The International Powder & Bulk Solids Conference & Exhibition (IPBS) isn’t just another industrial event; it’s the largest and longest-running powder and bulk solids technology event in the Americas. It draws over 3,000 industry professionals who collectively represent billions in buying power, across sectors like food processing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy, and manufacturing.
Industrial marketers attending IPBS face a stark reality: B2B buyers now complete 57% of the purchase process before ever speaking to a supplier. This means what happens at and immediately after the booth visit determines future revenue streams.
Meanwhile, 68% of event attendees cite the opportunity to interact with products firsthand as a critical influence on their purchasing decision. For IPBS, where the products and technologies are complex, hands-on experiences and quick, customized follow-ups aren’t just important—they’re essential for winning deals.
This article will uncover how to maximize ROI at IPBS 2025, by addressing the unique dynamics of industrial event marketing: how to connect meaningfully with technical buyers, how to stand out among sophisticated competitors, and how to capitalize on post-event momentum with speed and precision.
TL;DR
To help industrial marketers and exhibitors maximize ROI at IPBS 2025, we created this actionable guide — highlighting proven strategies to increase booth engagement, drive real-time lead capture, and accelerate post-event conversions.
You’ll learn:
- How to align with the unique decision-making journey of engineers and operations managers
- Pre-event planning tactics that set the foundation for success
- In-event engagement techniques tailored for industrial buyers
- Post-event strategies that turn cold leads into warm opportunities quickly
- Real-world best practices, plus unconventional tips to outperform competitors on the show floor
The best marketing teams know that success at IPBS isn’t just about flashy displays — it’s about data-driven engagement, operational alignment, and fast, strategic follow-up.
Let’s get into it.
Understand the IPBS audience: Engineers and buyers want smarter engagement
Industrial marketers often make the mistake of treating events like IPBS 2025 as traditional trade shows. In reality, the attendees—engineers, operations managers, and procurement specialists—are analytical, solutions-driven, and above all, time-sensitive.
77% of engineers prefer fact-based content with detailed technical specifications, and 62% say they are more likely to engage when solutions are tied directly to operational outcomes. This audience is not browsing for entertainment; they are there to solve real, costly production challenges.
What this means for your booth strategy:
- Demos must be application-specific. Highlight the immediate operational impact, not just features.
- Staff must be highly trained. Casual brand ambassadors won’t cut it. Your reps need technical knowledge.
- Engagement must be low-friction. Make interactions smooth, fast, and meaningful — no long forms, no cheesy gimmicks.
Real engagement happens when you make their work easier or their production lines more efficient — not when you try to “wow” them with flashy giveaways.
🔹 Pro tip: Prepare technical one-pagers or digital microsites customized for different buyer profiles. Not all visitors need the same information!
Pre-event strategies: How to set yourself up for IPBS success
Success at IPBS 2025 starts long before you land in Rosemont. The smartest teams know that the pre-event phase is where you win or lose the show.
First, set precise goals. Are you aiming for a specific number of qualified leads, live demos booked, meetings with decision-makers, or product trials initiated? Without sharp goals, your team cannot focus its energy or measure outcomes properly.
Another critical tactic is pre-scheduling meetings. Exhibitors who pre-schedule meetings experience 3x higher booth engagement rates. IPBS attendees are busy and efficient by nature. Having time slots reserved with them gives you an enormous advantage.
Pre-event lead nurturing also plays a vital role. Industrial buyers appreciate suppliers who make their lives easier. Sending them a personalized email before the show, sharing a technical case study or a problem-solving guide relevant to their industry, increases the likelihood they will visit your booth with a purpose in mind.
Additionally, make sure your booth team is trained on solution selling, not just product specs. It is not enough to rattle off technical jargon; you need to connect your solution to the operational goals your audience is trying to achieve, whether that’s reducing downtime, improving throughput, or enhancing safety compliance.
A final but often overlooked element is internal alignment. Marketing, sales, and product teams must be tightly coordinated. Build a simple cheat sheet for your team with the key value propositions, target personas you aim to engage, and pre-planned questions that uncover visitor needs quickly.
Pre-event preparation isn’t just logistics. It is strategic, and it sets the tone for everything that follows.
During-event excellence: Winning booth engagement techniques
The booth experience at IPBS 2025 must be engineered for speed, relevance, and ease. Gone are the days when free pens and raffles turned heads. Today’s attendees demand efficiency and substance.
Start with intelligent design. Your booth layout should invite people in without overwhelming them. Think open spaces, clear signage communicating real benefits (not just buzzwords), and accessible areas for live demos.
Live demonstrations should be quick but powerful. Avoid scripted pitches. Instead, have your reps ask simple discovery questions first. This builds instant relevance. If a visitor mentions challenges with material flow or production bottlenecks, tailor your demo to those needs immediately.
For lead capture, ditch the business cards. Use a digital solution that can scan badges, immediately score leads based on engagement, and allow reps to add critical notes. Industrial buyers expect precision and will not tolerate clunky processes.
One best practice is having two levels of booth staff: greeters who qualify interest and technical experts who dive deep. This structure ensures no visitor feels ignored while simultaneously keeping highly technical conversations moving forward with the right people.
Another overlooked strategy is leveraging micro-events. Host scheduled 10-minute solution talks or technical showcases in your booth at set times. Promoting these in advance can drive targeted traffic exactly when you want it.
During the event, use social media carefully. IPBS attendees check platforms like LinkedIn during the event. Share booth updates, key takeaways, or pictures of live demos to encourage visits.
Success during the event boils down to creating an environment where serious buyers can get serious answers, quickly and easily.
Post-event mastery: Fast, personalized, and strategic follow-up
The most dangerous mistake exhibitors make is treating post-event follow-up as an afterthought. Research shows that contacting leads within 24 to 48 hours increases the likelihood of conversion by up to 400 percent.
At IPBS, industrial buyers return to fast-moving work environments. Delayed follow-up risks getting buried under dozens of other priorities.
Start by segmenting your leads immediately. Use your lead scoring data to prioritize who gets a follow-up first. Your hottest prospects — those who spent the most time in demos, asked in-depth questions, or requested collateral — should receive customized emails or even personal phone calls within one business day.
Personalization is everything. Reference the conversation they had at your booth, the solution they were interested in, and the specific challenges they mentioned. No generic “thanks for visiting” blasts.
Create different follow-up tracks based on visitor types. Engineers may prefer technical documentation or ROI calculators. Operations managers may respond better to use-case videos or integration case studies.
Also, make sure to integrate your event leads into your CRM properly. Tag them, create reminders for sales teams, and trigger marketing nurturing workflows if needed.
One high-impact tactic is sending prospects a personalized microsite. Instead of just an email, a branded page with tailored content based on their interests can multiply engagement rates.
Remember, post-event isn’t just about closing sales; it’s also about building relationships that can lead to future opportunities. The companies that win at IPBS are those that continue the conversation beyond the event floor.
Three unconventional tips for outperforming your competitors
Tip 1: Treat your booth like a technical support center, not a sales kiosk
Most exhibitors focus on showing products. Few think about diagnosing visitor challenges first. Train your team to ask diagnostic questions before pitching. For example: “What’s your biggest bottleneck in your current powder handling process?” When you diagnose first, you position your team as advisors, not just vendors.
Tip 2: Prioritize the buying committee, not just the visitor
Many attendees at IPBS are not final decision-makers but influencers in technical buying groups. Focus on capturing enough information to map out the full buying committee. Ask discovery questions like, “Who else will be evaluating solutions for this project?” This allows you to tailor follow-up messaging to the real decision-makers later.
Tip 3: Launch a post-event mini-campaign within 72 hours
Instead of sending a generic thank-you email, build a mini-campaign offering exclusive content — like a downloadable guide, technical webinar, or special consultation — available only to IPBS contacts. Creating immediate, high-value post-show engagement helps differentiate you while competitors are still sorting out their lead lists.
Six best practices to maximize ROI at IPBS 2025
Best Practice 1: Pre-schedule demos and meetings
How it helps: Guarantees meaningful interactions rather than relying solely on booth walk-ins.
How momencio helps: Syncs with your existing tech stack for you to be able to send personalized microsites with custom-made collateral for your VIP customers.
Best Practice 2: Use tiered staffing roles
How it helps: Ensures booth visitors are handled quickly by the right team member based on their interest level.
How momencio helps: Real-time lead scoring helps route high-priority prospects to senior staff immediately.
Best Practice 3: Digitize all engagement
How it helps: Reduces manual errors, ensures faster CRM integration, and captures richer lead data during booth conversations.
How momencio helps: Seamlessly captures, scores, and enriches lead data through badge scanning and business card capture, and AI EdgeCaptureTM, integrating everything in real-time into your CRM.
Best Practice 4: Focus on immediate value delivery
How it helps: The industrial audience respects suppliers who offer actionable insights immediately. Whether it is a tip sheet, a use case, or a performance calculator, giving attendees value on the spot builds credibility fast.
How momencio helps: Supports instant digital collateral sharing, allowing booth staff to send personalized presentations, content collateral and resources during the conversation.
Best Practice 5: Build an internal rapid follow-up squad
How it helps: A designated small team ready to work on high-priority leads within 24 hours multiplies post-show ROI. These teams are not burdened with unrelated tasks and focus purely on IPBS lead conversion.
How momencio helps: Provides real-time alerts for hot leads, empowering sales teams to start personalized follow-up even while the event is still happening.
Best Practice 6: Track micro-metrics, not just overall numbers
How it helps: Tracking granular behaviors such as specific collateral downloads, repeated booth visits, or time spent in demos gives deeper insight into true buying intent.
How momencio helps: Offers detailed engagement analytics showing what content resonated most, which leads interacted multiple times, and how deeply prospects engaged with your team.
Capturing industrial audiences in 2025 and beyond
Industrial marketing at events like IPBS 2025 demands more than just showing up with a booth and some brochures. Success now requires strategic thinking across three critical phases: pre-event planning, in-event engagement, and post-event follow-up.
When you understand the engineer’s mindset — one that prizes speed, technical detail, and operational relevance — you can create experiences that resonate more deeply and drive tangible results.
Pre-scheduling demos, training your staff to act as consultants, personalizing your follow-ups, and using intelligent lead capture tools are no longer optional; they are now the minimum required to compete.
Trade shows are still among the most powerful channels for B2B lead generation. According to a report from Statista, seventy-four percent of event attendees say they are more likely to purchase a product they encountered at a live event. The companies that win are those that integrate event engagement into their broader customer journey rather than treating it as a one-off marketing tactic.
IPBS 2025 offers a tremendous opportunity for industrial marketers who are prepared to engage smarter, follow up faster, and measure more intelligently.
How momencio can elevate your IPBS strategy
If you want to maximize ROI at IPBS 2025, momencio is your strategic partner. From real-time lead capture and enriched scoring to intelligent follow-up and seamless CRM integration, momencio empowers your team to turn booth conversations into real sales pipeline faster than ever.
Ready to elevate your event marketing performance? Book a demo with momencio today and discover how effortless great results can be.
Interesting facts from research
- Over 78% of engineers prefer direct interaction with technical experts during events over flashy brand promotions.
- Industrial event attendees cite operational improvement, not price, as their number one reason for switching vendors after a trade show.
- Exhibitors who engage with prospects within 48 hours post-event close three times more sales opportunities than those who delay follow-ups beyond a week.
- 75% of B2B buyers receiving relevant, tailored content from a sales reps post-event are 2.3x times more likely to buy.
- Trade shows account for an average of 40% of B2B companies’ annual marketing spend, but top performers achieve more than 150% ROI when proper follow-up strategies are used.
FAQs
- What makes IPBS 2025 different from other industrial trade shows?
- IPBS focuses exclusively on bulk material handling and powder technology, attracting a highly technical and solutions-driven audience not typically found at general industrial shows.
- How important is fast follow-up after IPBS?
- Extremely important. Data shows that contacting prospects within forty-eight hours increases your likelihood of conversion by up to four hundred percent.
- What lead capture method is best for IPBS exhibitors?
- Digital, real-time lead capture platforms that integrate directly with your CRM are crucial. They reduce human error and accelerate sales action.
- How can I stand out on the IPBS show floor?
- Prioritize solving problems over selling products. Staff technical experts, offer instant resources, and diagnose visitor needs rapidly.
- Is it better to prioritize booth traffic volume or lead quality?
- At IPBS, lead quality wins every time. Focus on engaging serious buyers and influencers rather than maximizing raw traffic numbers.
