The document discusses strategies for marketing and measuring engagement at trade shows. It suggests using geofencing ads, QR codes, SMS messages, and beacons to get people to the show, your booth, and capture their information. QR codes can link to forms, websites, or share contact info. Beacons placed around your booth can track traffic patterns. Attendance can also be measured using Bluetooth and WiFi monitoring hardware without collecting personal data. The goal is to leverage technology to safely connect with attendees and gather analytics on what drives engagement.

1. Mike Richwalsky
Principal
Gas Mark 8

2. HUG Agenda
12:00 PM ET
12:10 PM ET
1:00 PM ET
Introductions
Presentation begins
Q&A

3. About Your Host…
Kiwi Creative
We are a HubSpot Platinum
Solutions Partner for growing
B2B tech companies.
kiwicreative.net
Jen Lombardi
Head Honcho, Creative Genius

4. About The Speaker
● Started the agency in 2012
● We work with clients across many areas
including technology, manufacturing and
education
● I’m in Cleveland, Ohio
● I’m excited to go with my boys to see
Spiderman this week :)
Mike Richwalsky | Founder | Gas Mark 8

5. The world is slowly opening back up
● Some events are coming back in 2022
● I went to my first concert last week in
2 years
● Omicron (and future variants)
○ Worst Transformer ever
● There are some serious global issues
still that need worked out

6. Our Trade Show Marketing Challenges
● Get people to the show
● Get people to our your booth
● Get people to give you their info
● Measure everything

7. 7

8. Let’s Get Them To The Show!

9. Get Them To The Show
9
● There’s opportunities to be creative with “we’re back”messaging
● Leverage your email lists
● Obviously social too
● Print is not dead

10. Print Is Not Dead
10
● In our oversaturated culture, print can reach
through the clutter and noise
● Postcards, folded self-mailers, lots of
opportunity here
● Tear off contest entry/swag item/special
offer

11. It’s a Remote World
11
The big downside of this is that
a good amount of people are
remote now.

12. Get Them To Your Booth!

13. Get People To Your Booth
13
● We need to tell people you are at the show, and where you are at the show
● Some people are still going to miss their emails, postcards, etc.
● Let’s leverage technology!
As a side note, I think advertising in show programs/listing publications is a waste of money.

14. Geofencing
14
● Geofencing is putting a perimeter
around an area
● Reach a wider audience at the event
● This is a chance for you to do brand
awareness
● Let’s leverage technology!

15. Geofence Marketing
15
● Setup a campaign on the platform of your choice
○ Google, Facebook, Instagram
● Designate the geographic area
○ Convention center, associated hotels, other associated event locations
● Run your creative during the times of the show only to people AT the show
● You don’t have to have a connection with this person. Anyone in the fence gets targeted
● Can retarget users who do click on an ad

16. Examples
16

17. Examples
17

18. Geofence Marketing Costs
18
● Trade shows are super expensive already!
○ Setup, construction, fees,
contractors, trucking, loading,
tear-down, etc.
● These campaigns are the same as regular
CPC campaigns
○ Costs are very low compared to other
outreach options
● Can be better than program ads or other
show publications that are tossed
immediately

19. Get Their Info!

20. What Are We Supposed To Do Now?
20

21. We Can Be Smarter Than This
21

22. Enter the QR Code
22

23. Yes, a QR Code
23
● Usable with any phone
○ iOS added native support in the
camera app, no special app needed
● Pandemic has increased awareness of codes
and people have used them
○ Restaurant menus, etc.
● Can be a nice touch-free way to collect
leads and information but also share
information about your products

24. Yes, a QR Code
24
● Usable with any phone
○ iOS added native support in the
camera app, no special app needed
● Pandemic has increased awareness of codes
and people have used them
○ Restaurant menus, etc.
● Can be a nice touch-free way to collect
leads and information but also share
information about your products

25. How It Was…
25
● I worked at a (great) company that did a ton
of trade shows, and brought several pieces
of large testing equipment they sold
● Each machine had a brochure rack with
company and product literature
● No real great way to measure the
effectiveness of those print pieces, or if they
were even looked at
Shoutout to my friend Dr. Andy Francis @ Q-Lab

26. How I’d Do It Now
26
● A stand-up display next to every product
with information and QR code that could be
scanned
● Taken to an information collection form or
product landing page specific for that show
● Track clicks, UTMs, etc.

27. QR Code Best Practices
27
● Keep it simple!
○ The more complicated and long your
URL string is, the more chances for
scanning errors
○ Shorten the URLs for max flexibility
https://gasmark8.com?utm_source=QR&u
tm_medium=QR+Code&utm_campaign=Fall+
2021+Brand+Recognition+Campaign
https://hewt.in/l3

28. QR Code Best Practices
28
● Size Matters!
○ Print vs. large signage displays
○ Remember people’s distance from
the code
● Great post on sizing of codes:
○ QR Code Distance: What Size
Should a QR Code Be in Relation
to Scan Distance?

29. QR Codes Can Be More Than URLs

30. Get Your Phones Ready!
30

31. More Than Just a Web Link
31

32. More interesting uses for QR Codes
32
vCards
That’s mine, scan it!

33. More interesting uses for QR Codes
33
Events
Scan it!

34. SMS: The Killer App
34

35. Let’s Try This Out
35

36. Let’s Try This Out
36
Your phone number is safe and won’t be shared. I’ll
delete it right after this presentation.

37. SMS: The Killer App
37
● Meet them where they are
○ SMS messages have a very high open and action
rate compared to email, CPC, etc.
● Easy to customize message and responses
● Push to a URL, lead capture form, drip, etc.
● All trackable by your SMS platform, CRM, etc.
○ Need one? We have a super cheap one.

38. Measure All The Things!

39. Track All The Things!
39
● Effectiveness of our pre-show outreach
● Geofencing Ads During the Show
● QR Code clicks
● QR Code activities:
○ Landing Page
○ Add vCard
○ RSVP to Event
○ Visit Landing Page
● How many people visited your booth?

40. What do all these places have in common?
40
● Macy’s
● Apple Store
● Museums
● Major league baseball stadiums
● And many more locations you probably don’t know
about

41. They All Use Beacons
41
● Low power, inexpensive small Bluetooth devices
○ Runs on small, long-life batteries
● Can be used to push information in a small
geographic range
● Think a reverse AirTag

42. Beacons
42
● Over 90% of smartphones are equipped with
Bluetooth, a worldwide standard
● Batteries can last 3-5 years
● Estimote, Kontact.io
●

43. How Can We Leverage Beacons?
43
● Do you have an app?
● Place them around your booth
○ Triangulate!
● Beacon sends out data to get people to open
your app, to gather data or provide
specials/coupons/entries, etc.
● But I don’t have an app, Mike!

44. Here’s Where It Gets Murky
44
● You don’t have an app, but LOTS of other apps
have tracking in them
● Beacon sends out data to get people to open
your app, to gather data or provide
specials/coupons/entries, etc.
● But I don’t have an app, Mike!

45. There’s Hardware For That
45
● There are monitoring systems that will collect
Bluetooth and Wifi signals in an area to get
anonymous data
● This is Pointr’s POP hardware
● You can track signals and interpolate to
determine traffic.
○ Keep in mind
○ Bluetooth: 1m
○ Wifi: 10m

46. There’s Hardware For That
46
“Attendance at concerts, public events, fairs and
trade show can be measured using the Meshlium
Scanner. With multiple devices positioned throughout
the venue, an organiser can count the number of
people but also develop a picture of movement
around the site, visit duration and repeat visits. The
scanners can be used in exhibition centres, outdoor
venues or events distributed over a wide area. Using
GPS alongside the scanner means organisers can
develop a sense of movement throughout the entire
event footprint.”
- Libelium’s Meshlium Scanner

47. There’s Hardware For That
47
This is the Portal Beam all-in-one unit.
Tracks:
● Bluetooth
● Temperature
● Air Quality
● People
Uses ML and AI to track people with no facial
scanning or other identifiable data

48. There’s Hardware For That
48

49. Recap
49
● There’s still a lot of uncertainty out there
● We can leverage tech to connect easier and
safely
● We can measure that data

50. Tell us what you’re doing!
surveymonkey.com/r/hug-tradeshows

51. Questions?
P.S. Save the date for our next HUG