BACK TO BASICS22 www.exhibitionnews.co.ukCONSTANT COMMUNICATIONWhen a show ends, organisers strive to keep visitors interested all year round to produce a repeat visit. Domenic Donatantonio looks at the methods used to keep visitors hookedhe crowds have cleared, the stands have been packed away - another successful show under the belt. Your exhibitors have said your visitors loved the show, as demonstrated by the bagfuls of items bought and promotional material taken away.So a job well done? Well, yes and no. Because now the hard work starts to get people to come back next year.Not so long ago, a note in the post six weeks before the next show would suffi ce as a reminder. However, organisers are now employing far more sophisticated tactics to get repeat visits to shows. Centaur marketing director Nolan O'Connor said the fi rm uses a number of methods to contact its visitors after a show has closed. "The regularity and depth will depend on the show and its affi liated brand," he said. "On the whole, every show will run a 'post event' survey with questions that specifi cally relate to a visitor's experience at a show, or interaction with the show brand. This targets attendees, non-attendees and even potential visitors that have opened one of our emails but not registered."O'Connor explained that for shows where exhibitors use badge scanning machines, visitors will be sent a list of exhibitors they interacted with and were scanned by. "This enables the visitor to contact exhibitors with ease and not sift through carrier bags of information they may have collected and dumped under a desk," he said.REPORT AND ANALYSISCentaur also produces industry reports to complement its shows. For example, its annual National Home Improvement Survey is . Contact your visitors after the show.. Update the show website after the show and include exclusive video content.. Send out a survey to your visitors.. Provide industry-related statistics. . Keep a steady but unobtrusive flow of related content throughout the year to keep visitors primed for the next show.KEY TIPSaffi liated with the National Home Improvement Show.A number of shows will also provide exclusive access to online streaming of seminar content recorded live. "This allows visitors to access seminars that they attended, or indeed seminars they didn't manage to attend during their visit," said O'Connor. "Employee Benefi ts Live is a great example of this."All of Centaur's business travel show visitors are invited to join the Business Travel Club, which meets every other month in London to network and debate industry issues. This allows the fi rm to keep the brand of the Business Travel Show alive during the year when the show is not being promoted.According to Media 10 MD Lee Newton, the nature of exhibitions Tmeans there are peaks and troughs for maintaining interest 365 days a year."We research our visitors both onsite and after the event via the Internet in order to build a robust enough sample and get feedback that is accurate and enables us to take necessary steps," said Newton. "Any quantitative study should be to a statistically accurate number of people, therefore we aim for 1,000 responses. These are visitors chosen at random - it is the best way to get the most representative sample."Media 10 normally sends out a communication thanking visitors for attending. This is done simultaneously with a show website update including video, galleries and new content from the exhibition. CONTINUING EDUCATIONCloserStill Media group marketing manager Lucy Pitt said it takes note of continuing professional development (CPD) needs and tailors show content accordingly."As CPD is central to many of our events' propositions we offer show presentations synched to audio online," she said. "Not only does this give attendees additional CPD hours, it allows us to extend the show's shelf life." Newton said Media 10 tries to keep in touch with all visitors as regularly as possible but without encroaching into spam mail territory."We are fortunate we have brands with events that take place several times a year and - in the case of Grand Designs Live - in other territories too," he said. "This means the brand gains more resonance with visitors throughout the year." With focused marketing, you can make the memory of a good show last well after visitors have gone home.