The tween literary sensation “The Hunger Games”  has been invading homes across America, and with the big screen opening, that spread is about to go even further.  The stories may have started out for youngsters, but the broad-sweeping message applies to more than you may think.  Just compare it to your trade show exhibiting plans, and you’ll begin to see the similarities…

The Reaping: Just as the names are chosen from a giant glass ball in “The Hunger Games” your company, too, will have to decide who the lucky people are that get to staff their trade show booth.  For some, this is the part of the job they love: talking to people, displaying a product or service they believe in, making connections, and feeding off the energy of the show.  For others, they may be dreading the thought of having to go.  Either way, once chosen you need to come up with a strategy to win. This means using your strengths to your advantage.  Are you outspoken and gregarious?  Use it to gather in attendees and start a conversation.  Are you more introverted, but are great at deciphering body language?  Use that to make a connection with your prospect. Everyone has something unique and important to bring to the table.

The Stylists:  In “The Hunger Games” the tributes are all given makeovers to persuade onlookers to root for and sponsor them.  The same goes for you when you’re in your trade show booth.  If you want to draw attention to your booth and products you both have to look good.  You can come up with a unified look, or let each individual choose for themselves, as long as it’s professional and flattering.  You’re on display as much as your product or service, so go out of your way to look ready for the game to begin and draw in your fans.

The Cornucopia:  In the arena, the cornucopia provides an arsenal of tools, weapons, supplies, and food and it’s up for grabs to whoever can get there first.  At trade shows, you have a huge pool of help to choose from as well, you just have to take advantage of it.  Does your trade show display builder also provide asset management or I&D to give you an advantage and make your life easier?  Use it.  Focus your efforts on the show and gaining the right prospects, and leave the other stuff to the experts.

The Games:  Now that you’re on the show floor, it’s every trade show display for themselves.  If you want to end up in the winner’s circle, you have to think fast and stay one step ahead of everyone else.  Do you have an eye-catching design or demo to attract attendees?  While that prospect has their interest piqued, don’t hesitate.  Engage them and uncover their needs.  The more times you do this, the greater the odds you’ll come up with hot leads that will go further into the sales cycle.  You only have a few hours to get all this done, and if you don’t take care of them, your competition will.

The Victor’s Tour:  Think once the big show is over you get to sit back and rest?  Guess again.  Now is the time to revisit all those people you connected with during the show.  Check in, see how they’re doing, and if their needs have changed or evolved.  Continue the representation of the brand you displayed at the trade show.  Show them your gratitude for choosing your company, and continue to prove that you are the best one for the job.

There is probably much more that can be learned from Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the series, so check it out for yourself and see what you can find.  And remember, the book is always better than the movie.

“The Hunger Games” was won with a bow and arrow, but you can hit your trade show target by reading the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  Click here to request your free copy of the guide that reveals what exhibitors say works for them in 7 key areas of trade show marketing. 

When you are planning, executing or following up for a trade show there is never a shortage of things to do.  We often have a long list of tasks with numerous looming deadlines throughout the whole trade show process.  How can we help tackle all of these items?  The most efficient way to get through a task is to delete it. That’s right, just delete it off of the face of the earth!

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  ”Wait! I can’t just delete things off of my To Do List!”  It is a difficult concept to accept, and it took me at least a year before I dared delete a task off of the sacred “To Do List” without have actually done it.  Trust me though, this applies to a lot more tasks than you think.  There is a lot of busy work with your trade show exhibit that can simply be deleted from your list.  Just take a minute to let some of this digest.  Ok, now that you’ve calmed down and the idea of just deleting something has crept into your mind you might be wondering, “How do I know what I can delete or not?”  The best way that I’ve found to determine if you can delete something is by using Randy Pausch’s Four Quadrant To Do List.

He breaks out his tasks into four quadrants.

1. Important and Due Soon

2. Important and Not Due Soon

3. Not Important and Due Soon

4. Not Important and Not Due Soon

As you can see, this is a quick and clear cut way to define the tasks that you need to get done and when.  You will be amazed at how many of these tasks will fall into the third and forth quadrants, which more often than not can and should be deleted.  Check out Randy’s Quadrant and try it out.  Then, if you are feeling bold, go ahead and cross off one of those tasks that are in the 3rd or 4th quadrant and see what happens.

We are trying to focus our efforts on to what is important and urgent.  Too often we fill our days with busy work that is really not productive, but it makes of feel like we are getting things done.  This system refocuses us to direct our efforts to what is important.  When you apply this to what needs to be done with your trade show display or exhibiting plan, you might be surprised at how quickly you meet your goals.

And yes, there is an App for that, but you can also use a pen and paper.

For more ways to be your best exhibitor, read the What’s Working in Exhibiting white paper.  This 32 page guide gives you almost 100 tips about most effective strategies and tactics exhibitors are using today to boost their results and stretch their budgets.  Click here to request your free copy.

How do you prevent deadlines from sneaking up on you?  With life moving at internet speed, it’s nearly impossible.  Over the years, I’ve found a sure-fire prescription to prevent the rampant spread of the much feared disease, “Deadline Eruption Syndrome.”

In fact, the preventive measure prescribed here is a time-tested remedy.  It can help you avoid that sick-to-your-stomach feeling brought on by the avalanche of missed deadlines, missed opportunities and missed sales from trade shows.  I am betting this prescription, when consumed regularly, will keep you healthy, wealthy and wise when it comes to trade shows.

Click on the image to download the Trade Show Planning Flowchart

So, what’s the big Rx?  Simple. Build a standardized, calendar-driven, cyclical process to anticipate and manage those activities that are sure to recur (as trade shows always do). The entire Trade Show Planning Rx is a one-pager you can download here.

It’s no revelation that you should begin by identifying goals and objectives, a fundamental yet often overlooked step by super busy managers.  It’s best to kick-off this cycle in 4^th Quarter, looking forward across the entire next year.  Build out a spreadsheet itemizing your annual show schedule, trade show exhibit budgets, and goals (both overall goals and show-by-show).  In addition to establishing the essential sales and lead collection goals, challenge your team to develop a new set of social metrics to watch: Facebook Fans, Foursquare Check-Ins, Twitter Followers, Pinterest Repins.  Once identified, you’ll be best served to track them obsessively.

In late 4^th Quarter, pull out your trade show booth and evaluate its condition.  Take the time to know exactly what you’re working with so that when the time comes to develop more detailed strategies, you can clearly envision design opportunities and limitations.  Knowing your exhibit properties intimately lets you work from a position of know-how when developing the outreach plan – which will result in exciting, unique and compelling experiences to engage, educate and motivate your audiences.

Next, develop a single, replicable strategic plan that includes these sections:

-          Logistics

-          On-Site Experience

-          Lead Handling & Sales

-          Three Distinct Outreach Plans

• Social Media & Marketing
• Press & Industry
• Strategic Partners

Your strategic plan will serve as a road map, guiding you to execute each show effectively and predictably — all year, one by one.

The prescription will kick in every week during your regular status meetings – when your team discusses and reports on all the pre-show, on-site and post-show activities that are occurring for each show on the schedule, driven by the strategic plans firmly in place.

True, it’s easier said than done.  Engineering and maintaining an effective trade show program takes a lot of work.  And, it all starts with a plan that incorporates a defined measurement approach that allows you to watch your program perform and grow.  And with the Trade Show Planning Rx as your spoon full of sugar, you’re sure to grow in the most delightful way.

Give your prescription a booster and stay ahead of the game by reading the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper. This 32-page white paper has almost 100 tips for what exhibitors say works for them in 7 key areas of trade shows. Click here to request your free copy. 

When faced with a large task, one of the best ways to approach it is to “Divide and Conquer.”  You break apart the problem or task at hand, and deal with each smaller, individual portion until the whole process is complete.  This rule can apply to your trade show planning, as well.  There are countless aspects of planning and execution that, when grouped altogether, can be quite intimidating to complete.  Here’s how to break it down and swiftly move yourself from beginning to end.

1. Make A Pre-Show Strategy.  What is it that you want to accomplish at this show:  Meet new leads? Gain face-to-face time with your existing clients?  Scope out the competition and others in the industry?  Whatever it may be, decide on your most important factor and build your plan around that.  Involve your trade show exhibit booth staffers as well, so that you can present a unified message and goal.
2. Do Your Work Ahead Of Time.  Don’t wait until the show is already started to implement your strategy.  Get ahead of the competition by sending out invitations to your trade show booth a few weeks before the show to set up meetings with clients.  This will help you make the most of the precious time you have at the show, and let your existing clients know you care about their business.
3. Give Attendees An Experience.  Providing a learning experience at the show, such as a quick seminar in the booth or a demo of a new product, will make a greater impact on your trade show booth visitors.  This will make you more memorable and thus, more likely to close a deal later on.
4. Have A Post-Show Strategy Prepared.  What do you do with all the leads you took when you get back to the office?  A plan for fulfillment or follow up is a crucial step that is often times botched or simply forgotten.  Keep your leads organized while at the show.  Separate them into A, B, and C piles.  Enter them to your CRM system according to their rating.  Create a quick and simple, personalized cover letter for your more important leads, fulfill them, and send them out.  Then, repeat the process as you go down the list.  Do not wait!  The faster these are fulfilled and out the door, the better chance you have at gaining a sale.  Not to mention the sooner you’ll have peace of mind at getting the monkey off your back.
5. Measure Your Results.  This process can be tricky as it can come weeks and even months after the show and fulfillment have taken place.  Keeping all those leads organized after the show will really pay off when you are doing the follow up.  Know who your A leads are and which sales rep they were assigned to.  Ask your reps to give a 1, 3, or 6 month follow up report so you know where they are at in the sales cycle.  At that point, you can begin to determine if the show, and your marketing plan, were worthwhile based on the sales and potential sales you have coming in.

Of course, there are many more details that can go into each of these steps, but by breaking it down into smaller sections it can be easier to handle. Use this plan as a jumping off point to recognize your big objectives, then fill in the details as your plan evolves.

For a deeper look at what you can do to make the best trade show exhibiting plan, read the What’s Working In Exhibiting guidebook.  Click here to request your free copy of the white paper that tells what exhibitors say works best for them in 7 key areas of trade shows. 

You never have a second chance to make a great first impression — except on the second day of a trade show!  That’s when you get a whole new batch of attendees to impress.

Because the first day of a trade show usually has the most foot traffic, Day 2 and 3 can be a let down by comparison.  But Day 1 is never perfect, and with the following plan, you can made quick adjustments to generate greater results on Day 2, even while the traffic is slower.

Here are several key areas you can monitor and adjust on Day 2:

Trade Show Booth Staffers:

• Are your staffers working well?  Are they spending the right amount of time with each attendee?
• What opening lines worked well?  Which bombed?
• Check each booth staffers’ lead counts, and if they are taking complete leads with notes about what attendees asked for, and especially if they are qualifying leads or not.
• Were all aisles around your island trade show display covered, or did staffers congregate in a few spots?
• Were your staffers comfortable delivering demos and using any interactive technology in the booth?  Are they smooth or shaky?
• If you hired Crowd Gatherers, how well did the hand off go from them to your own staffers?
• Your new booth staffers showing up for the first time on Day 2 will need the same complete booth staff training you gave before Day 1.
• If there is less traffic on Day 2, remember that you can only talk to one person at a time.  On a busy day there are a lot of people walking by that you can’t get to anyhow while you talk to an attendee.
• If there is a lot less traffic on Day 2 (or 3 …), go ahead and take longer with the leads that you do get.  Ask them deeper questions, or take longer demoing the product they like.

Promotions:

• Check your promotional giveaway quantities — are your trade show booth staffers giving them out at the right time to the right people, or just handing them out willy-nilly?
• Do you have enough giveaways to honor your promises for the rest of the show?
• Did your at-show promotion spin out of control, where your staffers got so caught up in the promo that they forgot to advance the buying cycle with attendees?

Trade Show Exhibit Design:

• Were there any parts of the exhibit that were missing or did not get set up completely before the show opened on the first day?  Make sure you get them taken care of before Day 2 starts.
• How well did the exhibit layout work within the flow of traffic for this show?  If there were glaring problems, can you make adjustments?
• Were you featuring any product in the booth that really did not generate any interest?  If so, can you remove it from the booth?  Better yet, can you replace it with a more popular product?
• Did attendees “get” your messaging?  If not, can you adjust?

Where To Get Feedback

If this is a lot to look for, remember that you’ve got help.  You can get great feedback from your team in a few ways:

• Take your booth staff team out to dinner after the first day.  Ask them how they thought the day went, and how to improve.
• Ask your booth staffing veterans.  They have the experience to know what worked before, and when things are getting off track.
• Ask your rookies.  They see things with fresh eyes.  They may have booth staffing knowledge from another company, too.
• Check your lead cards, and count leads per booth staffer, and percent leads completed per booth staffer.  Find who needs coaching, and who can do that coaching for you.

Implement Your Day 2 Plan

Host a pre-show meeting in the booth with your staffers one hour before the show starts on the second day.  Go over what’s been going well (such as any stellar leads taken on Day 1), what you would like to improve, and how you want to fix it.  Ask all the staffers for feedback, but especially the ones who have already given you good feedback that you want your entire team to hear.  Then get everyone on board with your fixes.

Some of these items may not be fixable for Day 2, or even any day while you are at the show.  If so, then use this checklist to review after your show is over, to prepare for your next show.

So while Day 1 is usually the busiest day of the show, with a perceptive eye, good teamwork, and flexibility, you can make Day 2 even better.

Whether it’s Day 1, Day 2, or later, trade shows provide great value to both exhibitors and attendees.  Read why – and how you can improve your results with this knowledge – in the 24-page white paper, The Value Of Trade Shows.  Click here to request your free copy. 

So much planning, time, and effort goes into getting ready for a trade show.  You think about design, budget, who will staff the booth, and what kind of leads you may get.  But, sometimes, a very important part of exhibiting can be overlooked:  What do you do if you run into shipping issues? It would be pretty hard to exhibit without your trade show booth present at the show.  To avoid such disaster, follow these 12 logistics tips to ensure a smoother trade show:

1. Pre-plan. Get shipping estimates from 3 logistics companies and compare the prices.  If you are shipping to multiple shows a year, you will also want to get references from companies you trust who ship. Speak to your logistics company and work out the best price you can get.  The more notice you can give them, the better.
2. Ship to advanced warehouse.  If you have this option, take it. You can avoid booth delays and move in target delays for your booth by doing so.  This is especially important if you have a 10×10 or larger modular booth or accessories.
3. Advise your broker.  If you are shipping across a border let your broker know.  Send all required documents ahead of time so they are aware your shipment is coming to avoid border delay.
4. Paperwork.  Fill in all necessary paperwork ahead of time and be sure a copy goes with the logistics driver upon pick up.  If you are shipping monitors and/or electronics of any kind, be reminded there are special forms for this.  If you need assistance, avoid problems from the start and contact your broker.
5. Labels.  It is important to label all shipment cases and boxes clearly with your company name,  show name, and booth number to ensure safe arrival to your booth.  Be sure to have a phone number on the cases or boxes in case of loss or destination mix up.
6. Avoid last minute shipments.  When possible, do your best to stay away from this pitfall.  This is costly and you risk the booth not showing up on time.
7. Know what’s allowed to ship.  Do not ship perishable items! Make sure whatever you’re sending is cleared to be put in a box and sent around the world.
8. Call ahead.  The day prior to shipment pick up, call to confirm the schedule is on time.  If it’s not, you still have time to use a back up plan.  Don’t wait until you’re sitting at the show empty handed.
9. Tracking.  Always get the shipment tracking number from your shipper and track daily to see shipment progress and ensure timely arrival.
10. Pre-Arrange pick up.  Have your trade show exhibit ready and labeled with the return destination.  Leave one copy of shipping paperwork at the booth, and hand the other one in to the show.
11. Track return shipment.  Be sure to confirm shipment pick up to avoid ‘Forced Freight.’  This can go unnoticed for days if shipment isn’t being tracked and can be very costly.  If  shipment is held, each day a new charge is accumulated.
12. Return shipment. Check all contents upon return.  If anything is damaged or missing you must deal with it immediately.  When time elapses, there is less chance of repairing or finding the missing shipment.

These tips may have opened your eyes to new precautions to take when shipping, or might have reminded you of a very bad day you once had!  With this arsenal of logistics tips, you will have much smoother shipping and exhibiting at your future trade shows!

Being an expert at logistics and shipping will ensure your trade show booth gets where it needs to go.  To find out what else you should have down pat before you get to the show, read the What’s Working In Exhibiting guidebook.  This 32-page white paper reveals what exhibitors are doing in 7 key areas to create successful trade shows.  Click here to request your free copy. 

The romance novel industry, or Harlequin industry, is the most researched and tested book industry out there.  Yes, believe it or not the covers of those paperback books with shirtless Fabio-like men, and titles like The Bounty Hunter and the Heiress, Falling for Mr. Dark & Dangerous, The Spanish Doctor’s Love-Child and 1-800-HERO, are all targeted messages focused on a specific market: women.  If you don’t believe me about the titles type them into Amazon.  There was major time, effort and money that went into picking the titles and image covers for these books.

Let’s take a quick look at the romance novel industry statistics provided by Carmel Hagan in her TEDx Talk:

The Romance Novel Industry:

• 74 million readers
• $1.5 billion dollar industry
• 50% of the paperback market
• 70% of fiction market
• 50% of Harlequin readers read 30 books a month
• 4 Harlequins sell every second
• 46% of all paperbacks sold in US are Harlequins
• 1 in 4 Americans read romance novels

Yes, this is a very large industry, and it is not just those cheap paperbacks.  They are dominating the digital world as well.  The number one selling book for the iPad is a romance novel.  I’m not telling you this so that you can curl up with a good romance novel and a glass of wine after a long day on the show floor.  I’m telling you this because the romance novel industry has done a fantastic job at creating a very focused and targeted product to meet the needs of their audience.  As Hagan points out, everything that makes it into the cover, title, or the actual book itself is heavily tested and targeted towards their audience.

Think of your trade show marketing efforts as a romance novel.  ”Our eyes meet across the show floor and my heart burned hotter than the halogen lighting of his booth.”  Stop, not like that.  There will be thousands of attendees walking by your trade show exhibit each day you are at the show and you need to have a targeted message and content focused on what they want.  That message needs to be clear and direct as I mentioned in my post on How Trade Show Booth Staffing Is Like Speed Dating.  You don’t have a lot of time to capture and engage attendees, so your message needs to be clear and direct.  Ever wander through the romance novel section of a book store?  There are hundreds of books there, just like on the show floor, you need to make sure that your message is going to capture the attention of your audience.

Here are some basic steps to taking a more focused approach to your trade show marketing.

1.  Know your audience.  Hagan talks about several key words and male professions that sell the best and those are the ones that authors use in the titles and descriptions of their books.  Know the key terms, selling points, pain points or opportunities of your target market and tailor your message to them.  In short, know what your target market wants and specifically what they want at your show.

2.  Keep it simple.  Mike Thimmesch wrote a great post, Double Stuff Cookies, Not Your Trade Show Exhibit, on the importance of having a simple and clear message at your trade show booth.  It is not about telling the whole story of your company or product, it’s about a targeted message.  This is true for your display as well as your staff.  You don’t have a lot of time to interact so don’t try and tell attendees everything, just qualify them and give them what they need.

3.  Research and test.  Just like the marketing departments for those cheesy romance novels you need to know what key words, messages, features and benefits that your audience wants.  Sometimes this research is available, but often times it’s not. You need to test your market through social media, email marketing, surveys and simply connecting more with your audience.  The more you are in tune with your audience the better you will be able to know what their needs are.

This is far from a comprehensive marketing plan but I hope that it helps to show the importance of knowing your target market and having a simple and focused message that will tug at the strings of your audience’s hearts.

A focused message is a great place to start when planning your trade show.  To find out more tips and strategies of successful exhibitors, read the  What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  Click here to request your free copy.

This may seem obvious, but more often than not, it is the simple things that can make the biggest differences.  For anyone who has had to coordinate an event or trade show exhibit, you know that there is never a shortage of things to do; and there is certainly a lot that goes into a successful trade show.

Batching is a simple and effective way to really maximize your time and effort.  We do this on a regular basis already when we run errands or have a lot of things to do, but we can apply this principle to almost all of the tasks we need to do.  Let’s look at some activities that we can batch that will really save us some time pre-show, during and after a trade show.

 Pre-Show

There is always a ton of things that need to go in to a successful trade show.  Here are some of the tasks that you can batch together that will help reduce the amount of time you will spend on these tasks:

Reservations:  Hotel, Flights, Restaurants, Personal invites, VIP invites to your trade show booth.

When planning for any large event I find it is easier to get all of the reservations/flights/etc. done in one sitting.  This ensures that I cover all of the reservations that I need to make, as well as invite any VIPs that I need to.  The big time saver by doing all of this in one sitting is that tasks like these can really drag out.  We all want to get into the best hotel and find the cheapest flight, but often times we take way too much time to make these decisions.  The cost savings will not justify the amount of time you may have wasted trying to find the perfect option.  We have too many options these days; read The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz  or listen to the TED talk to hear why having too many options is paralyzing us.  Get all of these things done all at once and move on.

During the Show

Try to coordinate your appointments together so that you can meet with all of your clients on one day.  This can get tricky and you do need to accommodate your client’s needs first, but having scattered appointments throughout a 3 or more day show can make the already crazy show floor even crazier.  This may take some coordinating, and you certainly need to allow enough time for each client, but it will allow you to focus on those clients and not have to worry about all those appointments throughout the whole show.

After the Show

As we’ve learned from our Successful Trade Show Marketing Strategies Seminars, the follow up after a show is one of the most important parts of a successful show.  This is a great opportunity to batch tasks because a lot of these activities are going to be repetitive and potentially time consuming.  If you can batch all of your “A” priority leads into one group and focus on them first, then move on to the “B’s” then “C’s” and so forth, you will be able to focus more on the leads and not get distracted by all of the work you missed while at the show.

Other than the obvious advantages of batching your tasks, this allows you to better focus on related activities.  As we learned in a previous post, 3 Ways To Get More Out Of Your Day, switching tasks is often a big time waster and takes an average of 11 minutes to switch from one task to another before you are fully engaged again in that activity.  The less switching you have to do the better.  Batching your tasks can help you better focus on what needs to get done.

Trade show marketers must balance innumberable tasks and activities to be successful in today’s exhibiting world.  To find out how your peers manage their countless responsibilities, read  The Evolving Role of Exhibit Marketers white paper. To receive your free copy of this 36-page guide, click here.

Are you a trade show exhibitor?  Or a trade show marketer?

It’s understandable that as an exhibitor you get caught up in logistics, because no matter what, you have to get your booth from point A to point B (and to point C, D, E, and so on).  But those required logistics can sometimes crowd out the even more important marketing aspect of trade shows.

So let’s take a few minutes to set logistics aside (don’t worry, they’ll still be there when you get back) and focus on how you can be a better marketer who just happens to use trade shows.

Target Your Best Personas

Personas are portraits you create to better understand your best clients as prospects.  A good persona includes age, gender, income, ethnicity, and even emotional aspects such as personality, likes & dislikes, their mentality, and key motivators.  A persona gives your team a more tangible, living target to aim for when you create your marketing materials.   You can create and target several personas.  For example, a car company may have car buyer personas that are driven by status, or economy, or hauling family, or sustainability.  When you understand your buyer personas, you can tailor all marketing aspects to better appeal to them.

Write A Creative Brief

A creative brief is a like a mini-marketing plan for your trade show.  It takes some time to pull together, but it saves you time in the end.   Include in your creative brief your goals for the show, your positioning, your strengths and weaknesses compared to competitors, what you want to have happen in the booth and after the show, how you plan to promote your presence at the show, and even your show budget.  Once you have it, you can share it with your booth staffers and the vendors you are hiring for the show, such as your exhibit house or your promotions vendor.

Select The Right Shows

Rather than choose which shows to exhibit at based on cost per square foot or number of total attendees, your marketing mind should instead hone in on the number of attendees that fit your target market, or the return on investment you’ve received at previous years’ shows.  You look at which vertical market shows exist where you have the greatest potential, even if the overall show attendance pales compared to your main industry shows.  And you regularly reexamine your show schedule based on marketing potential and performance.

Design Your Exhibit As A Marketing Tool

Your trade show displays are not just pieces of furniture – they are marketing tools that both communicate a message and support your booth staff.  Make sure your trade show exhibit lives up to its full marketing potential.  Does it clearly communicate a compelling reason for your buyers to stop and visit you?  Does it boldly say (with both images and text) what products and services you offer, and how you are better?  And if you are exhibiting at a variety of shows (based on personas in different job titles or industries), can you change your graphics to more directly appeal to your various personas?

Create Promotions That Appeal To Your Personas

Trade show promotions can get more people into your booth.  Be sure to pick your promotions with a critical and inspired marketing eye, to ensure you excite your best buyer personas, and avoid attracting non-buyers to your trade show booth.   This is the fun part of trade show marketing – when your promotions are so on-target that you build stronger relationships with your buyers because they recognize that you truly understand them.  You do that with compelling offers they crave, and with a look and feel that matches your buyer’s personality.

Follow Up Leads More Than Just Fast

The logistical part of trade show lead follow up means getting the leads into the computer and out to the sales force quickly, and getting your packets in the mail within a few days.   That’s awesome, and essential.  But with a marketing perspective you can go much further.  Make sure you and your booth staff qualified the leads before your send them on their way, so your sales force knows which leads to pursue first.  And don’t just send out a generic follow up packet – tailor your marketing materials specifically to what each attendee asked for.  You’ll create more sales with your trade show leads that way.

So by all means, be an expert at getting your show paperwork in on time to get the early discount.  Know how to set up your banner stands in under a minute flat.  Just remember that you are at trade shows to build your company image, generate sales leads, and build stronger client relationships.  Achieving those admirable marketing objectives requires you to sharpen your marketing skills.

With everything that goes into trade show exhibiting, it can be hard to balance it all.  Read the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper for the best tips about the most effective strategies and tactics exhibitors are using today to boost their results and stretch their budgets.  Click here to request your free copy. 

A trade show takes a significant amount of a company’s marketing budget so it’s important to make the most of the opportunity. The payoff can be higher and quicker than many other marketing channels. Winning at trade shows depends greatly upon the work done in advance.

• Investigate the Show.  When you are choosing which trade shows to attend do a little homework.  Find out how long the show has been in existence, the past attendance numbers, the number of vendors, and the advertising planned by the show management.  If possible, talk with other companies who have participated in the past and get their reviews.
• Picking the Booth Space.  Ask early for a floor plan so you can see which booths are available along the center of the show floor.  You can have the best displays and products in the world, but if you are tucked away in a corner you may become the show’s best kept secret.  Don’t wait until the last minute to reserve your space; the best locations will go quickly.
• Advance Marketing.  Take advantage of advertising opportunities offered by the show management, but don’t leave all of the advertising up to them.  Make certain you let all customers & prospects know of your plans to exhibit at the show by pre-show marketing.  A drip campaign is often successful, using several channels, such as e-mail, direct mail, personal invites from sales staff & more.
• Get the Attendee List.  Most shows provide an advance list of registered attendees for the show.  Cross-check the list with your own database to find which customers are attending.  Then segment the list by company size, geographic location or assigned sales rep.  Use the list in your pre-show marketing efforts to drive booth traffic.
• Strategically Plan Your Exhibit.  Don’t try to cram every product detail on your trade show booth graphics – your brochures should contain all of that information.  Any trade show exhibit should quickly tell a prospective customer 1.) who you are, 2.) what you do and 3.) how you can help them.  Consider what needs to happen in the space to meet & exceed your trade show goals.  For more ideas on designing a trade show exhibit, check out my blog posts on “What Transforms a Trade Show Exhibit into an Experience” and “How to Get the Most Value from Your Trade Show Display Purchase”.
• Use Technology to Enhance Your Presentation.  Light, motion and color attract attention, so use this to your benefit.  Depending on your product or service, you may want to include interactive presentations, videos or live demonstrations in your trade show exhibit.  The more involved your visitors are, the more likely they will be to remember you later.
• Collect Information.  Have a system in place to get the names and email addresses of all your guests and follow up with every guest after the event.  There are many technologies available which collect more information than a traditional badge scanner.  At least get a clipboard to handwrite notes!
• Follow-thru!  When the show ends, your marketing campaign isn’t over.  79% of leads generated at trade shows are not followed up afterwards (ceir.org) — what a waste!  Follow-through by continuing the marketing campaign and ensure that sales reps keep in contact with prospects they’ve met at the show.

Are you winning when it comes to trade shows?  Get more of the most effective strategies and tactics exhibitors are using today to boost their results by reading the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  To request your free copy, click here.