Trade shows have long been important for businesses to showcase their innovations, foster connections with current and prospective customers, and make a statement about their position in the industry.
Lead generation, brand awareness, and networking are typically set as clear objectives. An eye-catching booth is designed to reflect the brand identity and attract visitors. Marketing and promotional collateral is carefully prepared. In a very small and simple nutshell (of course, there is much more to every item listed here), this is the traditional approach to trade show marketing. But what’s missing?
An often-overlooked opportunity lies in engaging with the media. While many companies invest considerable resources and money in their trade show presence, they frequently miss the chance to maximise their impact through well-thought-out and carefully prepared PR and media relations strategies.
Understanding the Landscape
At NoBorders Communications, we’ve witnessed how trade shows attract a diverse array of attendees, among them – journalists. It’s no secret that journalists attend trade shows actively seeking compelling stories, updates on innovations, and insights that they can use even long after the event concludes. This presents a unique opportunity for brands to elevate their visibility within their industry.
However, many companies miss this opportunity.
They often engage in PR and media relations without careful preparation and a strategic approach, resulting in minimal impact and failing to capture media attention. Without focused messaging and proactive engagement, brands often miss connections with journalists beyond their usual target list, forgoing the chance to expand their visibility into new territories.
To truly leverage trade shows as platforms for visibility, brands must invest the necessary time and resources to develop effective media strategies, which then translate into:
- Amplified Reach and Recognition: Leveraging media present at the show can extend the brand’s reach far beyond the event. Articles, blog posts, and news reports can carry your message and innovations to a broader audience, ensuring the brand’s voice resonates long after the event.
- Thought Leadership: Our experience has shown that proactively engaging with journalists positions brands as leaders in their fields. When industry experts share their insights, it builds credibility and cultivates trust with potential clients and stakeholders.
- Long-Term Relationships: trade show engagements lay the groundwork for long-term relationships with journalists. By offering valuable insights and forming connections, brands can become go-to sources for media professionals long after the show is over.
Elevate Your Impact: Essential Tactics for Captivating Media Interest
To fully harness the potential of media interactions at trade shows, companies must adopt a strategic approach that encompasses a variety of essential activities.
Generate buzz ahead of the event– a teaser press release, carefully timed, can generate media interest and set the stage for what’s to come. When planned with enough lead time, this increases the chances of being included in preview-articles that highlight the upcoming exhibition’s main attractions. Being featured in such articles can significantly raise awareness of your company, attracting potential clients to your stand.
Maximise the press activities at the show – whether on a dedicated press day, or during the show, organising events like press conferences, media luncheons, or presentations can help put your brand on journalists’ radar. Pairing this with a press release about new product launches, or other company milestones, and a compelling media kit helps ensure your news are front and centre in media coverage.
Speaking opportunities also play a key role. Many tradeshows feature accompanying conferences or panel discussions. Evaluating these opportunities and participating in them can help maximise brand visibility and establish thought leadership. Promoting such events and inviting journalists to attend can further enhance your impact.
Follow up – the importance of post-event follow-up cannot be overstated. “send and forget” approach is definitely not enough. Journalists meet dozens of companies during trade shows, and each one competes for attention in their articles. Following up with journalists after the event, offering additional information and materials, can ensure your brand stays top of mind—rather than your competitor’s.
By weaving these strategic elements together, businesses can create a cohesive and impactful media engagement plan that drives visibility and cultivates valuable connections. While this may seem overwhelming, partnering with an experienced media relations consultancy like NoBorders Communications can help guide you through the process and ensure success.
The Importance of Media Training
Media training for spokespeople cannot be overstated. In today’s fast-paced media environment, spokespersons must be equipped with the skills necessary to communicate your brand’s message effectively.
Professional media training offers several key benefits that contribute to successful engagement. First, it ensures that spokespeople can articulate key messages with clarity and precision. This ability to deliver messages clearly is critical in conveying your brand’s values and offerings without confusion or ambiguity.
Media training prepares spokespeople to handle tough questions with confidence and composure. Being well-prepared enables them to respond thoughtfully, maintaining the integrity of both the message and the brand.
Understanding non-verbal communicationis another important aspect of media training. Spokespeople learn how body language impacts perceptions of trust and credibility. Mastering these non-verbal cues helps create a stronger connection with the audience and enhances the overall message delivery.
At NoBorders Communications, we believe that robust media training is a cornerstone of successful media engagement – at trade shows or anywhere else. Our two decades of experience have consistently demonstrated that well-prepared spokespeople are far more effective in capturing media attention and ensuring their key messages are reflected in resulting articles.
Maximise Your Presence
Maximising brand presence at trade shows goes beyond product displays. By strategically engaging with the media, companies can unlock the full potential of trade shows, turning them into substantial opportunities for visibility and growth – truly maximising the marketing investment made in the exhibition.