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. 

So you decide to exhibit at a trade show.  Your competitors have exhibited there and you know your products (or services) are just as good as theirs, if not better, and you want some of that action.  You rent a 10-foot exhibit space, a table and chairs, maybe a simple structure for a backdrop or a generic “show hall special.”  That was easy.  Let the show begin.  Your products are good and competitively priced. They’re almost able to sell themselves.  They’d better be.

Trade Shows DON’T Work Without You

Attendees file through the aisles and only a few have stopped at your trade show exhibit to ask about your company and products.  They turned into solid leads, but there are just too few to justify exhibiting. The ROI just isn’t there.

Trade Shows ARE Work

Trade shows are competitive marketing environments.  From an attendee’s point of view, they can be visual Pop Rocks as exhibitors clamor to be noticed.  With their attention sliced so thin, why would they take any initiative to speak with you if it wasn’t readily apparent that you, potentially, have what they are looking for?  It takes thought and execution to make trade shows work – planning in advance, setting your objectives, appropriately presenting your message and brand, staffing the trade show booth with the right people and a lead follow-up strategy.

Trade Shows DO Work

Do them well and reap the rewards!  It sounds simple, but do these four things well and your trade shows will work:

1.  Determine Objectives:  What are you after?  Leads?  Sales? Exposure?  All of the above?  What does success look like?  Determine that and work toward it.

2.  Design Your Exhibit:  It’s not just a backdrop, it’s a billboard.  Show attendees who you are and how you can help them.  Keep it simple, clear and readable.

3.  Staff The Booth:  Ditch the chairs, the chat, the cheeseburgers and work the aisle.  Be open, welcoming and engage attendees at eye level.

4.  Lead Follow Up:  Do this!  You go through all the effort to generate leads, so get them into the appropriate hands and follow up.  The sooner, the better.  If you don’t, your competitors may win by default.

To go beyond showing up and setting up, read the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  This guidebook reveals effective strategies for everything from show selection to exhibit design and many other keys areas.  Click here to request your free copy. 

Planning for a trade show is a massive undertaking that requires a lot of time and effort and it can be an intimidating project to tackle.  A lot of the time we don’t even know where to start.  There is a lot of work that needs to be done and having a clear focus on what we need to accomplish helps us not get distracted by other tasks.

How do we do this?  I recommend having a small piece of paper with a 2-4 items on it that you have to get done that day.  Do not put an entire week or entire show’s worth of tasks on this list as it will get cluttered and intimidating and will defeat the purpose.  Only include achievable tasks that you have to accomplish that day.

Be specific.  Do not put long-term or abstract goals on the list such as: “Organize trade show,”  ”Promote trade show exhibit event,” or “Reach more customers.”  These will only deter you from actually starting or completing these types of tasks because you won’t know where to start.  Having a limited number of actionable or achievable tasks allows you to focus in on the items that you need to accomplish these goals.

Here is an example of good To Do List:

1. Book hotel and flights for show.

2. Call ten clients to set up appointments in your trade show booth.

3. Submit my show services forms.

I know that this list doesn’t seem like much, but you would be surprised how difficult it can be to get some of these seemingly simple tasks done. If you complete them before the end of the day, great!  Call it a day or add another task to the list; just make sure you add something that you feel you can complete before the end of the day.  Do not start something that will take four hours if it is 3:30pm and you want to leave by 5:00pm.

This is a great way to ensure that you are getting what you need done everyday while feeling good about it.  If you are able to identify what you need to get done and work hard to accomplish those items, you can feel good about heading home ten minutes early.

Your To Do List:

1. Break items down into achievable tasks for the day.

2. Do not clutter the list with too many items.

3. Focus and work to complete your list by the end of the day; have a specific ending time.

4. If you finish early, go home or add another achievable item that you can accomplish that day.

5. Repeat from step 1 tomorrow.

I use this technique on a daily basis.  It has really helped me break down larger projects into manageable tasks as well as keep me focused on what I really need to get done.

For more tips on how to plan your day and your tasks, pick up The Evolving Role of Exhibit Marketers. This 36 page guidebook shares insight from other trade show marketers about what their job is like and how they get it done.  Click here to request your free copy. 

Success at a trade show requires finding a way to capture the attention of the largest number of attendees.  Nothing can catch the eye like light, sound and motion.  If you want to make the most of your trade show opportunity you need to tap into the technology available.  Here are some effective options that clients often consider:

1. Pre-Show Technology.  Before you even set up your trade show booth you will encounter technology options offered by the trade show organization.  Investigate what’s available and take full advantage of those items that can maximize your effectiveness.  Shows typically offer exhibitors with sponsorship opportunities on their web site, email lists &  addresses of attendees, and contact / meeting technology that allows the attendees to look at all the business profiles and contact exhibitors  in advance for appointments.

2. Interactive Activities.  It’s a lot more fun to touch and feel something than to passively observe a product in action.  If you want your trade show exhibit to be the show stopper you can use interactive technology to give your prospects an opportunity to be entertained and informed.  The type of device you use will vary according to your product line.  Touch screens allow companies to gain attendees interaction and help them to quality or disqualify them as a potential customer.  Games can be incorporated in a number of ways, such as a prize game like slot machines, Plinko boards, Toss-N-Win games among others, but make sure the game is tied to your product offering.

 3. Video Loops.  An attention getting video will use vivid imagery, music, color and movement.  The video should eye-catching while being concise and to the point.  Make sure the material is up-to-date — don’t use one from last year that has out-of-date products featured.  Many trade show exhibits can hold monitors of all sizes, even portable displays, like the Skyline Mirage with Monitor Mount or Stratus Table Workstation.

4. DVDs and Flash drives.  After you draw the viewers into your trade show exhibit you need to have something more than a key chain to offer qualified prospects.  Be prepared to follow-up your conversation with promise to mail or FedEx a DVDs or flash drives that contain relevant product presentations to give to anyone who shows more than a passing interest.  The combination of video or an interactive digital piece is a complimentary marketing tool to printed materials such as brochures.

5. Social Media.  A newer addition to the trade show technology toolbox, social media, can be a cost effective marketing medium.  Many people use smart phones — sites like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare allow exhibitors and attendees connect before, during and after trade shows.  Post updates about your trade show exhibit & show experience on your Facebook Fan Page.  Follow Twitter hash tags for the show to find & interact with attendees.  Create a check-in for your booth space for attendees to create an interactive experience.

6. iPads & Tablets.  While these items are also new trade show technology additions, they can be added to your booth experience as more than just a giveaway.  Create an app for attendees to download on their tablets.  Use iPads to demo your web site or share product photos.  Create a testimonial video with a satisfied customer, which you can share during a conversation.  Take notes and develop a digital lead card for booth staffers.

Learn about more challenges and opportunities with technology that face you and your peers at trade shows  by reading The Evolving Role of Exhibit Marketers white paper.  To request your free copy, click here.  

1. Start with the Show Regulations.  Are you even allowed to do what you are trying to do with your trade show booth?  It varies from show to show, city to city, even venue to venue.  Know before you even begin planning.
2. Stay Aware of Your Surroundings at All Times.  Especially watch out for forklifts and golf carts whose concentration is often on getting a task done quickly.  Large equipment typically makes noise when approaching so leave your headphones at home.
3. Big Exhibits Go High.  So be aware of those on ladders, decks, scaffolding, and cranes.  Even the smallest falling object can cause a serious injury.
4. Using Ladders, know the limit of your skill set.  Maintain a three point contact with the ladder when climbing or descending (that’s two feet & one hand or two hands and one foot).  Always test the ladder beforehand and check for any missing or damaged parts.
5. Back Support. When lifting anything having to do with your trade show display, do it with proper form!  Bending to lift anything is usually bad.  Bending to lift something heavy is almost always bad.  Rather than risk your limit, ask for help when moving heavy objects.
6. Exhibit Stability. Never assume something can stand by itself without support…even for “just a second.”  Leaving something balancing even for a few seconds can lead to injury of you or someone else.  Please don’t do it.  The same guideline goes for leaning objects against each other.
7. Dress Smartly.  The appropriate clothing and shoes is imperative.  Avoid sandals or open toe shoes as well as excessively baggy shirts or pants.
8. Sharp Edges are everywhere!  Table corners, deck edges, open crates, staples, nails, screws, utility knives, equipment, … If you see a hazard, help to correct it.
9. Stay Hydrated.  Trade show floor set up and take down is usually hot and cramped.  OK, it is always hot and cramped.  There is a lot going on involving heavy equipment fumes, perspiration, and minimum air flow.  Drink plenty of water or your beverage of choice – and no, alcohol is NOT a choice.
10. Peace-of-Mind.  Avoid all the above and gain a peace-of-mind by hiring a Certified Skyline I&D Team to deal with your install and dismantle freeing you to concentrate on what you do best…focusing on your prospects and clients in order to have the best show possible!

Discover even more tips and smart moves that will differentiate you from exhibitors who just show up.  Request your free copy of the Trade Show Marketing Idea Kit by clicking here. 

If you are entering the trade show arena for the first time, and you have been assigned the task of purchasing a new exhibit, then I would like to offer you some helpful, yet counter-intuitive advice prior to determining your purchasing budget.

Many people often make the mistake of purchasing just one main exhibit for all their events ‘to save money,’ when actually purchasing at least two or more exhibits may be the most cost effective route to take.  I know, you’re saying to yourself, “Of course that’s what you would say! You sell trade show exhibits!” Well, I promise you this is good advice!

Take these 3 steps to see if you need more than one trade show display:

• First, rate your shows according to importance.  This may be determined by a number of factors that only you and your company can identify.  For starters, create two tiers – primary for your most important shows and secondary for your other events.
• Second, rate your shows according to the length of the show by number of days.  Maybe you have several one day events or even a couple of targeted shows that may only be a couple of hours in length and the cost of sending in the big guns just isn’t justifiable.
• Third, identify conflicting show schedules and dates.  If you have an event on the east coast that ends on a Tuesday and your next event is the following Thursday on the west coast, make a note of it.

What you learn from this exercise may surprise you.  Say you have your most important show and you obviously are planning on having your primary exhibit on display.  Well, your next event is a second tier show and it happens to be only a day or two after your main event – and it is a thousand miles away!  The operating costs associated with transporting your main exhibit from point A to point B may well exceed any perceived value you were hoping to recoup from attending this event in the first place.  Perhaps a smaller, simpler exhibit can be shipped to the lower tier event in pace of the main one – and at a less accelerated and costly rate.  You may find that the cost of a secondary exhibit alone may be far less than just the operating costs you would have incurred from rushing your large exhibit across the country.

So you get the point. This is just a helpful suggestion to conduct an exercise of this sort to help you plan your show schedule and determine a purchase budget for ALL of your exhibit needs.  You’re well on your way to successful exhibiting!

Whether you need one display or several, see many examples of both modular inline exhibits and portable displays by clicking here to request Skyline’s Inline Displays Brochure.  

Do you believe your company can get more bang for its trade show marketing dollars if you employed a different strategy?  If so, the next step is to convince your boss that you need a new approach.  But be warned; no one is going to be at all interested in hearing that there is a problem with the status quo unless you are able to present an alternative.  Here are some steps you can take to make certain you find the best strategy for your next show.

Analyze Your Choice of Shows 

One major factor of an effective marketing strategy is choosing the best trade shows that attract your target audience.  What kind of trade shows has your company attended in the past?  Do you market in industry-specific shows, general shows or a combination of both?  Gather the statistical data from the events you have attended and see which shows have been most effective in garnering new business.  Part of your strategy may include recommendations regarding increasing or changing your venues.

Scope out the Competition

The next step is to find out what your competition is doing.  The goal is not to imitate, but to determine what the current presentation trends are and which ones draw the largest crowds.  Spend some time visiting the trade show booths that command the most interest and analyze their strategies.  Do they use interactive media?  What kind of lighting is employed?  Is there a video feed?  How are their graphics arranged and displayed?  Do they have demonstrations or is product available for the customers to handle?  Are these booths run by a single vendor or are they a co-op between complimentary businesses?  Take notes and look for any factors these booths have in common.

Apply the Data 

After you have gathered your information apply the concepts and techniques you have observed to your particular company and products.  Try to employ strategies that will reach your visitors through sight, sound and touch if possible.  Map a layout of your proposed trade show display and make drafts of any new handouts, graphics, or other marketing materials.

Prepare a Budget & Project Payoff

Every company has limits on marketing funds, and your new strategy will not make it off the boss’s desk if it cannot be accomplished within the budget constraints with higher results.  Find out how much money is available and then determine how to project results.  Take all of this data and put it into a business proposal format.  Present the new strategy along with the reasons why they changes will improve the visibility and effectiveness of your trade show exhibits.  This information, combined with a workable budget, should be all of the persuasion you need!

A new strategy is one way to revamp your trade show marketing.  For more tips and ideas on how to boost your results and stretch your budgets pick up the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  To request your free copy, click here.

For those of you who read my first guest blog post, “3 Ways To Get More Out Of Your Day”,  and have now mastered your schedules, email accounts and got rid of those interruptions, I thought it was time to share a few more productivity tips with everyone.  For those of you who are interested in whether I’m actually putting my money where my mouth is on all of the activities I listed in my previous post, check out my blog.  I just finished my third 100-mile race and it’s been a productive year to say the least.  I love to hear feedback and discussion of what works, what doesn’t and ways people have push even further into the productivity universe.  Leave comments below, email or even tweet at me, @JHanlon31.

1.  Read 25% faster instantly!

First, let’s understand how reading works. You read by having your eyes jump from one set of words to another, meaning you take snap shots of a group of words, then another, then another, and so forth.  One inefficient part of this process is that you tend to re-read a lot.  The easiest way to avoid re-reading what you already read is to simply use a book mark to cover the lines you already read.

Go ahead try it out, time yourself for one minute.  I read, in an average book, about 21 lines a minute (I know, not that fast.)  Now use a book marker to cover what you’re already read and see how many lines you can read in a minute.  I averaged about 28 lines, a 25% increase instantly, and without really changing anything.  Now, be careful not to just blaze through a book, often with increased reading speed you can decrease your rate of retention.

2.  Evernote

YOU the Exhibitor have invested hours and hours in meetings, discussing booth structure, how you want the booth to look, what main message you want your attendees to know, and more.  So when the booth looks great but doesn’t get the results you want, your first reflex may be to blame your booth staff.

Don’t blame them just yet.  There may be other things that were overlooked while your team focused on the exhibit design.

Did you also invest time before your show:

1. Planning Promotions – 3 months prior to your trade show, did you gather your team to discuss how you are going to promote your upcoming show and to who?  And then execute on your plan? Suggestions for this are: send out mailers, an email campaign, add to your email signature, call current clients and prospects for a personal invite – if and where possible book appointments right at the show.

2. Booth Staff Training – Did you set the right expectations with your staff?  Tell them you want them to Dress for Success and bring your Smile.  In the first 6 seconds as the attendee walks by your booth they will decide if they are entering it and if you are interested in them.  A big NO NO in today’s world of technology is to be disconnected with your attendees by having your interest focused more on your Blackberry/iPhone or eating lunch, rather than being 100% focused on the attendees who have come specifically to YOUR booth.

3. Planning A Staff Schedule – Did you run them into the ground?  Instead, be sure each booth staff knows when they are “on” and when their breaks are.  Schedule breaks and lunches so the booth is always staffed properly – you do not want to miss out on the opportunity that came along when nobody was there.  Decide before the show how many staff you will need and what their specific roles are.

Finally, when you are at the show, lead by example.  The most important training you can give your staff is to lead by example. Managers, Executives, more experienced staff should be mixed with new or less experienced staff.  The best training is on-site training – first hand.

 Just in case you still think it’s the booth staff’s fault,  pick up the Booth Staffing Guidebook, full of ideas  and tips for a successful staff.  Click here for your free, 46-page copy.