SEMA Show Prep: Build Your Follow-Up Strategy Before You Land in Las Vegas
A shop owner scans the QR code on your booth wall, lands on your homepage, types a part number into search, and gets zero results because the product you launched at the SEMA Show is not live yet. That scan cost you the booth space it took to earn it. More than 153,000 people attended SEMA in 2025, and SEMA reports that over 70% of them held senior leadership roles. You won’t find a cleaner room of qualified buyers all year. The pages and tags you build in the next three weeks will decide whether any of those conversations turn into purchase orders in December.
153,000+
people attended SEMA in 2025
70%+
held senior leadership roles
~2,300
brands competing for the same buyers
SEMA is one of our favorite events of the year, and this year we’re hosting an ecommerce happy hour with BigCommerce on Thursday, November 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. at F1 Arcade Las Vegas. If you’re in town for the show, come say hi, grab a drink, and talk shop with us and our partners. Before then, here’s what we tell every exhibitor we work with.
SEMA 2026 runs November 3rd – 6th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The first three days are trade only. Friday, November 6, is open to the public. That split affects follow-up more than most exhibitors realize, and it’s why we encourage you to set things up now, before you leave, instead of on the flight home.
November 3 to 6, 2026Las Vegas Convention Center
Tue, Nov 3
Trade only
Wed, Nov 4
Trade only
Thu, Nov 5
Trade only
Blayzer happy hour, 6 to 9pm
Fri, Nov 6
Open to public
Tag every lead by day so trade buyers and public visitors get different follow-up.
What should a SEMA exhibitor finish before the show opens?
There are five key things your team should handle before SEMA that will make follow-up after the show faster and more specific.
01
Fitment-accurate pages for every product in the booth
Every part on display needs a live product page with complete year/make/model fitment, down to the submodel, before the doors open. A dealer who leaves your booth interested in a 2024 Tacoma lift kit will check your site that night from the hotel. If the fitment table is missing, or the product page still says “coming soon,” that buyer has no way to confirm the part fits the trucks they sell, and they move on to the next booth’s catalog.
Why it matters for follow-up
Your post-show emails will link to these pages. A follow-up that sends a warm lead to a broken or vague page undoes the conversation you had in Vegas.
If your fitment data lives in ACES files from your PIM, confirm the new SKUs actually made it into your storefront’s year/make/model lookup. If your PIM, ERP, and storefront are connected through an integration platform like Patchworks, check the sync history for the new SKUs instead of assuming they went through. We covered the conversion side of this in how fitment data drives auto parts conversions.
Then search for each new product the way a buyer would. Dealers often type the name your rep used at the booth, which may not match the product title on your site. If your site search runs on Athos Commerce, add those booth names and common nicknames as synonyms so they land on the right SKU instead of an empty results page.
Tools mentioned
02
A UTM-tracked QR landing page, not your homepage
Point every booth QR code to one dedicated landing page URL tagged with UTM tracking parameters like utm_source=sema, utm_medium=booth-qr, and utm_campaign=sema-2026. Build a separate code for each placement if you can, so the banner code and the spec sheet code report separately. Then your analytics will tell you which physical spot in a 20-by-20 booth actually drove traffic, and which collateral items inspired the most interest.
yourstore.com/sema-2026/?utm_source=sema&utm_medium=booth-qr&utm_campaign=sema-2026
The page itself should show your show specials and new releases, with one form asking whether the visitor buys for a business or for their own vehicle. For the new releases, consider adding 3D views. Dopple builds web-based 3D and AR product experiences, so a dealer who only had a few minutes with your lift kit at the booth can rotate it and check mounting points from the hotel that night.
Skip the homepage
Sending QR traffic to your homepage mixes show visitors with normal traffic, pushes interested customers back to the starting line, and you lose the ability to prove the booth paid for itself.
Tools mentioned
03
One lead capture method, tagged “SEMA 2026”
Pick one capture method and make every rep use it. That could be the show’s badge scanner app or a tablet running a Dotdigital or CRM form. Mixing paper cards with badge scans and phone notes is how leads end up in three places and get followed up in none of them.
Whatever you choose, every record needs a tag that says where it came from. In Dotdigital, you can add a hidden field to your booth form that quietly stamps each signup with “SEMA 2026.” Visitors never see it, but it saves to their contact record so you can pull a clean SEMA list later (Dotdigital’s documentation shows how). Test it before the show to make sure the tag sticks. If you use badge scans instead, add the same tag when you import the file. Then add a second field for buyer type. You will need it on November 9.
Tools mentioned
04
A shared doc of booth questions
Open one shared Google Doc and tell every rep to log the questions they hear, word for word, with the product they were about. Questions like these are worth writing down:
“Does this clear 35s with the stock fender liner?”
“Do you drop ship for dealers without a minimum?”
Why it matters for follow-up
These questions become your first email after the show and the outline for your next few blog posts. They are also the exact phrasing your buyers type into Google, which is more useful than any keyword tool.
05
Your booth number on social and email, starting now
Put your booth number and hall in every rep’s email signature, then send a short note to your current dealer list. Buyers plan their routes before they land in Las Vegas. If your existing accounts know where to find you, you get scheduled meetings instead of random foot traffic, and scheduled meetings produce better notes for follow-up.
Why do SEMA leads go cold so fast?
Leads go cold because every other exhibitor is emailing the same buyer the same week, and the buyer is sorting through roughly 2,300 brands’ worth of business cards. The window is short. SEMA’s own guidance tells exhibitors to contact leads within days and no more than a few weeks after the show.
The intent is there, though.
90%
of buyers plan to make a purchase from exhibitors after the show.SEMA buyer research
Purchase intent without a timely, specific follow-up just means the order goes to whoever emailed first with the right fitment page and pricing. A generic “great to meet you at SEMA” email sent two weeks later competes with that and usually loses.
How should you segment trade buyers from public day visitors?
Split them into separate lists before you send anything. Trade visitors from November 3 to 5 are dealers and shop owners who want pricing tiers and minimum order quantities. Visitors from Friday, November 6, are mostly enthusiasts who want to know where to buy the part they saw and whether it fits their own truck.
Sending both groups the same email wastes both opportunities. A dealer who gets a 10% retail coupon thinks you do not understand wholesale. An enthusiast who gets a dealer application form does nothing with it. The tag you add at the booth (buyer type plus date) is what makes this split possible, which is why step 3 in our pre-show recommendations above matters so much.
In Dotdigital, build one segment for each group using those tags, then set up a separate automated program for each:
Nov 3 to 5, trade days
Dealers and shop owners
Want pricing tiers and minimum order quantities.
Trade program
- Within 48 hoursA personal note from the rep who met them, the line sheet for products they asked about, and a link to apply for a dealer account.
- Day 7Answers to the most common booth questions.
- Day 14An offer to get on a call.
Nov 6, public day
Enthusiasts
Want to know where to buy the part they saw and whether it fits their own truck.
Public day program
- Welcome emailLinks to the exact products shown at the booth, with fitment lookup front and center.
- Show-only offerA real discount with a real expiration date.
- After first purchaseMove them into your regular Dotdigital retention emails.
The dealer application is where trade follow-up most often stalls, so get it ready before the show. Ask for a resale certificate on the application itself. Avalara can collect and validate exemption certificates and tie them to the customer account, so a new dealer’s first order isn’t taxed by mistake and nobody has to chase paperwork afterward. On BigCommerce, approved dealers can go straight into a customer group with their own price list, so the pricing tiers your reps quoted at the booth are what the dealer sees when they log in. If dealers expect to pay by invoice or need more payment options than a retail checkout offers, BlueSnap handles B2B payments alongside your regular card processing.
The public day program needs its own safeguards. Show-only discount codes travel fast on forums and social media, and a sudden wave of first-time buyers is exactly the pattern fraudsters hide in. Signifyd reviews each order before it ships, so you can honor the offer without eating chargebacks. Once those orders ship, Route gives new customers package protection and live tracking, which matters when they’re buying from a brand they met a few days earlier.
The dealer and order stack
Dotdigital is a natural fit for the consumer side, especially if you already run your post-purchase flows there. Trade leads often need a CRM too, since those deals involve reps, quotes, and multiple steps before an order. Dotdigital connects with CRMs like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics, so you can keep dealer deals in the CRM and still send both groups email from one place.
What else should happen in the weeks after the show?
Email is the first move, not the only one. Two other pieces turn a four-day event into a quarter’s worth of pipeline.
Retargeting show visitors
Everyone who scanned your QR code hit a tagged landing page, so you can build a retargeting audience from those visits on Meta Ads and Google Ads, and upload your tagged contact lists as custom audiences. Show the trade segment dealer program ads. Show the public segment the products they looked at. Keep the window tight, about 30 days, because show interest fades with the holidays.
Turning booth questions into content
Go back to the shared doc. Group the questions by product, answer the top ten on the product pages, and turn the bigger ones into posts. “Will a 3-inch lift on a 2025 Silverado need new upper control arms?” is a search people run all year, and you heard it from a buyer in person. That content keeps paying off long after November.
Reporting what the booth earned
Set a date, around 60 days after the show, to report on it. Pull new dealer accounts and revenue tied to the SEMA 2026 tag and UTM campaign, then put that next to the booth cost. If you skip this, you will decide whether to exhibit in 2027 on gut feel.
How Blayzer helps with SEMA follow-up
Blayzer has built ecommerce and marketing programs since 1998, and automotive is one of our core industries. We set up the tagged landing pages and lead forms, build the trade and public day programs in Dotdigital, and run the retargeting and post-show reporting that connects SEMA leads to orders and revenue. You keep your focus on the booth and the buyers. See our email marketing services and our Dotdigital partnership for how we set these programs up.
Is it too late to make SEMA 2026 worth it?
No. Three weeks is enough time to publish the booth product pages and print tagged QR codes, and one afternoon is enough to settle on a lead capture method. What cannot wait is the follow-up plan, because the trade program should go out within 48 hours of meeting a buyer and the public day leads land on Friday, November 6, the last day of the show. If the segmented programs are not built before then, your leads sit in a spreadsheet through the following week while other exhibitors reach the same buyers first.
Before November 6
Get your trade and public day programs built before the show
We’ll map your follow-up around the leads you bring home from Las Vegas, with retargeting and a day-60 ROI report built in.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is SEMA 2026?
SEMA 2026 runs November 3 to 6, 2026, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Tuesday through Thursday are trade-only days from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday, November 6, is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., which means your booth will see two very different types of visitors that week.
How soon should you follow up with SEMA leads?
Follow up with trade leads within 48 hours, while the conversation is still fresh. SEMA’s own guidance tells exhibitors to contact leads within days and no more than a few weeks after the show. Buyers meet hundreds of exhibitors that week, so a fast, specific email that references your booth conversation stands out from the generic thank-you notes.
Is SEMA open to the public?
Yes, but only on the last day. SEMA 2026 is trade only from November 3 to 5. On Friday, November 6, the general public can attend. Exhibitors should tag leads by day and buyer type so that enthusiasts and trade buyers get different follow-up emails, offers, and next steps after the show.
What should a trade show QR code link to?
Link your QR code to a dedicated landing page, not your homepage. Tag the URL with UTM parameters so your analytics can separate show traffic from normal visits. The page should feature your new releases and show offers, plus a short form that asks whether the visitor buys for a shop or for their own vehicle.
How do you measure trade show ROI?
Tag every lead with the event name and track a dedicated UTM campaign for show traffic. About 60 days after the show, pull new dealer accounts and revenue tied to those tags, then compare the total to what the booth and travel cost you. Without tags set before the show, you cannot measure this accurately.
Can I meet the Blayzer team at SEMA?
Yes. Our team will be in Las Vegas for the show, and we’re hosting an ecommerce happy hour with BigCommerce on Thursday, November 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. at F1 Arcade in The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. Thanks to our sponsors Avalara, Athos Commerce, BlueSnap, Dotdigital, Dopple, Patchworks, Route, and Signifyd for helping make it happen. Patchworks is also covering free Lyft rides from the convention center. If you’d rather talk during show hours, book a time with us and we’ll come by your booth.
Thanks to our happy hour sponsors
