This is the cold email plan we'd run for a trade show marketing agency that serves one industry. Trade shows publish their exhibitor lists. That hands you a list of companies with a date and a budget already committed.
Your market is every company in your industry that exhibits. Map Your Show and 10times publish exhibitor lists for many shows. Each list is a campaign with a date on it.
These are the signals worth looking for.
A company on the exhibitor list for a show two or three months out is planning right now.
Their LinkedIn posts from last year's show often include booth photos. A plain booth is an easy opener.
Nothing on their site or LinkedIn announcing the booth number. Attendees plan their visits before the show.
A company on exhibitor lists for several shows a year spends a lot on events and wants each one to pay off.
A new product scheduled for a show needs the booth built around it.
A job post for an events or trade show manager means the calendar is too big for the team.
At smaller manufacturers the owner or the head of sales decides. At bigger ones it is the marketing manager or the events manager.
The emails and LinkedIn posts and meeting invites to send attendees before the show written for their booth and their products.
It works because it is tied to a date and ready to use.
Walk through it on a 15 minute call. The plan needs their input on which accounts they most want at the booth and what they're launching. Running it is the next step and the booth follows.
All the shows in their industry for the next year with the exhibitor deadlines.
It works because it turns a scattered year of events into one plan.
Go through it on a call because only they know which shows paid off last year. Managing that plan is the retainer.
Write and schedule their pre-show emails and posts for their next show free. They approve everything first.
It works because they see the difference in who shows up to the booth. Booth design and the full calendar are the paid work.
It starts with a 20 minute call to agree the target accounts and the message. Start at least a month before the show.
Each segment gets its own email because a specific email gets more replies than a general one. Split each segment by sub-industry too so the examples in the email fit the reader.
Keep each email under 100 words with one reason for writing and one line of proof and one offer and one question. The proof lines are examples of the kind of result to use. Swap in real results of your own before anything goes out.
Lead with the show and their booth number. Offer the pre-show plan.
Hi {{first_name}},
Saw {{company}} is exhibiting at {{trade_show}} in booth {{booth_number}}.
We run trade shows for {{industry}} companies. Wrote the pre-show emails and posts I'd send attendees for you.
The same plan booked 27 meetings at the booth for a client before its last show opened.
Want me to walk you through it?
{{sender_first_name}}
Lead with last year's booth photo. Ask for a call directly.
Hi {{first_name}},
Found a photo of {{company}}'s booth at {{last_show}} on LinkedIn.
We design booths and promote them for {{industry}} companies. A client whose booth we redesigned last year scanned twice as many badges at the same show.
Worth 15 minutes to see what we'd change for {{next_show}}?
{{sender_first_name}}
Lead with the number of shows they do. Offer the show calendar.
Hi {{first_name}},
Counted {{company}} on the exhibitor lists for {{show_count}} shows this year.
Put all the shows in your industry on one calendar with the exhibitor deadlines and marked the ones worth dropping.
A client that cut two weak shows and spent the money on pre-show outreach booked 40 more meetings across the year.
Want me to walk you through it?
{{sender_first_name}}
Lead with the product and the show. Offer the free pre-show outreach.
Hi {{first_name}},
Saw {{company}} is launching {{product}} at {{trade_show}}.
Happy to write and run your pre-show emails and posts for the launch free. You'd approve everything first.
The last launch we promoted this way had 60 qualified leads by the end of the show.
Interested?
{{sender_first_name}}
Send two follow ups in the same thread three to five days apart.
Each reply should end in a booked meeting that actually happens. The lead magnet and the offer get delivered on that call and never go out as a file to read later.
The replies below cover the three ways people say yes.
They asked for the pre-show plan. The call adds the accounts they want at the booth.
Hi {{first_name}},
Happy to. The plan works best aimed at the accounts you most want at the booth. Fifteen minutes is enough to go through it and add them.
Does Tuesday at 10am or Wednesday at 2pm work?
{{sender_first_name}}
They want the free outreach. The call agrees the accounts and the message.
Hi {{first_name}},
Great. I need 20 minutes with you to agree the target accounts and the launch message. Outreach starts at least a month before the show.
Does Thursday at 11am or Friday at 3pm work?
{{sender_first_name}}
They said yes to a call. Tell them what they'll leave with so they show up.
Hi {{first_name}},
Perfect. I'll bring a sketch of what the booth could look like at {{next_show}} and how we'd fill it with meetings. You'll leave knowing what to change first.
Does Monday at 1pm or Tuesday at 9am work?
{{sender_first_name}}
Results aren't guaranteed and nobody honest can promise a number before the first emails go out. A few things decide how a campaign does.
The first few weeks show how the market responds. The list and the copy and the offer get sharper from there.
We build and run this campaign for one agency per industry.
This page is a starting point and a strategy we'd happily test ourselves. Working together gives us more context on your agency. That context lets us add better strategies and build better lists and offers and automations for you.
Thirty minutes on your market and how we'd reach it.