Sure, promotional swag, bespoke signage and proper A/V equipment are important tools to bring with you to your next trade show. But the most crucial tool exhibitors have at their disposal is face time. It’s undeniable: connecting in-person with event attendees (and potential clients!) is great for business.

So how can event organizers help exhibitors harness the power of face-to-face connection to boost engagement with their product, service or company? The connection doesn’t end when a prospect walks away from the booth. The key: using exciting (and convenient!) engagement tactics to capture leads.

In this post, we’ll discuss how you can use badge scanning and gamification to boost exhibitor engagement at your next trade show.

Why Does Exhibitor Engagement Matter?

If you’re an exhibitor, engagement is business. Trade shows may not be your first thought as a way to collect hard data, but exhibiting can be extremely valuable. Face time with prospective clients gives you the chance to get feedback on new products, services or even your booth itself; provide customer service for guests with questions; and identify emerging industry trends. 

And now more than ever, exhibitors can use in-person events to collect data and report on KPIs. Lead generation, for example, can be tracked via event-provided badge scanners alongside more qualitative KPIs like value of leads. When you use an event management platform like PheedLoop, collecting data for exhibitor use is simple.

If you’re an event organizer, creating opportunities for exhibitors to more effectively connect with attendees gives your event value. Offering innovative (and effective!) engagement tactics like gamification activations make your event a must-attend for exhibitors. We all want to put on events that are worth the while, so prioritizing exhibitor engagement will ensure repeat attendance and satisfied partners.

Badge Scanning

How Does Badge Scanning Work?

Badge scanners are a tried and true trade show tool. Event attendees receive name badges with scannable codes, ID numbers or near-field communication chips, and exhibitors use event-provided badge scanners to retrieve attendee information (generally name, contact info and job title). It’s a quick, reliable way to compile useful attendee information for future engagement.

Many event management platforms have streamlined their badge scanning process. Gone are the days of clunky old-school scanners: exhibitors can now scan badges with their phones and pull directly from event organizers’ attendee databases. With PheedLoop, for example, any mobile device becomes a badge scanner for max efficiency. 

How Does Badge Scanning Boost Exhibitor Engagement?

Badge scanners are unique in that they allow exhibitors to engage event attendees in-person and after the fact; offering this data collection opportunity at your event is a major draw for potential exhibitors. 

Badge scanning provides a natural way in to conversations with guests. Quick and easy scanning allows exhibitors the peace of mind that they’re attracting leads without having to worry about the logistics – writing down information or entering details into their own databases costs time! Again, face-to-face interaction is an incredible business tool, so engagement tools accessible at one’s fingertips keep everyone in the moment. 

After the event, exhibitors receive information about each attendee badge scanned to continue the sales cycle. This boosts exhibitor engagement by eliminating barriers in the sales pipeline – exhibitors can jump right to engaging leads rather than searching for ways in. Plus, with newer, more sophisticated badge scanning tech, exhibitors can filter leads captured at an event by various demographics, for extra-targeted follow-up.

Gamification

How Does Gamification Work?

Gamification takes game elements like point-scoring, leaderboards, team competition and rewards and applies them to events as a way to engage attendees. Gamification can take many different forms from exhibitor booth to exhibitor booth. No matter what method an exhibitor uses, gamification encourages attendee interaction and engagement.

Gamification can be as simple as spinning a prize wheel at a booth, or as involved as a full VR set-up. Social media photo contests, video games with attendee leaderboards, personalized prizes – the possibilities for engagement via gamification are nearly endless.

As an event organizer, providing opportunities for your exhibitors to engage guests with games adds value to your event. Maybe you create an event-wide scavenger hunt that involves tasks pertaining to specific exhibitor booths; maybe you run a competition on your event’s mobile app with points for following exhibitors’ social media accounts. Creating avenues for all exhibitors to get in on the games is a win-win.

We here at PheedLoop love gamifying events as a way to interact with guests in new and exciting ways. Visit the PheedLoop blog for more gamification ideas!

How Does Gamification Boost Exhibitor Engagement?

Gamification is built for engagement. Consider the alternative: attendees have likely visited hundreds of exhibitor booths with the same handouts, swag and salespeople. Gamification elements, no matter how small, promote active participation instead of passive consumption.

Gamification oftentimes feels more intuitive for engaging guests and generating leads. Let your hard sell take a backseat! Gamification draws attendees to buzzy booths, promotes engagement with exhibitors’ product, service or team, and makes guests more likely to provide contact information. Sometimes fun is the most effective sales tool.

Gamification and badge scanning work perfectly together. When an exhibitor forms an organic connection with a potential customer through a game activation at their booth, the natural next step is scanning for their contact info for follow-up and future engagement. 

Conclusion

With both gamification and badge scanning, your event can be the perfect environment for exhibitors to engage attendees and capture leads while prioritizing face-to-face connection. Check out how PheedLoop makes gamifying your trade show and the badge scanning process simple and streamlined.