After The Event: 5 Things You Need To Do!
Exhibition activities play a vital role in promoting businesses, fostering connections, and showcasing products or services to a wide audience. However, the real success lies not only in participating in these events but also in the post-event follow-up. A well-executed follow-up strategy can help solidify the connections made during the exhibition and convert them into meaningful business relationships. In this article, we will explore some essential tips for post-event follow-up after exhibition activities.
1、Say Thanks Within 24 hours
Sending thank you emails to attendees, vendors, speakers, and sponsors is the perfect way to show them how much you appreciate their attendance and support. A simple thank you is a great way to build trust between you and your attendee base. The personal touch is also an opportunity to build a long-term relationship with them. Most attendees aren’t expecting a thank you note in their email or mailbox. If you are looking to receive a few brownie points, it’s highly recommended that you send a thank you note immediately after the event. The standard time frame to send a thank you note is within 24 to 48 hours post-event.
2、 Organize and Prioritize Contacts
During an exhibition, you come across numerous individuals, including potential clients, industry experts, suppliers, and collaborators. It is crucial to organize and categorize these contacts based on their importance and relevance to your business goals. Prioritize the follow-up process by focusing on contacts that have the most potential for collaboration or conversion.
3、Seek Attendee Feedback/Analyze performance
Ask participants for feedback on the date, location, speakers, session topics, vendors, and the overall ambiance of the event. Ask for honest and constructive feedback about the content shared during the conference or trade show. Post-event surveys shouldn’t be too long; they should be direct and get straight to the point.
If you have the feedback from your survey results, it’s important to analyze the data after the event. Data can help you quantify the event’s impact and effectiveness but also help you make any performance changes for future events. Make sure to measure each survey response against your overarching goals and objectives. This will help you when calculating the ROI and presenting the results to your company. You can also set a benchmark for future events with the new data you now have.
4、Social Media Engagement
Leverage the power of social media platforms to extend your reach and maintain connections after the exhibition.
Think through your post-event social media plan, “Social media strategy often includes pre and during the event, but we often like to make sure to keep posting with things such as event recaps and photos”, Tag partners, sponsors, etc. to spread further awareness about the event, and ask partners to share the posts on their social media as well!”
5、Continue the conversation
The conversation doesn’t have to stop once the event is over. The key to planning any great event is to keep your brand at the top of the attendee’s minds. You want them to remember how great their experience was and tell their colleagues to attend next time. To keep attendees engaged all year round, continue to deliver great content throughout the year. Host exclusive virtual events, keep updating your event app, offer exclusive discounts to other events, and repurpose event content. When people keep talking about your event once it’s over, that’s a sure sign of success.
