April 1, 2026 |

Podcast Episode S2E07: How to Drive Tradeshow ROI (Without Wasting Your Budget)

Learn how to drive tradeshow ROI with a proven system. Discover how manufacturers can turn booth engagement, staff training, and follow-up into predictable revenue.

Stop treating tradeshows like a passive expense and start treating them like a revenue engine. In this episode of Driving Growth, host Steve Whittington is joined by Anders Boulanger, founder of Engagify, to dismantle the "build it and they will come" myth that plagues B2B exhibitors. While many companies spend six figures on floor space and freight, they often neglect the one element responsible for 85% of their success: the human beings standing in the booth. This episode is for B2B executives and marketing leaders who are tired of unquantifiable tradeshow results and want a systematic approach to face-to-face marketing.   

You will learn:  

  • The Five-Pointed Star framework for maximizing booth authority and presence.  
  • Why 80% of leads are never downloaded and how to build a pre-show follow-up cadence.  
  • The "Tradeshow Triangle" and how to move from a passive booth buyer to a specialized exhibitor.  

Episode Takeaways  

  • The 'Booth Buyer' myth is the top killer of ROI. Success requires moving past passive attendance and investing in a proactive 'Attract, Connect, and Convey' strategy.  
  • Your booth staff accounts for 85% of your tradeshow success. You must train your team to be 'heads-up' and proactive rather than clustering with their backs to the aisle.  
  • Follow-up must be engineered before the show starts. Most leads die because companies lack an automated CRM cadence to handle the high volume of post-show data. 

If you found this valuable, make sure to subscribe to Driving Growth wherever you get your podcasts for more strategies on building a scalable revenue engine. New episodes are available on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

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How to Drive Tradeshow ROI (Without Wasting Your Budget)
April 10, 2026

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March 2026 Round-Up: You’re Probably Doing Outbound. That Doesn’t Mean It’s Working.
March 31, 2026

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