Choosing a good full-service exhibit company sets the stage for your physical trade show presence. However, one thing you should plan to do while at the trade show is collect data. A trade show is a concentrated event that exposes you to peers in your industry, your target market, or both. This is one of your best opportunities to collect one of your business’s most valuable assets: data. With good data, you get a better picture of your market environment, customer or client interests, and perhaps best of all, contact information. Here are a few of the ways you should be thinking of collecting data while at a trade show.

Business Cards

One of the most tried-and-true ways to obtain contact data is still the ubiquitous business card. There’s a reason this format has persisted for generations: it gives you everything you need in one convenient, non-digital package. Business cards provide names, addresses, titles, and relevant contact details, such as email addresses, phone numbers, and social media accounts. If you’re trying to collect names and contact details, this is still an efficient way to do it.

Trade Show Database

One resource that is often easy to forget is the trade show itself. In some cases, trade shows will compile their own business data, particularly names and contact details, and build their own database. It’s not unusual for these databases to be made available to trade show attendees who have an interest in adding to their lists of names and contacts. Always make sure to explore this option if you’re interested in a fast way to start building your own trade show database.

Contest Forms

An efficient way to collect data, especially if you’re looking for more than just contact details, is to create the data you want and integrate it into a contest entry form. The form can be digital or print, but if you want to collect voluntary data from interested parties, one of the best ways is to run a giveaway contest at the trade show and place the data-collection fields you want on that form.
Surveys

A final way to collect data, particularly more specific types, is through a survey. Again, this can be in print form, or you may include it digitally, and even send it to people on request. Surveys offer the flexibility to collect more detailed, granular data, but they also require more effort from respondents.
If you want to work with an experienced full-service exhibit company for your next trade show, contact Lighthouse Exhibits.