Predictable sales are what startups crave.

The exciting news is that trade shows offer predictability but with added marketing bells and whistles.

GO WHERE THE BUYERS ARE FOR GUARANTEED SALES ACTIVITY

Hundreds or more usually, thousands of buyers congregate at a typical trade show.

They do so at a given time in a well-publicised location. That's the first predictable quality trade shows offer.

You know for sure when and where those buyers will gather.

Often, these are the same people you find so hard to meet or even reach throughout the rest of the year.

Yet, they willingly take themselves to a place where they know dozens, perhaps hundreds of companies have the sole aim of pitching to them.

Take part in a trade show, and you can predict that sales activity will occur during and after the event.

You'll have sales leads to follow up and close and a fresh batch of accurate data to put into your CRM.

But there’s an added marketing benefit too.

WHY MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS IN THE RUN-UP TO A SHOW MAKES SENSE

Most exhibitors aren't aware of the scale of organiser-led promotional activity in the months before an event.

Nor how buyers view the "usefulness" aspect of trade shows.

When a show organiser turns on their promotion tap, usually three to four months out from an event, a ton of marketing activity hits the market. 

It starts with emails and landing pages. Then advertisements and press coverage.

Next come conference and seminar promotions, meeting planning suggestions and invitations to social events.

Buyers might also receive telemarketing calls to encourage their attendance further.

On the whole, buyers welcome the attention.

Because, in their minds, trade shows represent an opportunity.

New ideas, products and suppliers are conveniently gathered in one place for their perusal.

It makes attending and time out of the office attractive and justifiable because it’s time effective.

For this reason, the biggest trade shows get logged into calendars, becoming an essential part of the buying year.

Releasing marketing campaigns for your business in this period can work massively in your favour, especially when you link them to participation in a show.

It’s a beautifully simple but effective way a startup can fashion sales and marketing milestones into their year.

MILESTONE STRATEGY: EXHIBITING TO MAKE SALES

Trade show marketing is something different from simply exhibiting.

It's not about turning up at a show and seeing what happens; it's way more proactive.

The exhibitor takes the leading role in engineering sales.

If you follow the milestone strategy, marketing becomes geared to generating sales activity at a given time in the year. 

There are focal points for your sales and marketing people to work towards and around.

And those white papers, reports, product guides, articles, videos and presentations that are generated from event-related marketing activity can be used way beyond the show.

HOW TO START

Start with a small stand and increase space only when you know a show works for your business.

Leads collected are one measure of success but assessing sales converted is more valuable.

To know how successful exhibiting has been, you must accurately track the origin of sales.

Tracking event spending will show how much acquiring leads and sales have cost.

Those values become benchmarks when comparing events or alternative forms of marketing.

All of which can help fashion more predictable sales for your business.