If you’re an EdTech solutions provider, in-person events like Bett are a unique opportunity to connect with your audience and showcase the difference your solution can make to thousands of teachers, administrators and students. They offer the chance to share your insights, introduce your product and address questions or concerns.

They can also be the perfect setting for customers to get hands-on with your products. Instead of seeing videos online, they can step into a VR headset and experience a marine biology lesson underwater, watch a programmable flashing robot deftly avoid obstacles or see students’ faces light up as they step into an esports arena and win their first game.

If approached strategically, these events can be the gift that keeps on giving for vendors, long after the stand is dismantled and the last pamphlet is handed out, with new prospects that can turn into lifelong customers.

Yet as everyone heads home, it can feel difficult to sustain the spark they felt at the show. In an environment where budgets are stretched and education professionals face unprecedented demands on their time, how do you build on in-person connections?

Below, we share some time-tested insights on creating a post-event strategy that delivers long after the venue doors close.

Before the show

Like a bulletproof lesson plan, having a clear strategy ahead of the day will greatly improve your chances of success.

As you prepare for the show, make sure your sales and marketing teams are aligned. Marketing can give the sales team a head start by helping to define your audience and competitors, laying the groundwork with pre-event email and social media campaigns, and setting up meetings with partners, prospects and customers. They can also assist by providing assets such as printed materials, case studies or videos.

For those who will be there on the day, the objective may seem simple: meet as many people as possible and help them fall in love with your product. But there are other aspects of in-person meetings to consider too. Are there common questions you can prepare answers for? How will you track who you’ve met and how the conversation went? Is there a chance to do some valuable market research at the same time?

Assigning roles is also key. Knowing who is doing what during the show helps to ensure you don’t double up, and everyone knows what they are responsible for. Follow-up will also be crucial - so establish who will be responsible for each deliverable you’re aiming to have once the event is over.

Events can get very busy, and setting clear priorities for how to spend your energy can help.

During the show and immediately after

There’s a certain kind of gold dust that can be gathered during events. Every person you meet, all the questions you answer - these interactions offer precious insights into your audience’s needs.

Aim to process any sales from the show at once and take as many notes as possible as you go: Who was enthusiastic and ready to go ahead? Who needs a bit more information? Were there any recurring questions? Who would you like to keep in touch with in the future?

To create tailored follow-ups that really hit the mark, you can segment those interactions even further. Each connection you met will have unique needs and interests – where’s their institution based? What are they struggling with? What exactly is their role?

Acknowledging and addressing all these directly in your follow-up campaign can help your prospective customers understand exactly how your product will fit into their daily lives, and how it addresses their challenges. A mass follow-up email campaign may be far easier, but is also far less effective, and unlikely to make your readers feel seen, heard or understood.

The art of the follow up

Use the detailed information you have gathered to follow up with new leads in a tailored and useful way. Research from McKinsey suggests that 71% of consumers now expect products and services to be personalised to them and 76% are frustrated when brands recommend things that are not relevant to them. But what does tailored follow-up look like?

Think about what will be of most value to the people you spoke with at the event - do they need answers to questions? Details about how your product will work in their context?

Use multiple channels - meet your audience where they are, whether that’s email, social media, or a good old-fashioned phone call.

Don’t give up - listen and persevere. Remember to show how your solution addresses a problem or opportunity for your audience.

For years, Bett has provided one of the best places for educators to find the products that will help supercharge their learning environments. With effective planning and thoughtful follow-ups, Bett participants have fuelled their sales pipeline for a year after – just in time for the next show!

Interested in learning more about who will be at Bett 2025? Register your interest today at bettshow.com!