If your company used to meet new customers and find new business leads at trade shows, the last year will have forced you to look for new channels to start building those B2B relationships.
Switching or increasing your online advertising and Ad Word campaigns is one option. This could work if your search terms aren't too wide. You want your efforts to be targeted enough to get quality leads that will convert to real sales.
Pay per click is great for tracking the number of people it drives to your website - but are they the right type of people?
Generating leads through direct marketing
An alternative option is to use the direct approach - relationship building through quality telemarketing.
Carried out by an experienced agency, this can yield fast results by:
- retargeting last year's trade show list and lapsed customers
- contacting new prospects
Why it works
At trade shows, you showcase your product to those you know are 'hot prospects' rather than hoping they find you. Quality telemarketing can replace trade exhibition sales because it matches your product to your target market in the same way.
It can also go one step further by showcasing your company to the 'hot prospects lists' you WANT to sell to.
Cost-per-lead vs. trade show leads
Is the cost-per-lead less or more expensive than at shows?
You will know that tradeshows are expensive due to the staffing, accommodation and stand build costs, not to mention the time cost. In our experience, the average cost of a quality lead through telemarketing can be over 40% less than a lead from a show.
The best telemarketing agencies should:
- guarantee the number of leads they deliver - meaning that, if they don't deliver, you don't pay
- care about whether the leads you bought actual converted, so will do follow-up calls and have loyal customer bases
Ask these questions of any new agency you are thinking of hiring. With the right agency, you can reduce any risk, and increase the chance of a high return on investment and growth in new customers.
Does telemarketing work?
The right call at the right time is very welcome, even more so when people are working from home. They want new suppliers and new options and they don't want to spend yet more time searching.
Our experience during the pandemic suggests that telemarketing is a great alternative to B2B trade shows and exhibitions. We would always advise that when looking for a telemarketing agency always read all the testimonials and reviews and even call an existing client to get a recommendation.
If you are thinking about an alternative way to spend your event budget and avoid a gap in your new business and would like to discuss how quality telemarketing could help, call us today for a chat.