In this article, 6 examples of trade show invitation emails that work every time: The invitation from a client, the invitation from last year’s contacts, the email introducing the trade show team, etc.
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What makes for a successful invitation email?
It is not easy to make a good invitation. It’s hard to make your invitation stand out. To have a quality email that encourages recipients to visit your stand, make sure you follow these tips:
- Get straight to the point: tell the recipients why they should come and give them the main information about the exhibition (location, date, specificity of the exhibition).
- Give reasons to visit your stand: don’t just tell them that your company will be at the show, tell them why they should visit your stand.
- Add a visual: you need to make your invitation lively to attract the reader’s attention and make them want to come and meet you.
- Automate your email sequences: this will allow you to organise your invitation campaign and remind your contacts regularly of your presence at the exhibition.
- Make sure that the email sequences are consistent with the schedule of publications on social networks: it is important to coordinate your different communications. It may therefore be relevant to participate in the trade fair hashtags on social networks, for example, or to integrate publications from your social networks into your emails.
- Start your email sequence 8 weeks before the trade fair: your contacts’ diaries are full, so you need to give them advance notice so that they can include the trade fair date in their calendar
- Insert a call to action in each email: it is necessary that the recipient can interact from this email. It can be interesting to insert a link to a media or social network, a link to register or a link to add the event to their calendar for example.
Pro tip
Trade shows often give unique URLs to exhibiting companies to use in their email blasts. For example, these may be URLs with a discount code for the registration fee. If you have one of these, make sure you use it in your emails and don’t forget to tell the recipients that they can benefit from a discount through this link. That way, you’ll be able to measure performance accurately from the very start
Why you should send exhibition invitation emails
Exhibition email invites should be part of your “>trade-show preparation for two reasons:
- They help to maintain the relationship with your key partners: an invitation email is a good way to keep in touch with your important customers but also your suppliers or former customers.
- They’ll help generate traffic to your stand: Participating in a trade show can be expensive. You need to make it worthwhile and meet a good number of prospects. By sending out these invitations, you’re not only getting people to visit you, they’ll potentially talk about it to others.
1. Email template to invite a client to an exhibition
At a trade fair, it can be interesting to invite your customers. On the one hand, this invitation e-mail allows you to maintain a good relationship with your customer. On the other hand, inviting your customers to your exhibitions can produce a good collective emulation and you can more easily benefit from their network to conclude sales with other companies.
Below you will find a template for inviting one of your clients to a trade show.
When?
At least 6 weeks before the start of the fair and up to 10 weeks before.
Object
- Your invitation to the [name of the exhibition].
- Invitation to the [name of the exhibition].
- See you at the [name of the salon]?
- Salon [name of the salon]
- How about 2 days in Lisbon?
Invitation email template
Hello x,
Just a quick email to invite you to the Vivatech trade show in which we are participating. We would be delighted to see you at our side during this event.
What is it? Our company is participating in Vivatechnology, Europe’s largest tech event, to present our new innovations. Come and enjoy unique conferences with speakers like Tim Cook or Mark Zuckerberg!
When will it take place? The exhibition takes place from 16 June for 4 days.
So see you at the show? Click on the link below to generate your invitation! Don’t hesitate to make an appointment with one of our team members so that they can show you our innovations.
See you soon,
2. Invitation email template for your contacts from last year
It is important not to forget to invite your former customers to the trade fair you are attending, as this can help you to reconnect with them. Here is a template for getting back in touch with one of your customers from last year.
When?
It is recommended to send this type of email at least 4 weeks before the start of the fair.
Object
- Your invitation to the [name of the exhibition].
- How have you been doing all this time?
- Shall we meet again at [trade show name]?
- Get in touch at [exhibition name].
Invitation email template
Hello x,
We would like to inform you that our company will be present at the [name of the exhibition] as it is every year.
You can find us at stand [x] to present our new products! We hope to see you there and get in touch with you. We’d love to hear how [company name] has developed since last year.
See you soon on our stand,
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3. Invitation email template to your exhibition booth
This type of email is intended for all the participants of the fair and not only for your list of contacts. This type of practice could almost be considered as cold emailing. You should therefore pay close attention to your email and its subject line so that it is opened as much as possible.
When?
Between two and four weeks before the show
Purpose:
- [Name] Will you be attending [Name of show] this year?
- Will you be visiting the [name of your company] stadium at the [name of the exhibition]?
- Would you like to discover our new products of the year?
Invitation email template
Hello [Name],
The [name of the exhibition] is scheduled for [Date], and we will be present at the [Name of the stand / Location] stand.
We are looking forward to presenting at the show:
[EXAMPLE] A new product that we are looking forward to launching, with live demonstrations throughout the show. If you are looking for a [key feature of your product or service / Key benefit], this could clearly be of interest to you!
Our talented team will be present at the show to answer all your questions.
We hope to see you there!
PS: We are organising a competition, take part and try to win [reward]!
4. Invitation email example to introduce the team that will be at the show
Trade fair invitations are almost all the same and are often impersonal. It is therefore interesting to personalise the email with characteristics of your company. It can also be interesting to show the human side of the exhibition. Indeed, the trade fair is above all a meeting place. You should therefore make the recipients of the email want to come to the show by describing the team present at the show or the speakers. You can insert photos but also put contact links to personalise your email.
When?
This type of email is usually sent out 2 or 3 weeks before the trade fair starts.
Object
- Would you like to meet our team at the [name of the exhibition]?
- Our team is delighted to welcome you to the [name of the exhibition].
Invitation email template
Hi <first name>,
Our team is getting ready for [name of show]. And yes, there is only [time until the show] left!
Here are the members of the team who will be delighted to welcome you at the fair:
[Name of team member], [Position], [Email address or link to book a slot].
[Name of team member], [Position], [Email address or link to book a slot].
[Name of team member], [Position], [Email address or link to book a slot].
If you would like to spend some time with one of our members, feel free to send them an email or book a time slot directly with them!
I look forward to seeing you at the show,
The exhibition will be held at [date of exhibition] in [location of exhibition].
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5. Teaser email template to drive traffic to your booth
To get traffic to your stand, you need to promote your stand and what you are going to display.
When?
Usually one week before the exhibition.
Object
- Come and discover our new products of the year at the [name of the exhibition].
- Would you like to discover our new products of the year?
- What will we be presenting at the [name of the exhibition]?
Invitation email template
Hi <First Name>,
At this year’s [name of exhibition], our stand will feature [name of new product/new product features]. This is a first-of-its-kind innovation and we look forward to presenting it/them to you.
Our stand will also feature :
[List everything you offer for free].
[indicate any entertainment that will be present on the stand].
We will have some great team members on hand to answer your questions.
For a chance to see our stand, don’t forget to register for the show! Click here to register now [insert link].
If you want to get an idea of what our stand will look like this year, you can take a look at our stands from previous editions at this link [insert link].
I look forward to seeing you there,
6. Invitation email template to book meetings
You can offer participants the opportunity to make an appointment with you at your stand.
When?
A few days before the show!
Object
- It takes just a few clicks to organise a meeting at [name of exhibition].
- Make an appointment with us at the [name of the exhibition].
Invitation email template
Hello [name],
As you know, next week is [name of fair].
Today we are opening the calendar so that you can make an appointment with our team at a time that suits you.
[Button to make an appointment].
Appointment slots are limited, so don’t delay!
