As tradeshows and expos across the United States and the world are being cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19, businesses that have largely relied on these events are left wondering what to do. Especially in the B2B world, where every lead counts, it’s important now, more than ever, to diversify your marketing stack and be prepared to innovate and reach people in ways you haven’t reached them before.
Double Down on Lead Nurturing
While tradeshows and expos are a great source of new leads, now may be the time to reassess how to bring the leads and connections you already have further along in the purchasing process. Take a look at the content you’re putting out and analyze what gaps there may be. Is there opportunity to create a valuable whitepaper that educates your customers currently in the middle or bottom of the funnel? Is there a drip campaign (or multiple drip campaigns) you could create for newer leads that are sitting at the top of the funnel? Nurturing your leads is wildly important when you remove a substantial source of new leads. You’ve likely spent a good deal of money getting those leads anyway, so maximizing your close rates and shortening that sales process is a great way to redirect some of your resources.
Webinars
As exhibitor booths and presentations have been great ways to demonstrate your complicated product or service in front of hundreds or thousands of attendees, webinars are a great virtual alternative. If your brand has a strong stake in the industry, you likely have a built-in audience looking for your innovations and new products. Capitalizing on this doesn’t necessarily require getting on a stage or having visitors in your booth. You can stack valuable information in your webinar, promote it to your audience and network, and deliver that education virtually. A bonus to moving your presentation, whether designed for the stage or a tradeshow booth, to a webinar is that you’ll now have a handy registration list to follow-up with either on a 1:1 basis or virtually through remarketing.
1:1 Virtual Meetings
It’s likely you’ve connected with a number of your customers to set up 1:1 meetings at your tradeshow. With software like Skype, Zoom, and GoToMeeting, there’s no need to cancel those appointments. The same software you’d use for a webinar will most likely support 1:1 meetings and while virtual meetings may be new to you, rest assured there are many people who have been doing them for years and are quite comfortable with them.
Diversify Your Lead Generation Tactics
Take this opportunity to explore lead generation tactics outside of the tradeshow channels. A strong diversified stack of strategies and tactics not only ensures you’re not relying on a single channel, such as tradeshows, but it also allows you to test and adapt depending on performance. Consider combining a strong content marketing strategy with some paid advertising across search and social. Take another look at your website and evaluate what improvements you can make from a conversion rate or search engine optimization standpoint. If you’ve found yourself in a position where you need to find new ways to reach your audience, give us a shout. Our team of creative thinkers, strategists, designers, artists, writers, photographers, animators, editors, and developers are standing by to help you drive your business through these challenging times.
We’ve all been impacted by this coronavirus in ways that we never could have imagined. Through the darkness and uncertainty, shining lights of support and outreach have brightened our world bit by bit. As we push through, together, we’ll find ways to innovate and keep moving forward.