.webp)
Capturing quality leads is a common goal for event organizers and exhibitors. You want to deliver a great event experience and be able to get contact information so you can follow up with relevant leads afterward.
What are the best ways to capture leads at events? We’ve created this guide to help you as you’re planning your organization’s presence at your next event or if you’re looking for ways to help your exhibitors capture leads more effectively. Stick around for all the details.
Why Does Event Lead Capture Matter for Association Events?
Lead capture matters for association events because it contributes to your organization’s overall success.
Capturing leads effectively is a great way to generate return on investment (ROI) from your event. Those valuable leads can turn into new association members, continuing education course sales, donations, or several other measurable outcomes that help show what you’re doing at events is working.
Association leaders will like seeing the number of leads captured rising, it will lead to positive business outcomes, and can help you land more sponsors and exhibitors at future events.
How Can You Streamline Lead Capture With Digital Tools?
Digital tools like event management software can help with lead capture in many ways. Our Eventscribe event management system at Cadmium offers a comprehensive lead capture system that can help organize everything throughout association events. Eventscribe’s lead capture system includes:
- A scannable registration and badging system that makes it easy for exhibitors to capture lead data at booths.
- An organized lead capture admin portal to help event organizers administer lead capture at events.
- An exhibitor lead capture portal to give your exhibitors a tool to organize valuable lead data and download reports.
- A mobile lead capture app that makes scanning and qualifying leads more accessible.
What Strategies Help You Capture Leads at Events Before They Begin?
Several strategies are available that can help exhibitors or event organizers start the lead capture process before events even begin. Some popular strategies you may want to add to your pre-event lead generation efforts are:
- Targeted digital advertising: Promote your presence at the upcoming event on social media, through blogs on your website, and using display ads. It’ll help you get more registered attendees ahead of time and traffic to the event.
- Start a pre-event email campaign: Send engaging and relevant emails about the upcoming event to your audience. It’s a great way to encourage attendance and more high-quality leads from people who are already familiar with your organization.
- Offer pre-booked meetings: You can offer an option to book a demo or one-on-one consultation with representatives from your organization at the event. It allows you to offer a personalized touch and get some contact details before the event starts.
- Have interactive pre-event activities: Hosting surveys, polls, quizzes, or community discussions before the event can help you collect some great lead information and get an idea of how to best engage your audience at the event.
- Plan your booth design early: Exhibitors at events should plan their booth design early so it’s eye-catching and clearly branded. Posting an image of your booth once you have it set up is a great idea, too, so those attending the event know what to look for if they want to meet with you.
- Add some lead magnets: Offering lead magnets like exclusive pre-event content, giveaways, contests, or access to exclusive networking opportunities can help you capture some leads early while keeping your audience engaged at the same time.
How Do You Engage Attendees To Generate High Quality Leads?
Once you reach the day of the event, it’s a good idea to have some engaging strategies prepared that will help you capture leads. Some great strategies include:
- Offer interactive activities: Interactive demos, educational sessions, or challenges that require registration are great ways to capture leads at events while providing a fun experience for attendees.
- Gamify engagement: Adding game-like elements to your engagement strategy is also a good idea, such as point systems, leaderboards, or scavenger hunts that require signing up to participate and earn rewards.
- Incentivize meetings: Offer incentives for signing up for a consultation, demo, or meeting with your team, such as exclusive discounts or early-bird access to a new product or service.
- Use real-time content: Live polls, audience responses, or Q&As at the event can help you capture lead data while keeping the experience interesting. Using an event app is a great way to host live content like this.
- Start discussions: During association event planning, think of interesting discussion questions you can ask attendees or ways you can get guests talking to each other. Once you’ve started the discussion, it’s often easier to explain how your organization helps with relevant problems in the industry and get contact details so you can follow up on your conversations.
- Have a call-to-action (CTA) prepared: When you’re talking to event attendees, it’s helpful to have a CTA ready to make asking for contact info easier. For example, asking if they want to sign up for a free demo or get notifications about new products or services you’re launching.
How Can Educational Sessions Support Your Lead Generation Efforts?
Educational sessions are a great option for lead capture at events because they’ll help you establish your expertise, attract relevant prospects, and allow you to offer something of value in exchange for contact information.
When event attendees learn something from you, they’re more likely to think positively of the experience and want to know more about what your organization offers.
What Follow-up Process Turns Potential Leads Into Opportunities?
When the event is over, it’s a good idea to have post-event follow-up strategies prepared. Some tips for an effective follow-up include:
- Reach out within 24-48 hours while the event experience is still fresh in attendees’ minds.
- Personalize when you can, such as referencing a specific conversation you had with someone at the event.
- Deliver on what you promised. If you offer to send a white paper, demo, research information, etc., make sure you follow through.
- Define the next steps your leads should take, such as signing up for a consultation or joining your email list.
- Continue to nurture relationships, keep offering value, and track the data as you go to see how well your efforts are working.
How Eventscribe From Cadmium Can Help
Eventscribe is an all-in-one event management system (EMS) built to help at each stage of association and non-profit event planning and management, including capturing leads at events. It offers a comprehensive lead capture system that makes collecting lead data easy, organizes information, and offers an accessible approach through a mobile app.
Additionally, Eventscribe can help with all your event planning and management needs, including:
- Registration
- Attendee engagement
- Logistics planning
- Setting up an engaging event app and website
- Exhibitor and sponsor management
- Speaker and presentation management
- Data and analytics
- And more
Learn more about how Eventscribe can help you achieve your goals at your next event.
