Your answers to these 11 questions will greatly improve your exhibit’s appearance and functionality

While walking a large trade show recently, I couldn’t help but notice that many exhibitors did not look their best.  Why?  Most exhibit managers are orchestrating all the details of the trade show and are preoccupied, making sure everything goes “without a hitch.”  This is fully acceptable – after all, it’s a critical aspect of their job.

All I ask is that you do this at your next show:  Immediately before the show starts, walk out in front of your booth and examine it with a critical eye. Look at yourself in the mirror, so to speak!  You wouldn’t leave your home in the morning without looking your best so why start any trade show looking below-average?

Ask yourself these 11 questions about your trade show exhibit:

1. Upon immediate impression, is the exhibit attractive?
2. On a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the most eye-catching exhibit at the show, how would I rate the exhibit?
3. Is the marketing message concise and is it cohesive with the company’s branding campaign?
4. At first glance, would I want to walk into the exhibit space?  Why or why not?
5. Can attendees move freely within the exhibit space, or does it feel too cluttered?
6. Can the amount of items in the exhibit space be streamlined while maintaining space for essential items?
7. Can products be shown digitally as opposed to shipping actual samples to show?
8. How can technology be integrated into the exhibit effectively, supporting the goal of attracting and informing attendees?
9. What is the exhibit’s “coolness score” on a scale from 1-10 with 10 being the coolest exhibit at the show?
10. If the exhibit is not a 10, what can you do to get to 10?
11. What ideas can be gathered from the booth staff regarding improvements to the exhibit?

Answer these 11 critical questions about how the exhibit really looks and functions and you will better tailor the exhibit’s marketing message to the branding campaign, make the exhibit more inviting to attendees and improve the overall trade show effectiveness!

Thanks to Chris Potelicki for helping out with this blog article!

After you’ve “looked in the mirror,” then look in the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper for more insights into how to boost your trade show effectiveness.  Click here to get your free copy of this 32-page report.

We recently hosted a seminar in Columbus, Ohio on social media and trade shows, and I wanted to share some interesting tips we learned from our panel of four social media experts.  I’ll write one tidbit I learned from each member of the panel and then you can click on each link below to see a short video clip from each panelist giving you their own tip in person (turn up your sound to hear them better!).

24/7 Interactive
Will Burris
will@247interactive.com

Will kicked off our seminar by discussing social media strategies.  He mentioned that in our networked age “sitting on the sidelines is not optional” and that we must strive to find value with all new technology.  Will went on to present 6 Focal Points for the new digital age and related each one to pre-show, at-show and post-show marketing.

In Focal Point #1 of Will’s presentation (Information), he recommends creating a Wikipedia article, Slideshare presentation, or blog post before the show and sending it to your network of contacts and to the show attendee list.  Next, set up a contest where whoever can get your article or presentation re-tweeted at least three times can come to your booth to claim a prize for helping you spread your message.  This is a unique twist on pre-show marketing with a social media flavor!

See all of Will’s presentation, including his other 5 points, here.

Hear Will in person talk about getting engaged with technology in this short video clip: 

Virtual Partner
Tiffany Odutoye
www.virtualpartner.biz

Tiffany focused her presentation on mobile media imploring that “the future is now” in mobile technology.   Tiffany demonstrated that we can use a company called Poll Everywhere to receive instant feedback through the use of our cell phones.  At the seminar, Tiffany had the audience either text or reply on Twitter to the question, “How helpful was this training session?”  We received instant feedback in real time (there were four multiple choice answers that could be responded to) and we were relieved when the instant poll showed favorable results for our seminar!

Connect live audience polling to trade show marketing and you can understand how amazing it would be to be able to receive immediate feedback at your trade show exhibit during the show.  How about providing one or two questions to booth attendees which ask them to reply to questions such as:  “What did you think about our new product introduction?” or “Tell me which product you saw in the booth today interested you the most?”  A simple take away card with a couple of questions and instructions about how they can quickly text or reply on Twitter to your questions might create the best feedback of your entire show… and it would be immediate.

Learn more about Poll Everywhere:  http://www.polleverywhere.com/

See all of Tiffany’s presentation by clicking here.

Hear another tip from Tiffany about remembering what matters most in this short video clip: 

Social Business Strategies
Nate Riggs
www.nateriggs.com

Nate discussed ten ways we can use social media in our trade show marketing efforts.  His tip #1 was to use Flowtown to locate show attendee profiles.  Nate explained that this web based tool allows you to enter email addresses for prospective attendees and then receive a list of all other social media that person is connect to at this time.  This allows you to build a social profile of your attendee before they even enter your exhibit.  More information before the show = better results when you meet that person at the show.  Check it out at:  http://www.flowtown.com/

See Nate’s other nine tips by clicking here. 

Hear Nate speak about the humanization of business in this short video taken after our seminar: 

An OnScene Production
Eric Leslie
http://beonscene.com/

Eric focused his presentation on the “Tools for telling your story online.”  For example, to shoot short video clips, Eric recommends the Kodak Zi8, primarily because it is one of the only flip video cameras on the market now that  has an external microphone hookup for better sound in noisy environments like trade shows.  Click here to visit the Kodak Zi8 web page.  

Hear Eric about remaining authentic online in this short video clip:

In summary, there are many other tips included in the actual linked presentations from Will, Tiffany, Nate and Eric.  It will take some research to determine what will work for you but set a goal for yourself to try a minimum of three new technologies in your trade show marketing efforts this year.  You may be surprised with your results!

Thanks again to our presenters and to everyone who made our seminar a great success.

Trade Shows deserve a place in your marketing plan – GASP!

Throughout the year we have been hearing from customers who are telling us that they are completely cutting out exhibiting as part of their marketing plan this year… even to shows that have worked well for them in the past.  When we question “Why?” all hear back is the standard, “We had to cut our marketing budget and the shows were the first to go.”

Trade Shows – unnecessarily the first to be cut
Why do we reduce our expenses in other marketing categories but are quick to completely axe trade shows altogether?  For example, to cut costs we will:

• Send out 500 versus 1000 of the same direct mail piece or just send out a smaller mailer
• Run a smaller print ad or run it less frequently
• Buy commercial time only during our “busy season” or at off-hours

You get the picture.  So why do trade shows get cut?  Because our justification is that “we can still attend the show.”  However, attending and exhibiting are two very different activities.  The first provides you with information and the second provides you with leads and sales!

Go…but go smaller
Sometimes the simple ideas are the most helpful: Analyze things that have worked for you at shows so you can continue your success while avoiding the knee-jerk reaction of completely cutting all shows.  How can you reduce your trade show expenses and improve your overall ROI?

Christina Schrank, Director of Operations for National Auto Care in Columbus, Ohio was able to exhibit at her national industry show this year but cut some of her trade show expenses in the following ways:

• Smaller booth space – she reduced her space from 20’x 30’ in 2008 to 20’x 20’ in 2009.
  Exhibit update – Christina purchased new graphics for the back side of her 10’ pop up so it was double sided and could be used in the middle of the 20’x 20’ space.
• Fill the space – the 20’x 20’ space was creatively filled with a combination of the pop up exhibit, banner stands and some cardboard cut-out characters that supported the exhibit theme.
• Sponsorship – Christina saved $15,000 in sponsorship costs while still maintaining her status as a Lead Sponsor though some savvy negotiating.  She found better ways to do things by having “more logo footage” throughout the show at a smaller cost.

You can join Christina and the thousands of other trade show marketers in saving costs, improving your ROI and maintaining your exhibiting schedule with these other great ideas:

• Can you invite a non-competitive company to share booth space with you for a fee?
• Re-configure your exhibit or rent an exhibit to fit the smaller space.  Use graphics that are less expensive and can be tossed after a couple of shows (your marketing message may change anyway).
• Smaller exhibit space = less staffers = less travel expenses.  Weigh the cost of having your exhibit set up by an exhibit company vs. having staffers spend an extra day or two traveling.
• Send your portable trade show displays to the staffer’s hotel or to their home to eliminate drayage.  Don’t pay late fees for anything.  Set up the exhibit yourself.  Cut out vacuuming, plants and other unnecessary items.
• Plan shipping time well so that you are sending all items out the slowest, least expensive way possible.  Can some items be sent locally instead of from your location?  Perhaps it’s time to keep your freight company honest by getting a couple of competitive freight quotes for transporting your exhibit materials?
• Can I develop trade show promotions that don’t require shipping large, heavy boxes?  Does everyone entering my booth need a promotional item or can we just give them to valid prospects?  Can I use social media more effectively and less expensively to promote my exhibit?  Do I really have to give away literature at the show?
• Think about the small details because there are lots of savings scattered around your trade show program.

Bottom line: If exhibiting worked for you before the recession, it will continue working for you now.  By analyzing and implementing expense reductions and continuing to do the things that were successful before, you can maintain a strong presence at your industry shows while preventing your competitors from stealing your market share.  Anyone can “show up” during an economic boom.  Showing up in challenging economic times is a true testament to the vision and perseverance that makes a good company a great company.

Special thanks to Chris and Chris for their contributions to this article.

Want more budget-stretching ideas?  Exhibitors told us how they are stretching their trade show budgets for the research report, What’s Working In Trade Show Marketing?  

Click here to ask for your copy.