Comments on: Where Do You Spend Your Trade Show Promotion Dollars?

By: Mike Thimmesch

Mike Thimmesch — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:32:36 +0000

Thanks for sharing your tips on promotions, Pat. You bring up a good point about your newsletter — see how you can leverage existing customer and prospect communications to get the word out on your trade show presence.

By: Pat Dinan

Pat Dinan — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:01:18 +0000

With social marketing becoming a big way, it is a very good idea to both let them know and invite to any event you are involved in. Suggest they tell a friend.

If you have a newsletter, let your readers know and encourage them to attend and stop by and say hello or tell them of your Show Special. The more face to face meetings you can have with your customers the more then should remember you when it comes to continuing to be a valuable customer. This action doesn’t cost you but some time and the reward can be added $ales.

The other point is this activity helps reinforce the efforts of the show’s marketing out-reach. The more the consumer see info about the event, the better chance they will come.

By: Mike Thimmesch

Mike Thimmesch — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 22:09:24 +0000

Jonathan,

I agree with you that it seems dicey to promote to all your potential prospects to come visit you at a show, only to expose people to our competitors…except if you have new things they can’t see anywhere else. Or if you feel you will win any competitive comparison. However, pre-show promotion to the show’s list of pre-registered attendees gets you in front of people who are going there anyway, and helps you stand out from the hundreds of other exhibitors. That’s the approach I’ve taken for years, although recently I’ve put more emphasis on the at-show promotions, because, as you know, that’s where you can get their attention and get the conversation started. Thanks for sharing your experience.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:51:43 +0000

Pre-show promotion is the responsibility of the show company. That’s the whole reason I pay them. They are far better equipped to get people into the show than I am. Why should I spend my money to get my prospects to come see my competitors? So I spend no money at all on pre-show promotion.
Post-show promotion is too late, because if I didn’t get anyone into my booth at the show then I have nothing to follow up on. Besides, once I have a list of leads, follow-up is cheap and easy.
At-show promotion is the most important activity. I paid to be there, and the customers are there (well in theory at least), so it’s now or never. There is heavy competition for visitors’ attention at a show, so I have to stand out to get them to see me.

By: Mike Thimmesch

Mike Thimmesch — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:56:25 +0000

Monique,

That’s similar to my experience, too. We have shifted more funds to at-show promotions, because the pre-show mailers were not bringing in the attendees like they used to. Year by year we would attach the visitor’s mailers to their lead card. While we used to get dozens, if not hundreds before, the last year we did a mailer there were less than a handful. At-show promos get results we can see.

By: Monique Carreon

Monique Carreon — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:23:28 +0000

We use to spend a pretty penny on pre-show mailers, but since demand gen’s grand entrance, we have saved thousands on email campaigns. This is also the case for post-show follow-ups.

So basically our money is spent on at-show promotions, which we are still trying to figure out how its positively affecting our ROI.