The buzz was electric at Long Marston, and if you don’t act quickly, that energy – along with the leads, conversations, opportunities – will fizzle out faster than a rainy summer BBQ. The industry’s next event (hello, Sifer!) is next week, and you don’t want to risk the work you put into this week, being overwhelmed by another great show.

Share the love

The show may be over, but the value needn’t be!

Everyone loves a show snap, so share those breakdown pics as the last low-loaders trundle off site, the much-needed cuppa when you get home, a recap of your biggest show takeaways – anything that continues the conversation. If you’re adding new LinkedIn contacts, content like this will help jog people’s memory, and keep your feed vibrant and engaging.

Follow up fast

Attention fades fast. We’re all busy, and having another massive show the following week is frankly, a pain in the arse, so don’t hesitate to get those emails out on Monday!

That said, the phrase ‘more haste, less speed’ is applicable here… don’t just chuck out a mail merge and hope for the best.

• Make sure they’re personalised! 'Dear #firstname#' is always cringy. 
• Reference any conversations you had – the time you spent together was valuable, and referencing it will help strengthen the relationship
• Lock down that next step! Get a date in the diary for a call or meeting.

This all may seem obvious… but without getting this step nailed, the show may as well be an expensive company trip to beautiful Stratford. 

Learn from 2025

A show like Rail Live is a live data feed, allowing you to gather real-time insights from customers, as well as valuable information about how your own set-up performed.

Spending some time looking at the feedback (and some of it may be surprising, but that’s ok) and examining how it sits alongside your marketing strategy and the key questions that shape it will stand you in good stead to understand whether what you are doing – from a business and a marketing perspective - is resonating with your customers.

And of course, there’s your show strategy to consider as well. Whether you’re following your standard format or trying something new, it’s always a good idea to have a thorough debrief after an event, as assess what worked, and what didn’t – just because it was a success last year doesn’t mean it will have landed well this year, keeping on top of the analytics will help keep everything fresh and current.

TL:DR

• Follow up quickly
• Don’t send a generic mail merge email, they’re crap
• Keep the show present on your socials, for a while
• Assess the data from the show, and the business impacts
• Don’t be afraid to change things up if the data shows they’re not working