How To Market Your Trade Show Effectively
Advertising your trade show to the right people, in the right place.
Across industries, trade shows remain one of the most powerful ways to build relationships, showcase products and services, and meet new customers face-to-face. But the success of any trade show ultimately comes down to one thing: attendance. More foot traffic means more opportunities for exhibitors, visitors, and your event as a whole.
If you want to boost visibility, drive registrations and get people to attend trade show, here are the most effective ways to market your trade show:
1. Get Featured in Trade Publications
To reach the right audience, you need to show up where they already get their industry news. Start by researching key trade publications in your sector. Google is a good starting point for advertising trade shows, but your network and past attendees can also point you to niche outlets worth targeting.
Consider engaging a PR agency to pitch your event to journalists and editors. Securing online coverage not only gets your trade show in front of the right people, but also helps your SEO. especially if the article includes a backlink to your website. Ideally, when someone searches for trade shows in your field, yours should be the first result they see.
2. Build an Active Social Media Presence
Your social channels should give potential attendees a clear sense of the energy and value of your event to advertise your trade show. Share visuals, previous trade shows, exhibitor highlights, speaker announcements, floor plans, behind-the-scenes content to showcase what makes your event worth attending.
Prioritise LinkedIn for B2B visibility, and use Instagram to provide quick, eye-catching snapshots.
During the event, you can also encourage visitors and exhibitors to tag your official handles to advertise the trade show. This user-generated content can be repurposed for future marketing. Collecting reviews and testimonials will also help strengthen next year's promotional campaigns.
3. Clearly Communicate the Value of Attending Your Trade Show
Why should someone attend your trade show? Make the benefits clear.
To advertise your trade show, share metrics from previous years: attendance numbers, percentage of decision-makers, average order values, exhibitor ROI, or standout testimonials. These should be prominently featured across your website, social media, brochures, and email marketing. People are more likely to attend when they can clearly see what they’ll gain from being there.
4. Personally Reach Out to Key Buyers and Sellers
Even if your event is free to attend, you may need to do some targeted outreach to secure must-have attendees. For example, major buyers, distributors, innovators, or industry leaders whose presence raises the value of your trade show.
Reach out directly via email or LinkedIn, and follow up consistently. Getting the right names in the room often drives registration from more attendees to advertise your trade show.
5. Book Speakers With Strong Followings
One of the easiest ways to expand your reach is by inviting well-known industry figures to speak. These “industry celebrities” attract their own audiences, giving your trade show added credibility and visibility. When speakers promote their involvement on social media, your event gets more eyes on it and becomes more desirable.
So whether it’s a tech trade show, construction trade show, retail trade show, or food and beverage trade show, it is important to offer value to your target attendees to ensure you properly advertise your trade show.
