4 ways to improve conversion ratio on trade shows

Turning lambda show visitors into engaged visitors is key to improve ones conversion ratio. But it’s also by far the hardest challenge any exhibitor will encounter. You may literally have 30 seconds to do so!

Your booths conversion ratio is by far the most important metric to define the success of a show, and thus way before looking at maximizing engagement time. So how do you convert visitors into engaged visitors? Here are 4 ways to improve your booth conversion ratio.

Greet and reach out
Visibly stand out
Present compelling demos right away
Keep it clean and organized, tidy up!

Greet and reach out

This might sound like an obvious one, but what’s obvious isn’t necessarily the rule. Reaching out proactively to visitors passing by is the most effective way to initiate engagement with your audience.

The idea is really simple. Initiate a casual conversation with a random people passing by. Keep in mind that you never know who’s going to be your next big customer!

Tip: Don’t be that guy that opens up the conversation directly with a sales pitch. Be creative and surprise them! Get them curious and once you have their attention, casually invite them onto your booth.

Visibly stand out

Exhibit houses know this, and rightly so. A successful booth is a booth with great design. It’s a booth that stands out and draws people in just on it’s own.

Visibly standing out is all about design, lighting and imagination. Nobody was ever drawn into a 10×10 with bare wall partitions and posters slapped on it.

Look out for new trends and ask your exhibit house or your design team to dream something up.

You need to get that “Wow effect” at first sight.

Present compelling demos right away

Another way to convert people passing in the ailes into guests of your booth is by making sure that your new product or service sits right there in the front and center.

It shouldn’t take efforts for visitors to quickly identify that this is hot and new item from your company. There are a variety of ways you can use to highlight the newest and greatest. Now if you combine this with our other recommendations above, you can be sure to up that conversion ratio!

Keep it clean and tidy

Finally but not least, keep it clean! We’ve all seen these booths with boxes, flyers all over the table tops and cables pretending to be part of the show. Clean it up and always make sure that everything is tidy. A first impression is the one that counts most. Make sure to constantly re-align, clean up and inspect your exhibition space.

Tip: Store boxes behind the scenes, avoid flyers at all cost and keep these cables out of sight. Your efforts will be rewarded by visitors coming-in and feeling like you’ve got it under control.

Now your turn, and don’t forget to measure!

Illustration: Jonathan Francisca