Situation:
In 2022, our B2B company heavily invested in trade shows as a core part of our sales strategy, exhibiting at 12 events throughout the year. However, the return on investment was underwhelming, with only about 10% of trade show leads converting into deals.
Task:
Our goal was to improve the effectiveness and ROI of trade show participation by increasing our lead-to-close rate while reducing costs and resource allocation.
Action:
We strategically cut the number of trade shows in half for 2023 and 2024, focusing only on the most relevant events. We made several key improvements:
- Launched new products that better matched the needs of our target market.
- Created a more engaging and informative video demo to play in our booth.
- Enhanced our hands-on product demos to better communicate value.
- Developed a streamlined booth logistics process for more consistent execution.
- Refined our criteria for selecting which trade shows to attend.
- Introduced a structured follow-up process, holding the sales team more accountable for post-show lead engagement.
Result:
These changes led to a dramatic improvement in outcomes. We closed 33% of trade show leads—tripling our previous conversion rate—and achieved a 3X increase in overall ROI from trade show investments.
