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.

Congrats — you’re no longer the trade show rookie.

You’ve trained your booth staffers to work the aisles.  You’ve asked for (and received) a trade show display with bold images and clear messaging.  And you know how to put together a trade show promotion that gets more people to your booth.

Been there, done that.  Now, you’re ready for something more.

So here are 6 advanced trade show strategies and tactics you can use that will stretch – and grow – your trade show program:

1.  Select Vertical Market Shows

All too often exhibitors can get caught up with doing their best in front of their competitors.  So they invest substantial time and capital in a large trade show booth at their main industry show.   And while plenty of potential customers can attend your big industry show, some, more savvy exhibitors have left that crowded battlefield in pursuit of only their very best prospects.  You can, too.  Find the shows, which may be smaller, where your best vertical market clients gather.  Once there, re-examine your whole approach.  Can you focus your exhibit graphics message and promotions to appeal more directly to that vertical market audience?  Do you have employees with greater expertise in that vertical market you can bring as booth staffers?  And is there more than one vertical market worth this extra effort?

2.  Exhibit At International Shows

It’s most likely that if you are reading this, you are an American.  (If you are not, pay no attention to this – you already are much more likely to exhibit internationally).  Over the last few years, there has been a surge in U.S. companies testing the waters overseas – especially since the GDP growth rate worldwide has been double the growth of the United States.  Exhibiting internationally is a worthwhile way to grow your business – and it’s definitely an advanced strategy.  You have to deal with customs (both the laws and the culture), time zone, language and currency differences, and starting over from scratch, since your company and products are probably unknown there.  If you want some help getting started, Skyline offers a free white paper called International Exhibiting – click here to get a copy.

3.  Set Appointments For Meetings In Your Booth

Exhibitors’ objectives progress through a sequence:  First they exhibit to get awareness of their company, brand and products, second they exhibit to get leads, and finally, they move up to exhibiting to get lengthy face time with their clients and best prospects.  Focusing on meetings requires a new way of thinking.  You have to see your trade show program not as an isolated marketing touch point, but as a key component in your selling cycle.  You have to work with your sales team to identify and entice known attendees to set aside considerable time to meet with you while they are at the show.  You need promotional activities that will resonate with people who already know you, and you want them to really come to your booth.  You need to bring higher-level employees who can advance the sale, and the people who your clients want to take time to see.  Your exhibit design changes, too, because you are more likely to add an element of hospitality.  This strategy leverages the face-to-face nature of trade shows to their fullest.

4.  Add Video and Interactive Technologies

Whether it’s a video on a monitor, flat screen, or an iPad, you can create more visual stopping power and give your staffers presentation and demo tools with video and interactive technologies.  Videos that are short, punchy, and have high production values get attention.  Exhibitors with highly technical products can grow into interactive technologies to help their staffers tell a detailed, consistent story, while keeping attendees more engaged.  The advent of touch screens and iPads make them even more appealing and user-friendly.  Creating content and sourcing these tools require a new skill set that many exhibit managers simply don’t have.  That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, just that they have to work with either their company’s ad agency, or go looking for vendor that has experience making videos especially for trade shows, and interactive technology that helps booth staffers be more convincing.  One tip: design your trade show exhibit with the technology in mind from the beginning, rather than trying to bolt on the tech after the fact.

5.  Tie Your Lead Gathering Closer To Your Company Database

You’ve gone beyond just gathering business cards from your trade show visitors – you get a scan from their show badge that adds some vital qualifying data, or even use your own lead cards to write down more information you gleaned while talking to them.  Now go even further, and tie your lead gathering tighter to your company’s sales and marketing CRM database.  Perhaps it’s getting the data file from the lead retrieval machine you rented from the show, and importing that right into your database.  Or it’s buying (rather than renting) your own lead retrieval machines that you ship to every show, which has a consistent lead format you define for easier importing into your CRM.  Or maybe even using laptops or iPads that, with Internet access in your booth, let staffers enter leads directly into your company database in real time.  That way you can prevent mistakes from bad handwriting, get a head start on reporting results, have a better chance at tying leads to sales, start fulfilling the leads before the show ends, and most importantly, forward your A-quality leads to the appropriate sales rep for immediate follow up.

6.  Measure More Of Your Trade Show Activities

Go beyond just counting leads, and even measuring the ROI of your overall trade show program, and use measurement on a more granular level to help decide how to actually improve your trade show program.  Count the qualified leads each booth staffer brings per hour, so you can decide who staffs the next show, and who stays home.  Measure the impact that major parts of your program give (such as promotions, presentations, interactive technology, and sponsorships) versus their costs, to better allocate your budget at future shows.  And if ROI is not your objective, find a way to measure your objective anyhow, like using surveys before and after a show to measure the brand impact your show program created.  Also, rather than looking at each measurement in isolation show by show, start comparing each show to one another, and at each show over the years.

Which strategy of these strategies is best for you?  Meet with your team and brainstorm which ones will garner the greatest boost for your efforts.   Then dive into these advanced strategies and tactics. You’ll increase your results, grow your skills, make yourself more valuable – and make your job more interesting!

If you’ve used these advanced strategies and tactics yourself, how did they work for you?  Are there other trade show strategies you graduated to once you’d mastered the basics?  Share your experiences with us in the comment box below.

Get more great ideas on advancing your trade show program with the What’s Working In Exhibiting White Paper, in which over 170 exhibitors told what they were doing to improve their trade show results.  Click here to get your free copy.

I am finally situated after 2 months of travel. Out of all the cities, my first review is of the Natural Products Expo West show in Anaheim, CA. This trip will definitely be a historical milestone in my memory as the night before show opening, the Japan tsunami occurred. It was a pretty surreal evening for everyone around me when news broke.

The weather was awesome in Orange County. It was just around 80 degrees the entire time I was there. Nothing better than awesome California weather in March! I know the visitors across the street at Disneyland could not have been any happier. Food shows are certainly my favorite show to attend; so much for me to do, oops, I mean eat! The exhibits are colorful and lively, and the energy at food shows is so different compared to any other. Food is truly the universal language!

Natural products are geared more to natural, wholesome, and specialized foods. Most exhibitors target a ‘Whole Foods’ type grocer. The larger chain grocers are not too far behind as they are making natural foods a larger selection in their stores.

Here are a couple exhibit designs that caught my eye:

Horizon: a new generation recognizable brand in the milk (organic) section. Their exhibit used lightweight fabric graphics as their overhead branding structure.

Emergen-C: Another very popular household brand, especially during the cold season. They used bright laminates for their storage room and a matching hanging sign.

Barbara’s Bakery: They are a local Bay Area company & have recently turned into one of my favorite breakfast cereals. Their larger-than-life cereal box is a lightweight printed fabric structure. Great use of space!

Pirate Brands: They make the very popular Pirate Popcorn. They introduced some awesome new flavors at this year’s show. Of course, with a pirate-themed brand, the only way to go is mimicking a pirate lifestyle. They covered all details, even down to the flooring. Well done!

These acrylic bubble accents are becoming more and more popular across all industries. The 3-D effect is easily done and quite inexpensive. Very trade show friendly.

I just adored the multiple live hanging rose balls. I do not get to see this often. The only other places you might see these would be at hospitality or horticultural industry shows.

It’s so awesome to see 3-D elements like this in exhibits. I’m pretty sure it is a road show piece, but to haul into a traditional trade show is certainly not as easy as your traditional booth.

This backlit custom shape is awesome. The lighting effect was just right and not too bright for this size structure.

Another hanging structure that caught my eye is this layered piece which displayed teacups. They went a good route with mounting a traditional ring. This structure may have gotten lost without it.

Seventh Generation introduced an even more green packaging solution to their eco-friendly detergent. Recycled material is used for the outside casing while the detergent is packaged inside. Genius!

This product display incorporated monitors and used a fresh color pallet that gave a very clean feeling.  The lighting effects acted as a good highlight as well.

All black everything! Skyline’s Mirage Monitor Mount paired with Skyline’s popular Stratus table.

Last but not least, fresh new graphics for my friends over at Vaska out of Berkeley.

Want to do better at your trade shows? Learn more exhibiting best practices by getting the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper.  Request your free, 32-page copy by clicking here.

When you commit significant funds to exhibit at your major industry trade show, it sure helps to know why you’re exhibiting there in the first place.

At Skyline, we exhibit for many reasons.  Some are financial, some are more touchy-feely, yet they are equally valid.

Here are 7 reasons why you’ll see Skyline gracing the aisles of EXHIBITOR2011:

1.  Profitably Generate Sales Leads: We expect to get about 350 leads.  These leads will come from our two main market segments:  island exhibitors, and inline/portable displays.

We will exhibit in two separate 20 x 20 island spaces to better reach these two audiences: Island exhibitors and portable inline display exhibitors:

In Booth 1323, island exhibitors can have longer sit-down meetings with us. The show is a great place to have extended quality time with the show attendee, their local Skyline Exhibiting Consultant, and a Designer from the Skyline International Design Center or our senior management team.  (If you’d like to meet with us at EXHIBITOR2011, click here to ask Shari for a meeting time).

In Booth 1225, inline exhibit buyers can see for themselves some of the newest and most popular inline and portable display systems we’ve recently introduced.  We’ll be regularly demonstrating a range of portable display systems.  Stop by if you’d like to see them demoed or to get hands-on with our innovative products.

We know from previous years that these lead convert into retail sales of over $1.2 million within 12 to 18 months, which generate sufficient profit to pay for our participation.  But profits are not the only goal.  We also exhibit to:

2.  Meet With Existing Clients: It’s a rare treat for our clients to be attendees rather than exhibitors.  We like to meet during EXHIBITOR when they are more relaxed.  We like to hear how well we are serving them, and how their needs have evolved, and what they want next.  We also want to ensure they’re fully aware of the diversity of trade show products and services we’ve developed to meet their changing needs.

3.  Introduce New Products: The top reason attendees go to trade shows is to see what is new.  Skyline has a strong heritage of innovation, so we like to showcase our newest products at EXHIBITOR.  Skyline has won The Buyer’s Choice Award for the best new product four times, including the last two years in a row (DesignView Presentation System in 2009 and Envoy Exhibit System in 2010).  This year we are introducing the Mirage Monitor Mount.

4.  Market Research: Where better to understand what matters to our buyers than at our own industry trade show?  At EXHIBITOR we get to talk face to face with hundreds of prospects and existing clients.  They tell us what they like, what they don’t, and what they want next from us.  They tell us what solutions they’ve seen at the show that caught their eye.  It’s a concentrated burst of market research that often spawns or confirms valuable insights.

5.  Meet With Skyline Dealers. Our dealers come to EXHIBITOR to also see what new products we have introduced and to reconnect face-to-face with Skyline people they know mostly as a voice on the phone.  Our dealers also like to know they are aligned with a market leader, so they are happy when they see a storm of positive activity happening in our booth.

These first 5 objectives are probably fairly similar to the objectives you set for your own trade show program.  Yet as an exhibit builder, we have two other goals somewhat unique to our company.  These goals do not have hard numbers associated with them such as ROI, but they are valuable goals nonetheless:

6.  Demonstrate Credibility: While “the cobbler’s children run barefoot” sounds quaint, it’s not so good for demonstrating expertise.  Skyline builds credibility with prospects when they see our creative exhibits, staffed by friendly, helpful staffers, supported by intriguing promotions.  Our booth visitors can see that we know how to put a whole exhibiting program together, which gives them greater confidence to work with us.

7.  Experience What Our Clients Go Through: While we build new displays and manage the logistics for thousands of exhibitors a year, it’s still not the same experience as being our own client.  We get valuable insights in marketing, design, customer service and manufacturing whenever we push the envelope to create our own presence at a show.  We more clearly understand what hurdles and challenges our clients face along the way, and the joy and satisfaction when it all comes together.

That is why Skyline is exhibiting at EXHIBITOR2011.  Again, if you are going to the show and would like to meet with us, either to discuss an island exhibit design proposal or to get your hands on some of our latest inline exhibit systems, just email Shari for a meeting time and she will set up a time for you, or stop by our booths, #1323 and #1225, and the entrance to the show floor.  We hope to see you at EXHIBITOR2011!

Trade show success begins with setting measurable objectives.  To measure yours, click here to request your free copy of the Measurement Made Easy CD, a software program with 19 calculators for measuring and reporting your trade show results.

B2B marketers want more than just a big pile of leads.  They also want higher quality leads.  Leads that are more likely to convert into sales.  Leads that their sales force will crow about, not complain about.  Leads that will create far more revenue than it cost to generate them.

If that’s what you want, too, you are not alone.  In a new MarketingSherpa study, a whopping 78% of B2B marketers agreed that “generating high quality leads” was a top challenge, much higher than the 44% who said “generating a high volume of leads.”

Trade show marketers share this need urgently.  “I recently hosted a Lunch and Learn for my veteran exhibiting customers,” said Victoria R. Conti, CTSM, from Skyline Genesis Event Marketing, “and the main topic everyone wanted to discuss was how to increase the amount of qualified leads from a show.”

Sounds like Job #1.  So without further ado, here are 8 ways to increase the quality of the leads you get from visitors to your trade show booth:

1. Select Shows with Attendees Who Better Match Your Prospects. Ask shows vying for a spot on your trade show schedule to supply detailed attendee demographics.  Look at their attendees’ job titles, industries, company size, location, and if they have it, average annual budget.  How many of each show’s attendees would make great prospects for you?  And what percent of the show’s attendance do they represent?  Compare show by show, and consider only the shows that bring more of your target audience, or a higher percentage.  That way you can have more time interacting with qualified attendees in your booth, rather than weeding through visitors who will never buy from you.

2. More Focused Pre-Show and At-Show Promotions.   First, to attract only the part of the show’s attendees that match your target audience, offer giveaways and gifts that appeal only to them (such as a free cost-savings calculation) rather than something that appeals to everyone (such as a free iPad).  Shift your giveaway budget from a lot of lower quality items for the masses, to fewer, but better gifts you only offer to big-time buyers, and only if they visit your booth.  You and your sales team can also put more effort into reaching out to top prospects before the show to invite them to your booth or to a meal with top company execs during the show.

3. Better Qualify Your Leads During Or After The Show.  Find out from your sales people before the show what information they need about each lead – and then get it!  Put those key 3 to 5 questions on the lead card, and train your booth staffers to ask those questions directly, or to listen for (and write down) those answers during their conversations.  Based on those questions, agree ahead of time what makes a hot lead, a good lead, or an unqualified lead, and then ensure that booth staffers rank leads accordingly (such as A, B, or C).  After the show, your sales people will know which leads are hot, and be more likely to follow-up.  You can also call after the show to qualify your leads before passing them on.

4. Invest In Your Booth Staff. The higher quality your booth staff, the higher quality your leads.  So no more trade-shows-as-on-the-job-training.  Victoria Conti agreed, saying, “In our Lunch and Learn, we agreed that the most effective way to get more qualified leads is to make sure your staff is trained and armed with great open-ended questions, knowledgeable in recording their answers, and comfortable with the sales process on the trade show floor. Being able to gather information quickly and efficiently is the key skill.”

5. Be More Persuasive. Create interactions that help attendees imagine how you can solve their problems. Invent a demonstration that gets attendees engaged and involved rather than passive and bored.  Tell stories about your happy clients who faced similar problems. Create an experience that engages multiple senses.  Whatever you do, take advantage of the face-to-face nature of trade shows to move prospects further along the buying cycle.

6. Design More Specific Trade Show Display Graphics.  Say very directly how you benefit clients and what niche you fill.  For example, instead of “Enterprise Software,” you say “Human Resources Software for Professional Services Companies.”  You might even further define your sweet spot and say, “Human Resources Software for Engineering Companies.”  That way the leads you do get are more likely to be leads you can close.  Choose more specific images, too.

7. Bring Up Objections Yourself In Your Booth.  Don’t wait for after the show to reveal your shortcomings; raise the most common objections yourself.  If you are more expensive, farther away, less experienced, or less than perfect in some way, be up front about it.  (But be sure to give reasons you can overcome those objections, too!)  The attendees that are still with you after that will be worth giving to your field sales reps.

8. Don’t Give Every Trade Show Lead to Sales. If you have ranked your leads by how qualified they are, consider only giving those leads that are sales-ready.  You may have leads ranked A, B, and C, but only give the A and B leads to your sales force, and put the C leads into your database for ongoing marketing until they are also ready for sales.  If you do start taking this approach, be sure your sales force knows you’ve made the change.

Trade shows deliver higher quality leads than other marketing mediums.  Visitors to your booth pay their own way there, demonstrating both interest and buying power.  You can demo your product and competitive advantages face-to-face, moving prospects quicker along the buying cycle.

Now, by using one or more of these 8 methods, you can get even higher quality leads from the trade shows you exhibit at.

What have you done to get higher quality trade show leads?  Share your story in the comments box below.

Learn more ways to get higher quality trade show leads with the 32-page white paper, What’s Working In Exhibiting.  Click here to get your free copy.

I traveled to a show last week and saw first-hand how an attendee can be extra motivated to visit the show hall.  Because I was that attendee.

Last week I attended my first Blogworld Expo, and for a change I crossed the aisle and went to a show as an attendee, not an exhibitor.  I went for the fantastic conference sessions and to network with my fellow bloggers (especially those in the trade show industry, too).

The show was simply awesome.  From early morning until time for dinner, I attended superb sessions on blogging and social media.  And the networking time between the sessions was fruitful as well.  As Mike McCallen said, the hallway conversations alone were worth the price of admission.

Every attendee I spoke with shared that positive vibe.  We were all pumped to be there, getting inspired by fellow bloggers who had figured out how to be successful, and were sharing their best advice with us.  This created a motivational and collaborative spirit.

So when I walked from the high notes of the sessions to hit the show floor, I walked in with an extremely positive mindset that had me walking the aisles with defenses down.  I walked from booth to booth, glad to look at their offerings to see if they had something I’d heard about in a session, or if they had a solution to a problem just uncovered.

I wasn’t alone, either.  There was a lot of eager traffic on the floor, sometimes to the point where the aisles were blocked, and you could not get to a booth staffer or inside some trade show exhibits.

This is no small feat to be glossed over.  This is the synergistic value of the trade show and conference, where a great conference puts a spell on its attendees and in doing so helps create some magic for its exhibitors.   Shows like that deserve a spot on your show schedule.  Many thanks to Rick Calvert for creating this playhouse.

Have you experienced this emotional boost yourself, either as an attendee or an exhibitor?  Share your story in the comments box below.

Get motivated by more stories of success in the 32-page white paper, What’s Working In Exhibiting.  Click here to get your own free copy.

If you are reading this article, chances are you actually don’t think trade shows don’t work. 

Why?  Because, as two show producers recently told me, it’s exhibitors who most need trade show training that avoid it, while good exhibitors seek training to keep sharpening their skills. 

Don’t get me wrong – I know trade shows take a lot of work, and the costs are high.  But trade shows get you face-to-face with qualified buyers for much less than the cost of direct selling — value you can’t get anywhere else. 

Those same two trade show producers also know trade shows work, because they witness the difference between unmotivated and successful exhibitors at their shows.  Traci Browne even took pictures.

But if you really do think trade shows don’t work, let me ask you six brutally tough questions.  And please listen to the questions, with the thought, “Those who truly listen are open to change.”  

1. How do you select the trade shows you exhibit at?

• A)  Even though you grumble that they aren’t as good as they used to be, you still have the same trade shows on your schedule, because that’s where your competitors are, and your absence would make you look bad.
• B)  You choose shows based on where your target market will be, and willingly readjust your show schedule and booth size based on the ROI from each show’s leads.

2. How do you choose your trade show booth staffers?

• A)  You bring your drinking buddies with you, so after standing around all day waiting for the show to end, you at least can go bar-hopping together.
• B)  You pick staffers that actually want to staff the booth, who are approachable, client-focused, with good product knowledge and a great attitude.

3.  How proactive are you at getting traffic into your booth?

• A)  You shouldn’t have to do anything special to get attendees to cross over from the aisle into your booth, because you already paid the show to deliver those interested buyers to you.
• B)  To transform trade show attendees into booth visitors, you sent intriguing pre-show promotions with valuable offers, designed your trade show display with bold, compelling graphics, and trained your booth staffers to engage visitors in the aisle.

4. How do you spend your time in the booth?

• A)  Because you already are so sure that trade shows are a waste of time, you spend your booth staffing shift on your laptop, smart phone, talking with your fellow booth staffers, or wandering away from your booth space.
• B)  You know trade shows deliver a quality audience, so to welcome them you stand smiling attentively on the edge of the aisle, ready to engage attendees who show some interest.

5. When you return from the show, where do your trade show leads go?

• A)  On a corner of your desk, because you’ve got to catch up on all that real work that was left waiting while you were at the show. 
• B)  Into the hands of an eager, pre-assigned team member, who already has the follow-up letter and fulfillment packets ready, and who will quickly enter the leads into your database and forward them to the appropriate sales people, who know they are accountable for following up and reporting the results.

6. What are the most valuable things you get out of trade shows?

• A)  The few leads that were in your territory, the time spent with your best customer, and dinners on the expense account.
• B)  Besides the big pile of sales leads for the team, you get to take the pulse of the industry, learn about new competitive products, and gain a better understanding of your customers.

If you selected mostly the B answers that describe proactive trade show marketing practices, and still think trade shows don’t work, then trade shows may actually be a poor marketing medium for your company. 

But if you answered mostly A’s, then perhaps you’ve realized that trade shows aren’t the problem. Maybe you will begin to consider that there are proven trade show methods that you’ve overlooked, and that it’s finally time to re-tool your trade show program.  And make trade shows work for you.

If you’d like to make trade shows work better for your company, then ask for your free copy of our 32-page white paper report, What’s Working In Trade Show Exhibiting.  It is filled with insights and proven methods of over 170 exhibitors.  Click here to get your copy. 

The Value Of Trade Shows Increases With A Plan
Business-to-business marketers actually invest more money on trade shows than any other marketing medium.  That’s because trade shows give greater access and influence on buyers that cannot be replicated in anywhere else.

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) revealed the following about trade shows:

• 88% of attendees have not been seen by a member of your company’s sales staff in the preceding 12 months
• Seven out of ten attendees plan to buy one or more products
• 76% asked for quotes and 26% signed purchase orders (average all shows)
• 72% of show visitors say the show influenced their buying decision
• 87% of attendees will share some of the information obtained at an exhibition
• 64% of attendees tell at least 6 other people about the event
• 58% attend only the show in which you are exhibiting
• 40% are first-time attendees
• It costs 22% less to contact a potential buyer at a show than it does through traditional field sales calls

However, while trade shows are worthwhile, they are not easy.  To get the most out of trade shows, exhibit marketers set measurable objectives, pick good shows, design effective exhibits, and more.  Read on to discover the main elements of a successful trade show marketing program.

1.  Setting Objectives and Measurable Results
The first step in planning your trade show success is to set effective and realistic trade show objectives and measurements for them.  Effectively planning your show’s objectives allows the rest of your show to fall into place.  Choosing the right measurement tools enables you to draw the correct conclusions following your trade show performance. 

The first question to ask is the most basic:  Why are you exhibiting?  While most go to generate leads and build awareness of their brand or products, many also exhibit to build relationships or introduce new products.

Once you know the reason you are exhibiting, set objectives based on them that you can measure – and then measure and report them.  Measurable objectives range from simple lead counts (200 leads at the XYZ Show) to Return On Investment goals (Generate $10 in sales for every $1 spent exhibiting at the XYZ Show). 

2.  Budgeting: Planning saves you time and money
Exhibiting can be complex.  A large part of that challenge is identifying how much to budget for related services.  The easiest way to estimate your overall budget for exhibiting at a show is to take the cost to rent the exhibit space, and multiply it by three.  So if renting a 10 foot by 10 foot exhibit at a show costs $2,000, then the overall show costs are usually about $6,000.

The biggest expenditures after booth space is staffer’s travel, hotel, and meal costs, show services such as installation and dismantle, the cost to build or rent your exhibit, and shipping. 

A large portion of show services costs is called drayage, which is the cost to bring your exhibit and crates from outside the show hall to your exhibit space.  Sometimes it can even be as expensive as the cost to ship your exhibit from your city to the show.  The trend for exhibitors is towards lighter weight, more custom modular exhibits that lower costs like shipping and drayage. 

Planning avoids rush charges and lets you figure out how to do the most shows with the fewest exhibit properties.

3.  Select The Right Trade Shows
With over 13,000 trade shows, conferences, expositions, private and business-to-business events in North America, featuring 1.5 million exhibiting companies vying for the attention of over 80 million attendees, it can be daunting to select where your efforts are best spent. However, there is a method to help you find the best opportunities to market your organization at trade shows.

To start, select the shows you want to exhibit at only after you have set your trade show objectives.  Then dig in to do some serious background research.  The best bet is to look at the trade shows in your industry and carefully weigh the options.  Talk to your fellow employees — what shows have worked in the past?  Where do sales people see the customer’s needs leaning?  Look at who is going to be there.  Talk to your current and prospective customers — is this a show they will be attending?  While you may exhibit well at your large industry show, also consider smaller shows that have a higher proportion of people likely to be interested in your products or services.  You can find shows online to pick from at www.tsnn.com.  Also consider exhibiting internationally.

4.  Space Selection: Where and How Big?
The average trade show has over 400 exhibitors, so how do you choose the best booth space for you?  Most shows give space-picking priority to the exhibitors who have been with them the longest.  Yet some studies have found that where you are in the show hall has no effect on the amount of audience you receive to your booth.  For every veteran exhibitor that requires a space in the center of the action, or at the front entrance to the hall, or near their biggest competitor, there are veteran exhibitors who flee from the same locations.  All the same, the size of your booth space is a very important decision, where you must weigh the need to stand out from your competitors with a large booth, and yet having enough budget to exhibit at all the worthwhile shows for your company.

5.  Trade Show Exhibit Design:  Make Your Exhibit a Marketing Tool
Why does exhibit design matter?  Because well-designed trade show booths are so effective at cutting through the trade show clutter and getting your message to your target audience.  The average trade show attendee will spend 7 to 8 hours on the floor over a period of 2 to 3 days visiting an average of 25-31 exhibits.  This leaves 5 to 15 minutes per visit – just 5 to 15 minutes to make a lasting impression that will give you an edge over the competition.

Create an exhibit that works as a true marketing tool.  Make sure your exhibit graphics say who you are, what you do, and what is your benefit to prospects.  When you state those clearly, and with bold inviting graphics, you’ll bring in more visitors – and more qualified visitors.

Your exhibit is more than a three-dimensional ad.  It’s actually a temporary workspace, filled with booth staffers there for hours or days, and visitors there for just a few minutes.  Increase productivity by giving them enough space to work in, and by designing around their needs, be it for gathering leads, demonstrating product, meeting with key people, or storing their personal items.

6.  Get More Traffic With Trade Show Promotions
Trade show promotions are the secret weapon of the veteran trade show manager.  That’s because, when done right, trade show promotions work so well.

Consider these two items:

1. The average trade show has over 400 exhibitors, where the average attendee will visit about 21 exhibits, and that average attendee walks into the show with a list of 75% of the exhibits he/she wants to see. That means you have to get on their dance card before the show.
2. You can boost your trade show lead counts by 33% with trade show promotions – even thought they require a much smaller percentage of your budget.

So, trade show promotions are money well spent.  Pre-show promotions are the things you do before the show to make attendees want to visit your booth.  At-show promotions are the activities and trade show giveaway items you do during the show to bring in more attendees into your exhibit. 

Just be sure to pick promotions that bring in your desired target audience, not just anyone at the show.  And don’t just give things away – get information about prospects in exchange that will help you qualify and prioritize your leads.

7.  Train Your Booth Staff So They’re Comfortable At Shows
85% of the positive feelings visitors have are due to the staff.  Your booth staff is responsible for drawing in your customers, effectively engaging them and creating leads.  Because of this, it is important that you select the most effective staffers that your company has to offer.  If they are sales people, you have to train them to adapt their selling style to the trade show floor.  If they are not salespeople, guess what – they can still do extremely well, given the proper preparation.

Trade show staffing is uncomfortable for almost everyone at first.  You will give your booth staffer greater comfort and confidence by training them to understand and follow a 4-step booth staffing process:

1. Engage: 30 seconds
Start the process by stopping attendees.  Prepare and practice questions that won’t get a yes or no answer.

2. Qualify: 2 minutes
Determine if the prospect is worth presenting to … and what to present.

3. Present: 5 to 8 minutes
Demo on just the prospect’s needs, not everything you know. Prepare for common objections and questions.

4. Close: 1 minute
Lead card complete? Agree on the next step and go on to the next lead!

8.  Lead Management, Not Lead Neglect
Astoundingly, almost 80% of leads generated are never followed, according to CEIR.  Rather than sending your hard-fought trade show leads into the abyss, strive to be part of the elite 20% that actually follow up on their leads!  We’ve heard horror stories of exhibits pulled out of storage to prepare for a show – only to find the leads from the previous show still packed with their trade show booth.  What a tragedy! 

Rather than just sending a business card from the prospect on to your field sales reps, provide and train your staffers to use a lead card.  It’s a half sheet of paper that has check boxes to the most common qualifying questions, and room for notes about what the attendee said in your booth.  Your sales reps will be much more likely to follow up on a lead when they know what to say, and that it’s worth the call. 

Also, think of your first day back from the show as the last day of the show.  Have your lead fulfillment packages prepared ahead of time, so you can send your responses right away. 

9.  Measuring Results Improves Future Performance
Once you return from a trade show it is important to measure its success.  Why?  Because while trade shows are a great marketing medium, you still have to prove the value of your individual program.  This information can be used to report to management the effectiveness of the show and to improve exhibit performance for future shows.  Success can be measured by simple lead counts, or better yet, by the return on investment, or whatever objectives you set when you started your trade show program.  

By tracking your results from show to show, you can make informed decisions about which shows to continue, expand, contract, or cut.  And when you are armed with data proving the value of your overall trade show program, you can maintain – and even expand – your trade show marketing efforts.

Step Up Your Trade Show Marketing
That’s a lot of ground to cover in just one blog post.  But it’s a good plan to strengthen your trade show marketing, all in one place.  I hope it helps you boost your results out of trade shows, whether you are looking for more leads, better relationships, a stronger brand, or simply sales, sales, sales.  As always, share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Want more ways to improve your trade show marketing?  Click here to get your free 32-page What’s Working In Trade Show Marketing White Paper to give you insights into proven methods for boosting your results and stretching your budget.

For most exhibitors, lead generation is their #1 reason for exhibiting at trade shows.  Exhibit marketers want leads to replenish their sales pipeline, bring in new and repeat customers, and generate sales revenue. 

So to help stoke the lead generation fires, here are 100 ideas to get you more leads at your upcoming trade shows, divvied up among 5 main areas: 

Get more trade show leads by how you select shows

1. Go to more trade shows outside your local region
2. Go to more trade shows, in your best vertical markets
3. Go to more trade shows, in foreign countries
4. Go to fewer trade shows, but put more effort into booth staff preparation and promotions for each remaining show
5. Exhibit at trade shows where your buyers are
6. Track leads to determine and expand in the shows with the best ROI
7. Evolve show selection to match changes in company’s best vertical markets

 Get more trade show leads with your exhibit design

8. Get a bigger booth
9. Get a booth space closer to the hub of traffic, or by a bigger competitor
10. Get a corner booth space
11. Backlight your trade show display graphics
12. Design your exhibit to more boldly and clearly say why attendees will benefit from working with you
13. Put fewer elements on your exhibit, but make the remaining images and messages bigger and more concise
14. Use graphics with images and benefits that appeal more directly to attendees at your vertical market shows
15. Put benefit statements on your trade show exhibit graphics
16. Replace your tired old display with a new trade show exhibit
17. Make your exhibit architecture more inviting to enter
18. Pick more exciting colors on your exhibit
19. Bring fewer products, such as only your most popular products, to minimize clutter
20. Get a taller exhibit
21. Add more lighting
22. Put messages on your flooring
23. Avoid an exhibit that looks like everyone else
24. Keep your booth neat and clean throughout the show
25. Move interesting equipment and technology to the outside of the booth
26. Use a theme that gets attention and memorably ties into your competitive advantage or offering
27. Match your exhibit message to your other marketing materials

Get more trade show leads with pre-show promotions

28. Send an inexpensive postcard offering a free gift in your trade show booth
29. Run a banner ad on the show website
30. Send a pre-show email blast to your clients and top prospects located close to the show location
31. Put stickers with booth location and show info on all outgoing mail
32. Email invitation to a pre-show microsite with targeted messages and offers
33. Have your sales people invite their prospects to visit your booth and set up meetings in advance
34. Send an email invitation to the show’s pre-registered attendee list for this year, and the registered attendee list from last year
35. Use social media to reach more attendees
36. Send half of something of value to attendees before the show, and promise to give the other half in your booth
37. Contact your industry press and tell them about the innovative new product you will be introducing at the show
38. Put your booth number on all your pre-show promotions: email, mail, ads, website
39. Design more creative and compelling pre-show promotions to cut through the mailbox clutter
40. Invite top prospects to lunch or dinner at the show
41. Send a pre-show promotion offering a more valuable gift in the booth, but not to the entire list, but only to the subset of show attendees that match your target audience
42. Send free tickets to the trade show to clients and best prospects
43. Post your trade show schedule on your website with a link to sign up for appointments
44. Ask the show for additional promotional opportunities

Get more trade show leads with at-show promotions and activities

45. Introduce a new product at the trade show
46. Add motion to your exhibit
47. Offer food, especially if it smells good, like baking cookies
48. Offer drinks to your booth visitors
49. Give your attendees something entertaining and fun to do
50. Do an engaging demo in your booth
51. Get your client to hold your product
52. Go beyond sight to appeal to attendees’ sense of smell, sound, taste, and touch
53. Add interactivity
54. Run presentations or video loops on large video monitors
55. Offer healthy food, not just candy
56. Put out a candy or chocolate dish to slow down attendees long enough to engage them
57. Offer in-booth massages
58. Give a free sample of your product
59. Give a free sample of a product made with your product
60. Hire a celebrity for your booth, where the celebrity is popular with your target audience at the show
61. Hire a celebrity lookalike for your booth, where the celebrity is popular with your target audience at the show
62. Giveaway something useful to your target audience
63. Hire a performer, such as a magician, to attract attention to your booth
64. Have a raffle, sweepstakes, money machine or a game
65. Hold a press conference if you have newsworthy news
66. Sponsor something highly visible at the show
67. Have a contest for attendees in your booth
68. Get signage in the show hall promoting your booth presence
69. Offer a show special or discount
70. Get someone from your company to be a speaker at the show
71. Give presentations or educational sessions in your booth
72. Do door drops that target only show attendees at their hotel rooms
73. Pay to include an invite or a gift in the official show bag each attendee gets
74. Put an ad in the show book
75. Brand your staffers with outfits or similar attire
76. Offer one really big prize (worth thousands of dollars) to get more attention

Get more trade show leads with better booth staffing

77. Bring more booth staffers
78. Bring booth staffers who actually want to be there
79. Hold a contest to reward the staffers who take the highest quantity of qualified leads
80. Leave your wallflowers at home
81. Train your booth staff how to work a trade show booth
82. Communicate to your staff the company’s goals and your expectations of them in the booth
83. Don’t use booth staffing as a training ground for brand-new employees
84. Ask visitors open-ended questions and listen to their answers
85. Get faster at recording each lead by not writing down every visitor’s name and address, but instead using a badge scanner
86. Have enough badge scanners to avoid lines with your booth staffers in busy times
87. Bring crowd gatherers (not booth babes)
88. Smile
89. Keep your booth staffers fresh by giving them regular breaks
90. Learn to more quickly disengage with unqualified attendees
91. Thoroughly train your booth staffers on the new products you are introducing at the show or just introduced recently
92. Make friends with your neighboring exhibitors, and refer attendees back and forth
93. Bring your top management to booth staff, and tell attendees they will be there
94. Get staffers out of the bowels of your booth and out to the edge of the aisle
95. Don’t sit down in your booth, unless you are talking with visitors
96. Don’t hide behind tables
97. Instead of giving away literature, offer to mail it to attendees, and get their contact info
98. Prepare your booth staffers with several good engaging questions
99. Arm your booth staffers with answers to common objections
100. Train your booth staffers to know your products and how they solve your clients’ problems

Which of these 100 ideas will you choose?  Perhaps you are already doing several yourselves.  Some can be combined to be used simultaneously.  It’s a long list, and there’s no way anyone can do all 100.  Some of them even contradict each other. 

Yet as Bob Milam advises, while knowing a lot of tactics is useful, knowing which tactics to use and when to use them is even more useful.  Determine your strategy first, then choose among these trade show tactics the most appropriate ones to support your strategy and generate more leads. 

Also, while I’ve listed many tactics to get more leads, of course you need to also strive for getting higher quality leads.  And if you can do both, go to the head of the class.

While 100 is a big list, it’s certainly not everything.  Please share your own tips for generating more leads at trade shows in the comment box below.

Want to learn more ways to boost your trade show lead counts?  Click here to get your free 32-page What’s Working In Trade Show Marketing White Paper to give you insights into proven methods for boosting your results and stretching your budget. ]]> http://www.skylinetradeshowtips.com/100-trade-show-lead-generation-ideas/feed/ 15 http://www.skylinetradeshowtips.com/6-steps-to-restarting-your-trade-show-program/ http://www.skylinetradeshowtips.com/6-steps-to-restarting-your-trade-show-program/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:05:42 +0000 Mike Thimmesch http://www.skylinetradeshowtips.com/?p=1579

It’s been two years since economic turmoil spooked your management and they shut down or pulled back your trade show program to conserve cash.  But things are different now.  The economy is looking up, shows are getting more attendees, and exhibitors are reporting increasing numbers of interested prospects visiting their trade show displays.

That resurgence has you itching to get back into trade shows, to get face-to-face with hundreds, even thousands of prospects.  And since those prospects are also getting their budgets unfrozen, they’re eager to meet you, too.

But before you jump back in, don’t just dust off your 2008 plan.  So much has happened since then to your customers, and in your company, your trade shows, your industry, and the economy.  Instead, get a clean sheet of paper, grab a pencil, and consider these 6 points:

1.  Revised Marketing Objectives
Check to see if the marketing objectives that drove your old trade show program are still appropriate.  Are your marketing goals now focused on retaining clients, or were your clients so disproportionately hurt by the downturn that you’re targeting new customers now?  Do you have to build distribution or increase awareness in a stronger market you’re now expanding into?  Do you lack new products ready to launch, so you’ve got to take a different tack in your trade show booth?  If any of this rings true with you, go back to square one.  Huddle with your management team and determine your revamped goals for exhibiting, so you can adjust the rest of your trade show program.

2.  Revamped Trade Show Selection
While adjusting to the downturn, your company may have remade itself.  It could have retreated to its core market, or shifted its resources to focus on the stronger remaining markets.  Thus, some shows on your old schedule are unnecessary, and perhaps some new shows should be sought out.  Plus, the downturn affected show owners unequally.  You need to determine which shows are still strong, and have the resources to invest in bringing in and engaging attendees.  Also consider which shows you will choose if your budget is only partially restored.  And finally, if you are in the United States, consider trying more international trade shows, because emerging markets are growing twice as fast as the U.S.

3.  Reshaped Budget
Is your trade show budget completely restored, or only partially?  Even if you get it all back, you may wish to adjust how it’s spent based on the shows you keep and add, the size booth you need to meet your marketing goals, how beat-up or off-message your current trade show exhibit is, and how you’ll invest in promotions in this new era of social media.  And while you may be asked to bring fewer booth staffers, remember that you simply can’t take as many leads without the booth staffers to take them.

4.  Reinvigorated Exhibit Design
Based on your updated marketing objectives, recalibrated show selection, and revised budget, you may need to change your booth’s size, its marketing message, and even its shape (so its architecture better supports your new goals).  So pulling your old trade show display off the shelf may be counter-productive.  It might be time to look at getting a new trade show exhibit that better represents the new company you have evolved into. 

5.  Rebuilt Booth Staffing
Take a look at the desks around yours.  Is the entire crack team of booth staffers you once took to trade shows still intact?  Or were some of your best booth staffers “right sized” right out the door?  If so, you need to go on a recruiting mission to rebuild your team.  Your best bet?  Ask your remaining ace veterans who they’d choose.  They’ll know the like-minded candidates who have the right attitude, knowledge, and work ethic to best represent you on the show floor.

6. Reshaped Promotions
In the last two years, social media has reshaped the marketing world.  To what extent social media has taken hold in your target market will guide how much you need to shift your promotional activity into social media.  You may find you can get the same results reaching out to show attendees via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn than you can with emails, directory ads, and post card mailers.  You won’t know until you try. 

As marketers, we are not living in the same world we had before the downturn.  So you can’t go back to the same old trade show program you used to run.  I hope this gives you some ideas on how to not only restart, but even revitalize your trade show program as well.

Get more ideas on restarting your trade show program from the 32-page white paper, What’s Working In Exhibiting.  This free report shares insights from exhibitors on how they’ve increased results and stretched their budgets.  Click here now to get your own copy.