Give show visitors a page of their own at a short address printed on everything at the booth, with the show offer, photos of the booth and one simple way to book the visit you promised.

A bag of brochures on the kitchen table

A spring home show sends people home with a bag of brochures, fridge magnets and business cards from a dozen contractors they spoke to for two minutes each.

A week later, at the kitchen table, they pick out three or four and look them up. They type the web address from the brochure, or search the company name if they remember it.

What they find is the ordinary home page. No mention of the show, the offer at the booth, or the free visit they were promised.

So they start again from scratch, and the brochure that caught their eye on Saturday is one of a dozen again.

What the visitor is looking for

The first goes missing more often than any other. The offer lives on a banner at the booth and a sticker on the brochure, and the website has never heard of it.

Why the thread breaks

Memory of a show fades quickly. People remember a booth, a colour, a sample they touched or a friendly face far better than a company name.

When the website looks nothing like the booth, they are not sure they have the right company. When the offer is missing, they assume it ended with the show.

Few will phone to ask. Calling a contractor to check whether a show offer still applies feels like haggling, and the next brochure in the bag is easier.

A page made for show visitors

The fix is one page for the people who met you at the show, at a short address you can print, such as your domain followed by /show.

It should open with a headline that names the show, then the offer in the same words as the booth, with its end date and any conditions.

Under that go photographs of the booth and the samples people saw, the names of the people who staffed it, and one way to book the visit you promised.

Link it from the home page too, with a short line, for the weeks after the show. Some visitors will search your name rather than type the address.

Match the booth to the site

The booth and the website should look like one company: the same logo, the same colours, the same photographs and the same headline.

That is easy to arrange before the show and hard afterwards. Plan the banner and the page together, and put the booth's best photographs on the page the evening the show opens.

A visitor who recognises the display on screen knows instantly that this is the right company, which is most of what the page is for.

A worked example

A cabinet refacing company with two installers and a small showroom in an industrial unit takes a booth at two spring home shows. The booth shows doors in eight finishes and a half-kitchen refaced in its most popular colour.

At the booth, staff offered a free in-home design visit and a hardware upgrade for orders placed within six weeks. The website had a gallery, a page about refacing and a contact form, and said nothing about either.

Some visitors phoned to ask whether the offer was real. Others filled in the general form and wrote home show in the message, with no way to say which offer or which day they had visited.

For the next show it printed a short address on the brochure sticker and the booth banner. The page showed the half-kitchen display, the eight finishes, the staff names, and the offer with its end date.

The form asked for a preferred day for the design visit, and every booth enquiry got a call within two days. The page stayed up until the offer ended, then changed to say so and show what was current.

The offer has to be real, and dated

A show offer is advertising, and the Competition Act applies to it like any other. In outline, and not as legal advice, the page should repeat what was offered at the booth and state the end date.

If the offer compares a show price with a regular price, that regular price has to be one you genuinely charge. And honour the offer for everyone who meets its terms, whether or not they mention the show.

Names collected at the booth

Many booths run a draw, collecting names and email addresses on ballots. Under CASL, a ballot alone is not permission to send promotional email.

A visitor who asks you for a quote has made an enquiry, which gives implied consent for six months.

For everyone else, add a separate box to tick, worded to say who is asking, what you will send, and how to stop the emails later.

Follow up while they remember

The page catches the people who look you up. Booth enquiries need a call as well, within two days, while people still remember the conversation.

Use the page in that follow-up too. An email after the call with the booth photograph, the offer and the booking link reminds them who you are.

And count the results. Because the page has its own address, Analytics shows how many people reached it, and a goal on its booking form shows how many booked.

The counter-case

A contractor already booked months ahead may treat a show as a way of being seen and need less from the website. A page still helps the visitors who look later, but it can be simpler.

And a show with few serious buyers may not justify a special offer at all. Then the page can be a short welcome with the booth photographs and the booking form.

Either way, people who met you at the show should find the show on your website.

Before the show opens

  1. Choose a short address for the show page.
  2. Print it on every brochure and banner.
  3. Write the offer with its end date and conditions.
  4. Add booth photographs on the first evening.
  5. Name the staff who will be at the booth.
  6. Offer one way to book the promised visit.
  7. Call every booth enquiry within two days.

Step four is the one that ties the page to the memory. A photograph of the display a visitor stood in front of tells them, at a glance, that this is the company they meant.

Other ways to reassure a visitor who has only just met your business are covered in a P.O. box where the address should be.

Frequently asked questions

Why do show visitors lose track of contractors?

They collect a dozen brochures and look a few up days later. If the website ignores the show and the offer, they cannot tell whether they have the right company.

What should a home show page include?

A headline naming the show, the offer in the booth's words with its end date, booth photographs, the names of the staff and one way to book.

Why print a short web address?

Visitors type what is printed on the brochure. A short address that leads straight to the show page saves them from starting again on your home page.

Does a booth draw give email consent?

Not by itself under CASL. A visitor who asks for a quote has made an enquiry, but promotional email to everyone else needs a clearly worded consent box.

How soon should booth enquiries be called?

Within two days, while people still remember the conversation. Follow the call with an email carrying the booth photograph, the offer and the booking link.

What happens to the page after the offer?

Keep it up until the offer ends, then change it to say so and show what is current, rather than removing it while people still have brochures.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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