How to Wake Your Trade Show ROI From the Dead

How to Wake Your Trade Show ROI From the Dead

Trade shows and industry events remain some of the most important and often biggest line items in a company’s marketing budget, but too often, exhibitors show up underprepared, relying on chance encounters rather than building meaningful engagement ahead of time. Their ROI numbers are frequently ghosts of what they should be, if even measured at all. If you want to maximize your return, preparation isn’t hard but starts months before the exhibit hall doors open. Here’s how to approach it.

How Far in Advance Should You Plan?

The truth is, future success comes from preparation well before you arrive on-site. If you’re investing significant amounts of money into a show, you want people ready and eager to meet with you by the time you get there. Make your products and services a “must check out” before the show starts.

90 Days Out 

Begin by studying the show topics, advertising hooks, and speakers. Look at who is likely to attend. Start reaching out to industry peers, prospects, and partners. Don’t pitch them yet — instead, ask what topics matter most to them this year. Find out how you can help make their visit to the show successful. What challenges do they want addressed? What questions would they like answered at the show in areas that are relevant to you? This positions you as a curious and collaborative partner rather than a salesperson.

60 Days Out 

Continue the conversation. At this stage, you can begin light communications (emails, newsletters, or LinkedIn posts) that confirm your presence at the show. Share helpful content or insights connected to the event themes. Again, the focus is on engagement and awareness that you exist, not selling.

30 Days Out

Now it’s time to invite. Whether you’re hosting a breakfast, setting up demos, or planning an interview series, give people a reason to meet with you. Personalize the invitations as much as possible. Your goal is to create anticipation and secure calendar space before the rush begins.

By using this staged approach, attendees will already have seen or heard from you multiple times before they ever step foot in the hall. That repetition builds memory and begins forming relationships. And they have a non-sales related reason to talk to you, which is then leverageable for discussing their current needs.  

What Should You Actually Do and Communicate?

Success is about setting the right cadence in a way that is consistent, valuable, and never overbearing.

Establish a Communication Rhythm

One touchpoint every 2 to 3 weeks in the run-up is usually right. That could mean a LinkedIn post, a short email, or even a quick call to check in. Phone calls hold a particularly strong weight if done correctly in today’s text and email heavy world. But if you call, make sure it’s a good reason and don’t sell, invite. 

Create Conversations, Not Pitches

Share polls, questions, or insights that invite responses. Encourage people to send their ideas back to you. This interactivity deepens engagement and positions you as a thought leader.

Add Creativity at the 30-Day Mark

This is the moment for something engaging. Maybe it’s an event-within-the-event, a unique piece of content, or a social activation. Creativity here helps differentiate your booth from the noise.

The key is to be present, helpful, and memorable without overwhelming your audience.

How Do You Make Sure You’re Getting Sales Calls Before the Show?

If you’ve done the first two steps right, your sales process has already begun before the exhibit floor opens. By the time attendees arrive:

• They’ve heard from you multiple times.

• They’ve interacted with you in at least one meaningful way.

• They’ve seen that you’re focused on solving their problems, not just selling.

That means when your sales team finally sits down with them, the relationship is already warm. In some cases, you’ll even have confirmed meetings on the calendar before the first keynote begins.

By building a pre-show cadence of curiosity, engagement, and creativity, you dramatically increase the odds that prospects will come to the booth ready for serious conversations and they’ll answer your calls and buy after the show ends.