7 Powerful Virtual Alternatives to Generating Leads at Trade Shows

Before 2020, trade shows and in-person industry events were a mainstay in most B2B sales and marketing strategies. According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, B2B companies allocated nearly 40% of their marketing budgets to exhibiting at live events. On average, 75% of marketing leads came from these in-person interactions.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought traditional trade shows to a screeching halt. In March 2020 alone, over 630 trade shows were canceled in the U.S., resulting in an estimated $13 billion loss for organizers and exhibitors. Even as live events slowly return, many expect virtual components to remain a fixture moving forward.

The shift to digital lead generation was already underway before the pandemic struck. Online channels like content marketing, email campaigns, social media, and digital advertising were steadily catching up to traditional tactics. COVID simply accelerated the transition out of necessity.

The good news is that the digital realm offers myriad ways to connect with potential customers, showcase your brand, and fill your sales pipeline. By leveraging a strategic mix of virtual touchpoints, you can attract high-quality leads whether trade shows are happening or not.

Here are seven powerful alternatives to trade shows for finding your next customer online:

1. Host Engaging Webinars and Interactive Workshops

Webinars have emerged as the go-to virtual event for engaging B2B audiences. 89% of marketers say webinars outperform other content formats for lead generation. An effective webinar allows you to provide valuable content that showcases your expertise while driving real-time interaction with attendees.

Keys to hosting a lead-generating webinar:

• Promote it across channels (email, social media, ads, partners) to maximize registrations
• Require an email address to register so you can follow up with leads afterwards
• Choose a focused topic that aligns with your audience‘s needs and your offerings
• Craft a compelling presentation with engaging visuals and interactive elements
• Include clear calls-to-action for attendees to take the next steps with you
• Have sales reps join the webinar to engage in the chat and answer questions live

For example, Unbounce, a landing page platform, hosts a weekly webinar series called "Unbounce Convertables" focused on website conversion. By consistently providing valuable content and CTAs to start a free trial, they‘ve driven thousands of new leads and users.

2. Participate Actively in Virtual Conferences

Just like trade shows, industry conferences are going digital. Rather than just setting up a virtual booth, get actively involved by speaking, sponsoring, and networking. This builds your credibility and connects you directly with interested leads.

To make the most of a virtual conference sponsorship:

• Negotiate benefits like speaking slots, attendee lists, branding, and digital ads
• Promote the event and your involvement to your audience to drive registrations
• Provide truly valuable content in your sessions vs. just doing a product pitch
• Engage in live Q&A and virtual networking to make personal connections
• Offer an exclusive resource or promo code for attendees to entice lead capture
• Follow up quickly with new leads post-event to book meetings and demos

SaaStr Annual, the largest non-vendor B2B software conference, drew over 50,000 attendees to its 2020 virtual event. Sponsors ranging from startups to tech giants leveraged the online format to share content and meet with attendees. Slack used the event to launch new products and connect with customers.

3. Develop Targeted Email Nurture Campaigns

Email marketing delivers an impressive $36 ROI for every dollar spent. But generic email blasts don‘t cut it for lead generation. The key is segmenting your campaigns to deliver relevant content that nurtures each lead based on their attributes and behaviors.

Best practices for email nurture campaigns:

• Segment leads by persona, industry, buyer stage and/or behaviors for personalization
• Use an email sequence with 4-7 touches that guides leads down the path to purchase
• Provide a mix of educational content and product-focused CTAs in the sequence
• A/B test subject lines, content, CTAs, and timing to optimize engagement rates
• Set up automated triggers to enter leads into sequences based on actions they take
• Integrate your email platform and CRM to track lead activity and readiness

HubSpot has seen great success with this approach for its sales CRM product. They segment leads based on persona and use automated sequences to provide tailored content and trial sign-up CTAs. Leads who sign up for the free CRM then enter a sequence focused on upgrading to the paid Sales Hub. Their email nurture paths result in 25% of marketing leads converting to sales.

4. Run LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms Ads

LinkedIn‘s Lead Gen Forms ad format allows you to collect lead data without sending users to a landing page. When someone clicks your ad, their LinkedIn profile data automatically populates a form that lets them opt-in to your offer or request to be contacted.

Tips for running effective LinkedIn Lead Gen ads:

• Define your target audience using LinkedIn‘s professional demographic filters
• Create a compelling offer like a content download, webinar, or free consultation
• Use concise ad copy and an eye-catching image to convince them to click
• Keep your lead form short (3-4 fields) to increase completion rates
• Set a budget of at least $100/day for campaigns to optimize delivery
• Sync lead data with your marketing automation or CRM platform for fast follow-up

PointDrive, a sales content solution, used LinkedIn Lead Gen ads to quickly scale their lead volume while maintaining quality. Their ads promoted an eBook and demo request, generating 500+ leads per month at a 20% conversion rate, far exceeding their goals.

5. Build a Best-Answer Content Hub on Your Website

Today‘s B2B buyers are doing more research online before ever talking to a salesperson. To earn their trust and interest, you need to provide ungated content that helps them solve problems, evaluate solutions, and make confident purchase decisions. By housing this content on your website, you‘ll attract organic leads searching for answers.

Keys to a lead-generating content hub:

• Do SEO research to identify common questions and topics your audience searches for
• Create best-answer content in various formats (blog posts, guides, videos, tools)
• Organize content by topic, persona, and buyer‘s journey stage to aid discovery
• Include relevant calls-to-action on each piece to capture interested leads
• Build links to key content pieces to boost search rankings and referral traffic
• Update and optimize content regularly to maintain relevance and rankings

Ahrefs, an SEO platform, is a master at this approach. Their website houses a massive library of in-depth guides, tutorials, and tools on every aspect of SEO. By ranking at the top of Google for thousands of search queries, they attract over 500K organic visits per month. Strategically placed CTAs on the site convert this traffic into product sign-ups and revenue.

6. Engage in Social Selling on LinkedIn

Social selling is all about leveraging your personal brand and network to find and nurture leads. Rather than spamming your connections with sales pitches, focus on providing relevant content and insights that build relationships over time.

Social selling best practices:

• Optimize your LinkedIn profile to showcase your expertise and brand
• Share valuable content consistently to stay top of mind with your network
• Monitor your feed for trigger events and opportunities to engage leads
• Join relevant LinkedIn Groups and participate in discussions to expand your reach
• Send personalized connection requests and messages to build rapport
• Use LinkedIn‘s Sales Navigator tool to get lead recommendations and insights

For example, Peter Gracey, co-founder of sales training company QuotaFactory, has become a master at using LinkedIn for lead generation. By posting daily videos and articles with sales tips, he‘s built an audience of 25K+ followers. He then uses Sales Navigator to identify prospects who have engaged with his content and reaches out to start conversations. His social selling approach results in 5-10 new leads per day.

7. Create a Customer Referral Program

Your happy customers can be your most effective lead generation assets. 84% of B2B decision makers start the buying process with a referral. By making it easy and rewarding for customers to refer you new business, you can turn them into an extension of your sales team.

Elements of a successful referral program:

• Make it dead simple for customers to submit referrals (i.e. an online form or email)
• Provide templates and scripts to help them make the introduction
• Offer meaningful rewards for referrals that close (discounts, credits, swag, etc.)
• Promote your program regularly to keep it top of mind with customers
• Thank customers personally for each referral they send and update them on the status
• Track referral source and revenue in your CRM to measure program ROI

Influitive, a customer advocacy platform, has seen major success with this approach. They make it a requirement for their customer success team to ask for referrals in every check-in meeting. Referrals are submitted through an online portal, and the rep can see their progress toward rewards. In one year, this program drove $3M in referral revenue, influencing over 30% of the company‘s pipeline.

Conclusion

Trade shows may no longer be the lead generation powerhouses they once were, but that doesn‘t mean your pipeline has to take a hit. By implementing a diversified online lead generation strategy, you can attract high-quality buyers no matter where they are.

The key is to think holistically and create digital touchpoints that complement each other. Create valuable content that ranks in search and attracts inbound leads. Drive registrations to webinars and virtual events that accelerate those leads through the funnel. Leverage email and social selling to build relationships and stay top of mind. And don‘t forget to activate your best marketing channel – your customers.

When you make this shift to a digital-first lead generation approach, you‘ll be able to weather any storm that comes your way (global pandemic included). Not only will your pipeline become more predictable and resilient, you‘ll gain the agility to adapt quickly as buyer preferences inevitably evolve. That‘s the true power of digital.

Traditional Trade Show Lead Gen	Virtual Lead Gen Alternatives
Reach limited to attendees	Reach a global audience
High costs for travel, exhibits, etc.	Lower cost, higher ROI
Lead quality dependent on event	Attract leads actively searching for solutions
Challenging to measure attribution	Tracking and analytics to prove impact
One-and-done interactions	Ongoing digital nurture paths

Ready to future-proof your lead generation engine? Start by auditing your current efforts and identifying opportunities to incorporate these seven virtual alternatives. Your sales pipeline (and bottom line) will thank you.