensure maximum visibility before the show. These can be expensive and hit-or-miss, so allocate your limited budget accordingly.
Pro tip: Don’t make a rookie mistake. Include a clear call-to-action in these resources, such as visiting your booth for a personal demo, exclusive content, or claiming a giveaway.
Is this the trade show of the year for your industry? Or your big show of the year? Go the extra mile with a dedicated page and content approach.
Especially if you’re investing big at a major show and expect a significant portion of your audience (e.g. website, email, social, etc.) to recognize the event, start building your presence 2-3 months in advance. Use website banners and create a dedicated event page to highlight your participation. Here's what to include on that page:
Event announcement and details
Product showcase with an in-person demo focus
Presentation or workshop highlights
CTA to schedule demos or request information
Links for event updates, social media, and newsletter sign-up
In addition to a dedicated landing page, work with your digital marketing, content, and website owners to ensure everyone knows about this event!
Tip #18: Finding Real Audience Lists
Whether before or after the show, accessing real attendee lists is key to effective targeting, yet there are a few reliable ways to do this. Start by working directly with the event organizers; many provide attendee lists or offer them as part of sponsorship packages. If these lists are unavailable upfront, inquire about insights like company names, industry segments, or job titles from past events to help you create a targeted strategy. Review your own CRM to identify leads who attended the same show in previous years and prioritize outreach to them for the upcoming event. You may also have access to a data source like ZoomInfo, Clay, etc., that offers legitimate access and permission to use lists from previous years.
Be cautious of unsolicited offers claiming to sell attendee lists. These are often scams or contain outdated or inaccurate information. Always cross-reference such claims with the event organizers to verify their legitimacy. Relying on unverified lists wastes resources and could harm your reputation if you contact people inappropriately. Sticking to trusted sources ensures your outreach is both impactful and compliant.
Tip #19: Post-Show Follow-Up and Nurturing
Address Sales Territory Conflicts Early: Clearly define how leads from the show will be assigned to avoid disputes between sales reps. Consider assigning the leads primarily to the salesperson who worked the show, as they built the initial relationship. If territories overlap, implement a fair lead-sharing policy or use tagging systems in your CRM to credit both reps appropriately.
Systematic Outreach is Key: Create a structured follow-up plan to engage attendees effectively. Use SDRs to handle the initial touchpoints with leads, leveraging personalized outreach sequences tailored to their interests. AEs should focus on the high-value attendees or those showing buying intent. Marketing can complement this by running targeted email sequences or retargeting campaigns to re-engage attendees who interacted with your booth but didn’t convert on-site.
Offer Compelling Post-Event Value: Provide attendees with materials that reinforce your message and keep the conversation alive, such as a summary of your presentation, exclusive content related to the event, or a recording of your workshop. Pair this with a strong call-to-action for follow-up meetings or next steps.
Pro tip: Keep the momentum up post-show by hosting a webinar for attendees. Topics could include:
What’s Next After ACME 2026? Actionable Strategies for Success in Our Industry
Behind the Scenes at ACME 2026: Expert Highlights and Key Takeaways
Missed ACME 2026? Exclusive Insights and Even Better Industry Strategies
Process = Progress | Tips 20-22
Tip #20 - Essential Checklists
Even the most organized people in the world need checklists. There are simply too many details for any human to keep track of, so use checklists!
Note: This guide doesn’t attempt a universal list because they’re no such thing! To help manage your events, write your own checklists using the following categories for inspiration.
Pre-Show Preparation Checklist:
Book travel, accommodations, and transportation.
Arrange shipping for booth materials and products.
Finalize booth design and order materials (banners, lighting, AV equipment).
Test and pack technology (laptops, monitors, charging stations).
Launch pre-event promotions (email campaigns, social media posts, teasers).
Prepare printed materials (brochures, flyers, business cards).
Assign roles, create schedules, and rehearse talking points.
Provide staff with uniforms, badges, and lead capture tools.
On-Site Checklist:
Booth essentials: business cards, tape, scissors, extension cords, power strips.
Comfort items: snacks, water, hand sanitizer, extra shirts.
Engagement materials: swag, giveaways, lead capture tools, product samples.
Emergency supplies: backup chargers, first-aid kit, markers, superglue.
Set up displays, test technology, and restock supplies daily.
Collect leads, run demos, and distribute materials.
Review goals, discuss observations, and make adjustments during daily briefings.
Attend scheduled meetings and connect with key contacts.
Last-Day Checklist:
Storage boxes for leftover items and swag.
Shipping labels and materials for booth items.
Collect, organize, and prioritize leads.
Dismantle and pack materials securely.
Capture immediate feedback and key takeaways during team debrief.
Return rented items, ensure the booth space is cleared, and confirm shipping.
Post-Show Follow-Up Checklist:
Enter lead data into CRM, prioritize, and assign to sales reps.
Execute follow-up sequences (emails, calls, meetings).
Analyze metrics, ROI, and engagement levels.
Compile feedback from staff and attendees.
Document improvements and suggestions for future events.
Content Checklist:
Create marketing collateral, booth visuals, etc.
Prepare presentation materials, handouts, and live social media updates for event day.
Develop summary content, follow-up emails, and webinar materials post-event.
Contingency Plans:
Backup supplies: extra hardware (chargers, adapters), printed materials, and booth tools.
Contact list: phone numbers for team members, organizers, and vendors.
Contingency plans for logistics delays, booth issues, and staff shortages.
Pro tip: If you suspect someone might not appreciate all the work a trade show manager does, just flash your full checklists on their screen and review them for a minute. It’s not a job for the faint of heart, and it’s nearly impossible to do well without a dedicated role or as a major team effort.
Tip #21 - Optimal Meeting Cadence: Before, During, and After the Show
Given the collaborative and somewhat chaotic nature of trade shows, you need to establish additional processes, such as a pre-show meeting and post-show retrospectives. Here are some key meetings and processes:
Pre-Show Meeting: This crucial meeting ensures booth staff are aligned and prepared before the show begins. It provides a chance to address questions, share insights, and align on goals, itineraries, roles, and tactical plans. Use this time to iron out any wrinkles, address concerns, and ensure everyone is confident in their responsibilities.
At-Show Huddle: On the morning of the show, schedule time for booth setup with the team responsible for assembling the booth and preparing any product displays. Once setup is complete, gather for a 15-minute huddle to review roles, answer questions, and confirm itineraries. Be sure to triple-check the booth setup before the floor lockout period begins—many shows seriously restrict access to the exhibitor floor to clean up before the event starts.
Post-Show Review: Conduct a comprehensive review of show performance and finalize action plans for follow-up. Only the booth attendees usually attend this. Invite others as optional.
Review metrics, usually leads and qualitative feedback, since pipeline won’t have closed yet.
Discuss how to improve processes for future shows.
Confirm responsibility and timelines for post-show follow-ups.
Bi-annual or quarterly program reviews: This meeting, which is for an audience including higher-ups, consolidates feedback and performance data across all shows from the past quarter to identify meta-trends and evaluate the overall program. By analyzing metrics and insights at a program-wide level, the team can:
Identify recurring successes and challenges.
Assess the ROI and impact of the entire trade show strategy.
Refine priorities, tactics, next steps, and investments for future shows.
Tip #22 - Take Care of Yourself and the Team
In addition to the team time recommended earlier in the guide, don’t forget to have fun and take care of yourself! Nothing is more important that your health, and there’s always a way to have fun while working a show — you just have to remind yourself of this!
Stay hydrated by drinking plenty yourself and nudging others to do the same.
Do one thing daily for your health, anything from a few stretches with colleagues to yoga organized by the event or an early morning run.
Wear comfortable shoes and pack band-aids to avoid blisters and keep everyone on their feet.
Rotating team members to ensure everyone gets time to rest and recharge during the event.
Get enough sleep each night to stay energized and focused throughout the event.
Practice good hygiene by using hand sanitizer often and avoiding touching your face to stay healthy in high-contact environments.
A trade show is a marathon. Whether at the show or the week you get back, treat yourself for a job well done.
Now that we’ve covered 22 tips and tricks, part 2 will dig into the first principles and the AI future of trade shows:
PART 2 (coming soon) | Reimagining Trade shows: First Principles and AI Shaping the Future of Industry Events
