Trade Show Marketing Tips

We constantly work with our customers to help them grow their business. In today’s marketing world there are many venues to get the word out about a business. Traditional marketing outlets include TV, radio, magazine, trade shows, direct mail, etc. but now we mix in social media, internet marketing, Google, variable data direct mail, email marketing, mobile marketing, rewards programs, etc. The good news is there are many was to market you business, the bad news is there are many ways to market your business. How do you decide? What customers will be reached by what media? How do you measure the effectiveness of each form of marketing? How to market your business and get the work out is more complicated than ever before. The purpose of this blog is to share with you some ideas to help you make informed decisions about strategies that will help you grow your business. Today lets discuss one from of marketing: the Trade Show. This time of year seems to be a busy time for trade show/event marketing. Why are you Attending? What are your goals? Be specific, are you introducing a new product? Is this a new market for you? Are you ready to take orders or just getting leads? Knowing what you are there to accomplish will help with how your booth and materials are organized. Know the Audience Who will be attending the show/conference? It is important to know the demographics of the potential show attendees. Are they the decision makers to purchase your product and service? What will be important to them to learn about your company? The more information you have about the audience, the better you can prepare your exhibition materials and staff. Have materials ready to answer their questions. Do you have examples of your work on display? Perhaps you will have a demonstration of your product-make sure it works and is impressive. Have materials ready to give to attendees. Be Ready to Capture Information You should have a pre-determined method ready to capture information about potential customers you meet. Many conventions utilize the name badge of the attendee and a scanner to capture the contact information of the attendee. Be ready to have whatever equipment is necessary to easily capture that information. Many local shows like home shows, boat shows or chamber of commerce business fairs do not have electronic name badges. In this case you must have a simple, convenient and easy method to gain contact information from potential customers. A giveaway will allow potential clients to fill out a form for entry. Make sure that you are capturing enough information that will help with lead follow up. Take notes on specific product interest and make special notice of hot leads. Know the Numbers Be prepared for the number of attendees. The organizers of shows will have previous attendee information and will share that with exhibiting companies. Have booth staff ready for the busy times. Try not to make potential customers wait to talk to someone in your booth. If you will be handing out materials at the show, have enough copies. Tracking the number of people that stop at your booth is important for measuring ROI and knowing if the show was a good use of marketing dollars. Put Some Pizzazz in Your Display Exhibit graphics are the magnet that attracts visitors into your booth. Good graphics will pre-qualify a potential customer. If effective, your graphics will communicate your message and let people know you have a solution for their needs. Your graphics should communicate who you are, what you do and what you offer. Put some thought into this and invest in graphics that will enhance your exhibit. Pre-Show Marketing Many organizations will supply pre-registered attendee lists to exhibitors. If this is the case, use this opportunity to let attendees know you will be exhibiting at the show. This is a very effective use of direct mail. You have a well qualified list and know they will be attending the event. You are just trying to get them to stop by your booth or display. Let them know of the new product/service you are introducing. Entice them with a giveaway or prize if they stop by. Invite them with a formal invitation if you will be holding a press conference, technical seminar or other presentation. Have a Follow-up Plan Make sure you have a strategy to follow up on all leads. It does no good to go to the time and trouble of exhibiting if you don’t plan to follow up. Assign follow up duties to specific individuals. Have daily wrap-up summary to review hot leads and special follow up needs. Trade shows and conferences can be an excellent venue for finding new customers. By knowing your audience, implementing a show strategy and following up with new leads, the ROI on a show can be well worth the time and expense.