Trade shows generate excitement, but the real challenge starts after the booth comes down. Without a clear follow-up plan, even the most promising leads can slip through the cracks.
To turn event momentum into long-term value, you’ll need smart digital marketing campaigns that meet attendees where they are. That means follow-ups that feel personal, timely, and connected across every channel.
With Bitly, you can turn QR Code scans and short link clicks into ongoing relationships, measurable results, and repeatable engagement strategies. From branded landing pages to campaign-level analytics, Bitly gives you the tools to keep the conversation going long after the event ends.
Note: The brands and examples discussed below were found during our online research for this article.
Why post-event engagement matters for trade show ROI
Trade show marketing is a powerful way to connect with your target audience, but real results happen after the event. Most buyers need several marketing touchpoints before they’re ready to take the next step.
To drive return on investment (ROI), you’ll need to pair your booth experience with post-event digital follow-ups that sustain interest and guide leads toward action.
Leads lose interest quickly without follow-up
Even the most promising trade show conversations won’t stick unless you follow up promptly. Most people need a timely reminder (and a reason) to stay engaged.
Aim to follow up within 24 to 48 hours, while the event is still fresh. Reaching out quickly keeps your brand top of mind and helps potential customers move forward while their interest is still high.
Customers expect a personalized digital experience
Today’s customers have high standards for the brands they engage with. They expect smooth, branded follow-ups that reflect their interests, and if they don’t get them, they may switch to a company with a more tailored approach.
In fact, 90% of customers expect more personalized communications from brands than they currently receive. That makes your post-event outreach a powerful chance to stand out and build long-term loyalty. Try segmenting leads by product interest, industry, or behavior to deliver follow-ups that feel more relevant and engaging.
Campaign-level visibility helps teams prioritize leads
After a trade show, it’s important to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. You’ll also need to keep leads organized and plan your next steps.
Bitly Analytics and other marketing tools can help you identify which parts of your trade show booth drove the most engagement.
For example, you can track which QR Codes were scanned most often, whether they linked to a product demo, lead magnet, or event giveaway. You can also see which campaigns or content types performed best, such as a limited-time offer or an exclusive webinar sign-up. These insights help you refine your marketing efforts and prepare for your next trade show with more confidence.
What is the post-trade show engagement gap?
Relying only on in-person interactions at trade shows means you’re likely missing out on valuable follow-up opportunities. This disconnect between event-day energy and ongoing engagement is what we call the post-trade show engagement gap. Even after a successful event, it’s easy to lose traction if there’s no clear bridge between the booth and your broader marketing strategy.
Untracked links or QR Codes limit visibility
If you’re not tracking the marketing assets you’re using on the trade show floor, you’re missing key data. Without a clear connection between your event presence and your digital platforms, it’s hard to tell whether post-show traffic is being driven by your in-person efforts or disappearing altogether.
That lack of visibility makes it difficult to prove ROI, optimize future campaigns, or even prioritize follow-up. Tools like Bitly help you close the gap by tracking every scan and click from the moment they happen.
Follow-up messages often feel impersonal or inconsistent
When your follow-ups don’t align with your brand or speak to what your audience cares about, they’re less likely to convert potential customers. One common issue is inconsistency. If the tone, timing, or format of your messages varies too much, it creates confusion and weakens brand trust.
Impersonal, one-size-fits-all follow-ups also risk making your audience feel disconnected. The most effective campaigns are tailored to the specific event and segmented by interest, so each message feels relevant and intentional.
Teams struggle to connect booth engagement with pipeline impact
Your trade show booth might generate plenty of buzz, but without proper engagement tracking, it’s hard to tie that activity to your sales pipeline. Solutions like Bitly Analytics give you visibility into which QR Code scans and link clicks are driving interest.
You can also pair Bitly with tools like Google Analytics to track granular engagement metrics across your website, social channels, and follow-up campaigns.
How Bitly can turn booth interactions into digital connections
The Bitly Connections Platform gives you the tools to turn real-time engagement at your next event into lasting relationships. By linking on-site interactions with your digital marketing strategies, you can continue the conversation well beyond the trade show floor.
Add branded QR Codes to booth signage and giveaways
One of the easiest ways to drive traffic from your booth to your website is by placing branded Bitly Codes throughout your display. Add them to booth signage, paper handouts, or giveaway items to spark engagement. You can also use QR Codes for trade show navigation by linking to venue maps, schedules, or session details.
For even more impact, customize your event and conference QR Codes with your brand colors and logo. These visual cues help attendees recognize your business and feel confident scanning.
Direct users to sign-up forms, lead magnets, videos, or any other digital asset via URL. As a bonus, Bitly’s Dynamic QR Codes are editable, so you can update the destination URL anytime. Use Bitly Analytics to track scan volume in real time and see how visitors are engaging with your booth.
Customize short links by campaign or audience
Another effective trade show marketing strategy is to create short links that pair with your QR Codes. You can display these links at your booth and include them in social media posts and emails promoting the event.
To stay organized, customize each link with a unique slug—like /retailguide or /event23-booking—that clearly reflects the marketing campaign or audience segment it supports. This makes it easier to track performance in Bitly Analytics and see which campaigns are driving the most link clicks.
Track interest by session, product line, or persona
With a little preparation, you can use QR Codes and short links to track trade show engagement by category. For example, create separate codes for each session, product line, or customer type (such as new vs. existing customer), especially if you expect a large user base at the event.
Start by generating links with custom slugs that match the engagement category. For more detailed tracking, you can also add Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) parameters. Then, apply campaign tags in Bitly that align with the metrics you’re tracking. This makes it easy to search and filter brand assets later, so you can quickly find what’s working and refine your strategy.
Reinforce brand recognition with every link
Bitly helps you build custom event marketing assets that strengthen brand awareness and consumer trust. For example, you can swap out the generic bit.ly domain for a branded one using the platform’s URL shortener.
A fully customized link, like show.brand.com/demo, tells attendees exactly what to expect before they click. Use the same domain during and after your event to maintain a consistent, professional experience.
Use mobile-friendly Bitly Pages for gated content
Does your trade show booth need a landing page? Absolutely. A branded booth experience deserves a tailored digital destination.
With Bitly Pages, you can build mobile-friendly landing pages without developer support. Choose from customizable templates that match your brand’s look and feel.
Use Bitly Pages as an event hub to share product information, exclusive offers, and key resources. You can also link out to gated content like ebooks, webinar signups, or other lead magnets. It’s a simple way to collect contact information from attendees you may have missed at the event, or to reconnect post-show.
How Bitly can streamline post-event messaging
Once the trade show wraps, the real work begins: turning attendee interest into pipeline opportunities. With Bitly, you can create, personalize, and track follow-up links across marketing channels to keep messaging clear, relevant, and on-brand.
Create branded links for email follow-ups
Email marketing is one of the fastest ways to reconnect with leads after a trade show and reinforce your brand’s value proposition. Thank attendees for stopping at your booth, and if possible, include a personalized note based on your conversation.
Add links to your website, social media, or relevant digital assets to keep the momentum going. Instead of raw URLs, which can look unpolished, use branded, trackable short links for a more cohesive experience. Create unique links for each campaign, then use Bitly Analytics to track link clicks and understand which messages are driving the most engagement.
Segment by engagement level using Bitly Analytics
Bitly Analytics gives your marketing team the insights needed to segment leads effectively. Within the platform, you can see which QR Codes and short links are getting the most interactions, helping you refine your segmentation strategy across your entire marketing suite.
For example, say you used two lead generation QR Codes at your trade show: one for each of your brand’s core products. Each code links to a different lead magnet. If one receives significantly more engagement, you can segment your audience based on which offer they responded to. Then, use your email marketing tool to deliver tailored follow-ups—one for warm leads, another for cold—making your outreach more efficient and targeted.
Support SMS or paid retargeting with measurable links
Email isn’t your only follow-up after a trade show. SMS and paid retargeting campaigns are powerful ways to reconnect with attendees, especially those who engaged with your website or social media platforms.
SMS marketing boasts an average click-through rate of 19%, which is six times higher than email. This makes it a strong channel for follow-up. Bitly Links work well in both SMS and retargeting ads: they’re short enough to fit character limits and fully trackable, so you can measure clicks and see which messages drive engagement.
How Bitly can improve sales handoffs after the event
One of the trickiest parts of post-event follow-up is the handoff between marketing and sales, especially after a major trade show, when both teams are managing a high volume of new leads. Bitly helps streamline this process by connecting your marketing assets directly to your sales workflows.
Share trackable links for booking meetings or demos
Make it easy for high-intent leads to connect with your sales team by sharing trackable links to your scheduling platform. No back-and-forth emails—just a clear path to the next step.
Professionals already use scheduling links an average of 7.1 times per week, so this approach fits right into their workflow. Use a branded, custom slug like show.brand.com/schedule or show.brand.com/get-demo to make the link easy to recognize. You’ll know exactly how many leads are ready to move forward.
Use UTM parameters and tags to identify which leads came from trade shows
Bitly supports UTM parameters on short links, so you can track traffic sources using tools like Google Analytics or other analytics platforms. This helps both sales and marketing teams understand which trade show campaigns are driving results.
Say you’re running a post-event email follow-up. You can add UTM tags to your Bitly Links to track how many people visited your site from that specific email. Later, you can view this data in Google Analytics to assess lead performance.
Inside Bitly, you can also apply tags to categorize links by campaign, audience, or asset type, making it easy to organize, filter, and manage your content library across events.
Align on campaign performance
Bitly creates a centralized hub for your QR Codes, short links, and landing pages, giving cross-functional teams a shared view of campaign performance. Your sales, marketing, and operations teams can all reference Bitly for valuable insight into which trade show content is driving the most action.
You can filter links by tag, channel, or campaign to see what’s resonating across touchpoints. With these insights, you can make faster decisions about where to double down and how to optimize future event strategies.
How Bitly Codes enhance post-show packaging and collateral
A fun, effective way to keep attendees engaged after a trade show is to follow up with physical marketing materials. Think brochures, product samples, or branded swag like tote bags, water bottles, or pens.
To drive continued engagement, add Bitly Codes on these materials. When scanned, they can connect attendees to helpful digital content and next steps, bridging the gap between your physical and digital touchpoints.
Here’s how Bitly Codes help you make the most of your post-show collateral.
Add QR Codes to thank-you kits or samples
Strategically use QR Codes for trade show product demos by including them in your thank-you kits, samples, or printed collateral. These codes should lead to helpful resources like onboarding videos, sign-up forms, or product trial activations.
You can place QR Codes directly on the product, or attach them to a tag or insert. Just make sure the code is easy to spot and large enough to scan, and don’t forget to include a clear call-to-action (CTA)—like “Scan to unlock your free trial” or “Watch the demo”—so attendees know exactly what they’ll get when they scan.
Personalize destinations by lead type or product interest
If you’re handing out multiple items, create unique QR Codes and landing pages for each one. For example, if you’re giving out samples of two different products, customize each code to lead to content specific to that item. This adds a more personalized, engaging experience for your audience.
Extend seasonal offers with updatable content
You can also use product QR Codes to promote exclusive or seasonal offers. Since Bitly Codes are always dynamic, you can update the destination URL anytime. For instance, if your trade show is in the summer, you could refresh the link later in the year with winter holiday offers or updated content—without reprinting anything.
How to monitor and optimize trade show engagement with Bitly Analytics
Bitly Analytics helps you track engagement from your trade show audience long after the event is over. With ongoing monitoring and analysis of link clicks and QR Code scans, you can evaluate which content or materials drove the most interaction.
To estimate the full ROI of your trade show marketing efforts, you’ll want to pair Bitly data with other tools (like your CRM or Google Analytics) to measure downstream conversions such as purchases or form completions.
See which materials, sessions, or CTAs drove the most interest
By tracking click and scan data, you can pinpoint which marketing strategies generated the most engagement and which missed the mark. Create unique QR Codes and short links for each piece of booth collateral, session, or CTA to compare performance.
For example, test different CTAs or offers throughout the event to see which drives the most interest. At multi-day trade shows, you can create separate codes for each day or session. If one day outperforms the others, that insight can help you refine your strategy for future events.
Spot drop-off points in the follow-up journey
Bitly Analytics highlights where initial engagement is strongest, like which QR Codes or short links are driving the most scans and clicks. To understand what happens next, marketing and sales teams can turn to platforms like CRMs or web analytics tools.
For example, if a link sees high click volume but form submissions are low, it may be time to rework the landing page or offer to better meet audience expectations.
Use data to improve next year’s booth and campaigns
With insights from Bitly Analytics, you can fine-tune your event marketing strategy to drive even better results next time. Double down on the content and tactics that generated the most engagement, and revisit the ones that didn’t land as well. For more context behind the numbers, consider pairing Bitly data with post-event surveys or qualitative feedback.
Build better trade shows and post-event engagement with Bitly
Trade shows create valuable face time with potential customers, but without a solid post-event strategy, that momentum fades fast. To drive ROI, you need a clear path from booth visit to digital engagement to long-term loyalty. That means every interaction, from signage to follow-up, should reinforce your brand and guide leads toward action.
Bitly helps you extend your trade show impact with branded, trackable experiences that drive results. Use Bitly Codes and Bitly Links to connect attendees to lead magnets, demos, or exclusive offers, then display them on custom Bitly Pages for a seamless experience. After the event, track scans and clicks with Bitly Analytics, organize assets with campaign tags, and optimize future outreach based on what worked.
Turn trade show engagement into measurable business growth with Bitly. Sign up today to get started.
