How to Track the Online ROI of Your Trade Show Marketing Efforts

Posted by Bill Barrett in Tips, Trends

Trade shows can be a significant part of your revenue stream. Companies spend thousands of dollars on exhibit design, materials, and promotional items with the hope that they gain enough new business to make their efforts worthwhile. Many businesses struggle with tracking lead progression and reporting a solid return on investment. Emily Long of BaslerCo Inc. shares helpful strategies in her article, “Tracking the Online ROI of Your Offline Trade Show Efforts.”

Promo Codes, or special discount codes, are a great way to incentivize potential customers to visit your website. Each time the code is used to complete a specific call to action, you receive valuable data that can help you measure the impact of your offline promotions. You can analyze which trade shows produce the most engagement for your business by creating unique codes for each event you attend. Compare the data to see which events were beneficial and which events may not be a good fit. Be sure to capture the lead’s contact info during the process when they redeem the code in order to follow up with them later. Finally, make sure the entire redemption process is as user-friendly as possible. Overly complicated forms or questionnaires can easily deter participants.

Vanity URLs. A vanity URL is a unique branded web address that is created for marketing purposes. Rather than acting as a separate website, the custom address redirects visitors to any specific landing page. You can create custom URLs and track how much traffic is generated from each trade show you attend. The number of website visitors and how they interact with your site can be monitored through Google Analytics. Keep in mind that the URL itself needs to be easy to remember and closely associated with your company’s message.

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