Standing out in the aisles of a trade show remains a challenge. Between increased competition and limited visitor attention, capturing interest and generating leads requires a well-thought-out trade fair competition strategy.
Trade fair competitions are emerging as a powerful tool for achieving these objectives. By combining interactivity and data collection, they optimise visibility and return on investment for trade fair participation. This article presents four ideas for effective competitions to attract visitors to your stand.
Why organise a trade faire competition to liven up your stand?
Organising a trade fair competition is essential for maximising the return on your investment and standing out in a competitive environment. Competitions are a versatile format that can address a range of marketing challenges. From making your stand more attractive to promoting your offers, they are a powerful tool for boosting the impact of your trade fair participation.
Capturing visitors’ interest at a trade fair
At a trade show, visitors’ attention is sought from all sides. A well-designed competition catches the eye and encourages people to stop. To celebrate its 10th anniversary at the Salon de l’Agriculture, Lidl offered a question wheel. This competition offered the chance to win vouchers, which generated a large crowd at the stand. By reinforcing Lidl’s branding, this competition created a dynamic point of contact between visitors and the brand.
Collect qualified leads
Competitions are an effective way of gathering information about visitors. In exchange for taking part, visitors provide data such as their name, email address and/or telephone number, requirements or budget (for B2B trade fairs). This strategy enables you to build up a qualified database for high-impact marketing campaigns.
Engage trade fair visitors
An interactive competition encourages visitor engagement. It transforms a simple visit into a positive and memorable experience. The activity encourages visitors to stay longer at the stand, which helps them remember the offer and creates a stronger connection with the brand.
Promote your products and services
Competitions are a great way to promote your offering in an interactive way. Caudalie, for example, used a Wheel of Fortune at its trade fair stands to promote a new range of products. This activity generated nearly 1,000 unique entries per trade fair, while highlighting the benefits of its natural skincare products.
4 ideas for competitions to run at a trade fair
By using simple but effective techniques, you can attract traffic, engage visitors and promote your offering. Here are four formats that are suitable for trade shows and can be customised according to your target audience and objectives.
1. The Wheel of Fortune to boost the appeal of your stand
The Wheel of Fortune is a simple, visual animation that attracts visitors’ attention. It offers a fun experience and an immediate reward, encouraging passers-by to stop and participate.
This mechanism is effective for generating traffic at the stand and creating a friendly atmosphere with visitors. To maximise its impact, it is advisable to offer a variety of attractive prizes and to position the wheel in a visible place to catch the eye of visitors. The use of a touchscreen application can also modernise the experience and facilitate the management of entries.
2. The Quiz to collect and utilise leads
Quizzes are an excellent qualification tool at trade shows. By asking targeted questions about visitors’ needs, habits, or preferences, they allow you to segment leads as soon as they are collected. This fun format makes it easy to gather useful data while enhancing the experience at your stand. The answers can guide the rest of the sales process by identifying profiles that are sensitive to a particular product.
3. Digital treasure hunt to entertain visitors at the trade show
The digital treasure hunt transforms a visit to the trade fair into an interactive adventure. By scattering clues or QR codes around the stand or throughout the trade fair, visitors are encouraged to explore and interact with different areas. This activity stimulates curiosity and engagement, while offering a memorable experience.
4. Memory cards to promote your offer at a trade show
The Memory game is a simple activity that tests participants’ memory while highlighting products or services. By associating product images or key messages, this game promotes memorisation of the offer. It is suitable for stands with limited space, as it can be installed on a tablet or touchscreen. To enhance the impact, it is advisable to customise the game with the brand’s colours and offer attractive rewards for the best scores.
4 tips for a successful trade fair competition
Simply setting up a trade fair competition is not enough. To ensure it has a real impact, a few best practices are essential.
Choose attractive benefits
An incentive prize is one of the best ways to attract participants. Star products, vouchers or exclusive gifts linked to the brand generate more interest than a simple goodie bag. The important thing is to offer a reward that meets the expectations of the target audience. A high-quality prize will enhance the brand’s image and therefore its branding.
Opt for an omnichannel promotion and engagement strategy
An effective trade fair competition is not limited to the stand itself. Upstream promotion via social media, newsletters or the website helps attract qualified visitors right from the start. During the event, live content and reminders on digital channels encourage participation. An omnichannel approach therefore ensures greater visibility while increasing the number of points of contact with prospects.
Plan ways to stay in touch after the trade show
The contest should be part of a broader relationship strategy. Including a personalised thank you message, a proposal for a meeting or sending a targeted offer will help prolong the exchange. Incorporating a clear call to action at the end of the contest will also increase the chances of converting the leads collected into concrete business opportunities.
Measure results to optimise future marketing campaigns
Analysing performance and collected data allows you to capitalise on a competition held during a trade show. Participation rates, profiles collected, engagement generated, volume of qualified leads: each indicator provides useful insights. This data allows you to refine your targeting (by segmenting prospects according to their needs), adapt your mechanisms and boost the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.
Organising a trade fair competition is a great way to attract visitors and encourage interaction. To maximise the impact of your competition, use engaging mechanics, targeted prizes and a consistent omnichannel strategy. With Socialshaker solutions, you have the tools you need to design and run successful competitions from your stand.
