B2B events: Lessons from the other side of the fence...

In addition to being digital experts Sift Media also delivered two different, but equally successful ‘real-life’ events last week: The Pitch Grand Final, where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to experts; and AccountingWEB's Practice Excellence Awards, where firms are rewarded for great practice management and can benchmark performance against others.

Our events are developing quite a reputation for quality and level of importance within their industry, but we don't just run our own engaging events, sometimes we find ourselves on the opposite side of the fence... and it was as media partner at last week's Bstartups show at Earls Court that I came away with a reminder of what it's like to be an exhibitor and why some trade shows are ready for a shake-up…
 

Drop the (s)hell scheme
The shell scheme stand has long been the event organiser’s friend in that they help to create a simple floor plan and they offer a familiar and generic space to sell to exhibitors. However, in my opinion they’re pretty uninspiring both to exhibitors and delegates alike. As a visitor, row upon row of shell scheme stands can be quite bewildering. As an exhibitor it can be hard to stand out from the crowd and make it feel like a welcoming space (especially if you have a poor stand position).
Fortunately we try to avoid shell scheme stands at Sift Media events and instead focus on a floor plan that offers the best possible chance of delegate engagement with exhibitors.

Optimise lead generation
If you ask most exhibitors why they pay to be at an event it will be to generate leads. For some it may be about brand exposure, but even they will have staff looking to build new client relationships.
Business cards will certainly do the trick, and obviously it's possible to make a note of contact details, but if you're exhibiting at a large-scale trade show and want to avoid missing any leads, data scanners can be a life saver.
Some events I’ve attended in the last year still make delegates wear stickers instead of badges with bar codes. At the Bstartups event there was a great system from EventBuddy whereby you could use any smartphone device to scan the QR code on delegate badges and instantly view the data online via a specific URL (as well as collect on a csv file). Ok, it was way more expensive than it should have been, there were major teething troubles and they were woefully underprepared for the volume of delegates (with thousands of delegates allowed in without badges making them ‘unscanable’), but to my mind it was very much the way forward.
 
Encourage engaging and interactive stand/collateral
I'm always amazed how many exhibition stands not only fail to engage delegates but also fail to inform me what it is their organisation actually does. Getting your business proposition across in one sentence is key to making a quick impact from your stand and on any print collateral.
In the age of social media, QR codes and other cross-platform opportunities, visitor interactions can be tremendously engaging and effective. On the BusinessZone stand at last week's Bstartups event we gave out lollies branded with our logos and a QR code which took people directly to a dedicated landing page. It’s a simple example, but it created quite a buzz around the stand and also via Twitter.

WIFI and the cost of internet/electricity
My biggest bugbear by far! The vast majority of exhibitions and conferences should now offer WIFI for free as standard. Delegates expect it and so should exhibitors. The average cost for two days internet access as an exhibitor is currently over £300 (although I was recently quoted £1,000 for two day’s WIFI access!). I appreciate event organisers can be limited by the venue provider, but there's still little excuse for these charges. The same goes for the astronomical charges for electricity to an exhibition stand…

Getting seminar sessions right
All seminar sessions need to add value to the delegate rather than become a platform for sales pitches. Nothing turns a prospect off more than anticipating a genuinely useful session only to be trapped in your chair listening to a product pitch. It’s the organiser’s responsibility to vet and/or influence the content of presentations. A non-salesy thought leadership session is going to put an organisation in a better light, generate more interest and ultimately help develop a better relationship with the delegates.
 
Post event support
Finally, as an organiser it's important not to forget the exhibitors once the event is over. By supporting post-show activity the exhibitor can continue to get more value from the event and will be more likely to rebook. Some time ago we produced a guide to post event marketing – admittedly it’s now a couple of years old (with little info on social media for instance!) but the principles still apply and it’s proved a very popular download! View the guide here.

Find out more about Sift Media events here.