Overview
This work is owned and executed by the Relationship Developer, reviewed and confirmed by the Coach.
If you haven't already, review The Importance of the List philosophy before working through this toolkit. It explains why the Relationship Target List matters and how to think about list quality across every relationship development motion. This toolkit puts that philosophy into practice for trade shows specifically.
Step 1: Pinpoint the ICP
Before choosing a list source, answer one question: where are the client's ideal accounts most likely to show up at this show?
There are four possibilities:
- As exhibitors. Common in shows where the floor is full of potential partners, suppliers, or buyers.
- As attendees. Common in shows where the buyers walk the floor and the exhibitors are vendors. The client's ICP is in the room but not behind a booth.
- As both. Common in large industry shows where the ICP includes companies that exhibit and companies that attend.
- As regional walk-ons. Buyers from nearby companies who show up because the event is local but never register in advance or never appear on any list.
If this question feels hard to answer, that is a signal. Bring it to the Coach before going further. Choosing the wrong list source is the most common reason a trade show campaign underperforms.
Step 2: Choose the List Source
There are four sources we can use to create a Relationship Target List. Most strong lists combine two or three.
Source 1: The Exhibitor List
The companies exhibiting at the show, published on the show's website or in the show app.
- Use when: The client's ICP exhibits at this show.
- Skip when: The client's ICP attends but does not exhibit. An exhibitor-only list in that scenario reaches the wrong companies. Plan on the exhibitor list being the right answer roughly half the time. Confirm it is the right answer before building the campaign on it.
- How to access: Public on the show website or in the show's mobile app. Free.
Source 2: The Attendee List (via Sponsorship)
The list of registered attendees, available to clients who have purchased a sponsorship or upgraded exhibitor package.
- Use when: The client is already sponsoring the show or has the option to. Attendee lists are typically the strongest source because they confirm who is actually going to be in the room.
- Skip when: The client has not sponsored and does not plan to.
- How to access: Ask the show organizer directly. Many shows do not publicize attendee list access in their standard packages even when it is available. If the client is already exhibiting at a premium tier, it is often negotiable as an add-on. Lists sometimes arrive in messy formats only days before the show, so plan list cleaning into the timeline.
Source 3: A Purchased Attendee List
A list bought from a third-party provider or directly from the show organizer.
- Use when: The client is not sponsoring, the exhibitor list is not the right population, and the show is important enough to justify the cost.
- Skip when: The cost cannot be justified relative to the size of the opportunity at this show.
- Cost: Show organizers may charge several thousand dollars. Third-party platforms can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand depending on data scope and verification quality.
- Who pays: Purchased-list costs are a client expense, not part of the program scope. The Coach should surface this before the client expects the cost of the list will be included in the retainer they're already paying.
- Verify before buying: Confirm the data is verified, the provider operates in the client's geography, and the list is dated to the current show. Vendor quality varies significantly.
Source 4: Geographic and ICP Targeting
A list built from scratch by the Relationship Developer, using the show's location and the client's ICP to identify companies likely to attend even when no list confirms it.
- Use when: The show is regional, the industry is concentrated geographically, and the client's ICP is well defined. Pull companies within driving distance of the host city that match the ICP and reach out under the assumption that decision-makers from those companies are likely to attend.
- Skip when: This becomes the default because the other three sources felt like work. Geographic targeting without strong ICP discipline turns into spray and pray with a trade show subject line. If the team cannot confirm with reasonable confidence that targets are likely to attend, this method is a guess dressed up as a strategy.
Step 3: Build the List
Once the source is chosen, the work is mechanical but disciplined.
Step 1. Pull the Raw Data
Export the exhibitor list, request the attendee list, purchase the third-party list, or build the geographic list from scratch.
Step 2. Filter Against ICP
Every name passes a deliberate test. Industry, company size, role, geography, anything the client defined as part of their ICP. Names that almost fit do not make the list. Edge cases get flagged for Coach review, not assumed in.
Step 3. Enrich the Contact Details
Verified email addresses, LinkedIn profiles, and titles. Tools like ZoomInfo, Apollo, or Clay handle this efficiently. For each target account, identify two to three contacts where possible (events often attract buying committees, not lone decision-makers).
Step 4. Add the List to CRM
Save it in the client's CRM with a clear label: [Show Name] [Year] Target List. Every contact gets tagged so post-show attribution is possible.
Step 4: Check List Size
Before bringing the list to the Prepare for Launch session, run a size check.
A MiM™ trade show list is rarely thousands of contacts. The exact number depends on the client's ICP and the size of the show, but a focused list of a few hundred carefully chosen names will outperform a generic list of several thousand every time.
If the list is significantly larger than expected, the filter was probably too loose. Tighten it.
If the list is significantly smaller than expected, the source may be wrong, or the show may not be the right channel for this client. Bring this to the Coach before going further.
Step 5: Review with Coach
Bring the list to the Coach for review before delivering it to the client. Share:
- The named, filtered, enriched list
- A short note on which source(s) you used and why
- Any flagged edge cases or open questions
Coach approval unlocks delivery to the client and campaign launch.
Final Thoughts
The Relationship Target List is the foundation the rest of the trade show campaign rests on. Messaging, booth conversations, and post-show follow-up all become easier when the list underneath them is right.
A Relationship Developer who treats this work as the first and most important step of every show builds a foundation that compounds. Every subsequent show for that client starts from a known approach, refined by what was learned the time before.