The countdown is on and as an industry, we are finalizing details for United Fresh LIVE!, the first ever virtual tradeshow starting on Monday, June 15. In case you’re not counting, that’s 4 days from today.  

If you are counting, you are likely exhibiting at the show and in the process of putting the final touches on your booth. Just when you thought it was safe to check this booth off your list, we’re serving up marketing ideas to help you really drive home your presence at the show with a bang and garner new sales leads as a result.

As you prepare for United Fresh LIVE!, we’ve provided marketing tips below for those who are ready to party and use this new tradeshow format as a virtual sales tool:

1. Test and Be Ready to go Virtual

Testing your PC and/or laptop to function properly with the virtual show platform is an essential part of the marketing process in preparation for the show next week.  Be sure to take time to test your equipment and your staff’s equipment to ensure you’re prepared for chatting interactions with booth guests and having the ability to connect via Zoom for the educational sessions.  There is a full week of content and networking opportunities planned.  Be ready to take part!

2. Keep Your Brand Consistent

The booth portal provided by United Fresh is an easy portal to navigate and update. As you finalize your content this week, and prepare to wow your booth visitors, remember to keep your branding consistent throughout the show. If you plan to change imagery and/or update your messaging daily, remember to adapt the colors and the nuances of the portal to ensure that your brand’s integrity is still being upheld each day.

3. Optimize the Search Function

Since there aren’t booth numbers to market, finding your booth may be the hardest part of navigating the virtual show for people attending as a visitor. With more than 230 exhibitors showcasing in the portal, the key to helping the 7,000+ registered attendees find your booth is by adding keywords and search terms to narrow down the results an attendee receives when conducting a search in the portal.  

With 1,000 characters available to enter in the “Search Words” section of your booth builder, the possibilities that you might enter to help an attendee find your booth are limitless. Consider various spellings of your company name and including key people,  products and services to ensure that you’re taking typos into account when helping people find your booth (e.g. DMA, DMA Solutions, DMA Solution, Dan’l Mackey Almy, happy hour, karaoke, etc.).

4. Staff Your Booth Appropriately

Starting on Monday, June 15, United Fresh LIVE! will be open and ready for attendees to peruse booths during the week-long event.  With a record number of attendees planning to visit, staffing your booth to host conversations that are meaningful and sales-centric is essential in the success of your presence.

Power hours on the show floor have been established from 1 pm – 3 pm ET from Monday through Thursday to provide exhibiting companies with specific days and times when you should have ample booth staff to guide chats and conversations that may take place in your virtual booth.  Beyond Power Hours, we are seeing companies that will have booth staff available (one to two people) during business hours, or 8 am ET to 6 pm ET, to greet visitors outside of the scheduled power hours.  Click here to register your booth staff for free.

5. Take Advantage of Pre-Show Communication Opportunities

Over the next three business days, consider what you can do nimbly to help pave the way for an even more successful United Fresh LIVE!  For exhibitors showcasing new products, get back to basics with your marketing activities by emailing your customers, sending a press release and diving into social media activities, particularly focusing on LinkedIn.

6. Marketing Your Booth During the Show

Working closely with the team at United Fresh, we’re happy to share insights and tips we’ve gleaned from their team to help exhibitors make the most of the virtual tradeshow week.  First, plan to update your booth daily.  The show organizers have decided not to lock the booth displays once the show begins on Monday which means you can add a personal touch to your booth daily, if you choose to do so.  

Creating a reason for people to come to your booth during show hours is simple when you think about the reason you’re exhibiting in the first place.  Whether you’re staging a product demonstration, highlighting a new product or hosting a featured speaker in your booth during Power Hours, giving attendees information to help them plan a visit to see you is where we see the most opportunity.

In addition to this, don’t forget to adopt best practices for yourself and your booth staff during United Fresh LIVE! being sure to schedule time for email follow up and calls.  To stay connected with social media discussion around the show, follow #UnitedFreshLIVE and plan your content accordingly.

7. Don’t Forget to Close the Deal

Following up with booth visitors after the show is the minimum you should expect of your marketing efforts the week of June 22.  Stand out amongst your competitors by extending offers given during the show to the following week. Continue to capitalize on platforms like LinkedIn and our trade publications to uncover new product features and/or company news that is intriguing to your buying audiences in the industry.  Utilize email marketing to drive home the key messages you featured in the booth the week prior and make sure they aren’t forgotten when the show officially closes.

Of course, these are just a few ideas that could catapult your presence at the show and make your booth worth visiting.  Speaking of booths worth visiting, please let us know what you’re sharing in your booth next week and you could be featured in our most popular blog post series of the year, What Blew Us Away. Send us an email at info@dma-solutions.com and we’ll be sure to pop by!