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With the New Year comes a new season of trade shows to prepare for. If you’re exhibiting at industry expos pre-marketing needs to be a big part of your branding strategy – and the time to start planning is now.

Trade shows provide unique sales opportunities that help in generating new leads, assessing the competition, and improving brand awareness. Trade shows require advanced planning pre-marketing strategies to maximize ROI and ensure ultimate success.

Here are five great pre-marketing strategies that will help ensure that your trade show investments of time and money pays off by translating into better leads, brand awareness, and more closed deals.

Get the word out with email
Prepare an eye-catching email inviting your contacts to attend your next event or meet you at your trade show booth. One or two emails in the month prior will do the trick. Include information on any special promotions or prize giveaways you’ll be offering at the event.

Schedule one-on-one meetings in advance
“76% of trade show attendees rate face-to-face meetings as extremely important in choosing new products and making lasting connections.” So, contact as many attendees as you can before a trade show and schedule them to a one-on-one meeting with you during the show. Offer them an incentive to encourage prospects to agree to a meeting in advance.

Utilize your sales team in advance
Your sales team talks to customers and prospects on a daily basis. Use them to generate a buzz about upcoming trade shows beforehand. They should mention something about your next trade show on every call. This is possibly one of the best ways to get your customers and prospects excited about meeting you and putting a face to a name.

Tweet
Twitter is used by your clients and prospects as a primary way to stay connected. For trade show marketing, be sure to send out tweets leading up to a trade show to announce show specials, and tweet out updates on where your booth will be located. Also offer incentives or prizes for people who stop by. Use event hash tags if available.
 
Get Creative
Trade shows should be anything but ordinary. Use your creative license to drive prospects to your trade show exhibit by generating excitement early on. For trade shows, try organizing a special promotion that gets show attendees involved. The more captivating a booth, the more buzz there will be about it and the more folks will stop in.

For assistance creating a captivating  and show stopping trade show booth, contact the Exhibit Source.

Image Source Magazine

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If you are attending a trade show, you need to work your trade show booth effectively. Make sure you match your message to the audience, the particular attendees going to the show. Also know how you’re going to promote that message to get people to your trade show booth. Be sure you have a very specific plan to follow up with anyone you talk to and capitalize on that.

A pre-show marketing strategy is very important. Promote that you’re business is going to be there, for example, include that information on your website, promote your participation on social media sites, send out mailings to invite people to stop by, and send emails and newsletters and include that information. The more people who see your name, logo and message, the greater the chance that as they tour the exhibition hall, they’re going to seek out your trade show booth.

Also, create a concise message that matches the audience and then have properly trained booth staff to get everyone on the same page, looking toward the same goal and delivering the same message.

For assistance in creating a trade show display for which trade show attendees will stop, contact the Exhibit Source.

Smart Business

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In a precarious economy small business owners must adapt and consider new ways to market their products and services. Trade Show marketing is a great way to do exactly that.

Studies show that trade shows and exhibitions are valued among marketers. 73% of executives rate trade shows as highly valuable in helping their company achieve business objectives.

According to a recent study, exhibiting during a recession makes sound business sense. Researchers highlighted the stable nature of trade shows and and consider trade show marketing a continued value for exhibitors.

There are many reasons why:

1. Exhibiting allows businesses to reinforce brand presence, position, and reputation. It is a cost effective strategy that offers measurable ROI.
2. Trade shows allow potential customers to come to you rather than chasing new clients yourself.

Yes Magazine

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How many leads do you get at your biggest trade show? Let’s say you get 500 leads. Of them, how many are actually in your demographic sweetspot? How many let you scan their badge because they like your neon pink stress balls?

How many attendees where there? 10,000? 100,000? Of them, how many passed by your booth display? How many passed by your booth repeatedly? Have you seen the same several hundred faces pass your booth repeatedly?

Of the people that walked up your aisle, how many gravitated toward that one fancy looking trade show exhibit with all the intriguing displays and passed you up?

Well, if you picked the right trade show to exhibit at, it’s safe to say that about 10% of the attendees could be your customers. If you only captured leads from half the people who are in your market demographic, 5% of 10,000 is 500 qualified leads. That’s 500 people who actually have an interest in you. It’s NOT the 500 leads you normally get.

This nets you 500% more qualified leads. AND it culls away 400 time and productivity vortexes who would have spent hours chatting with your lead sales guys about nonsense. How much is THAT worth?

PROBLEMS:
So here’s the million dollar question, how do you

1. Increase your qualified lead volume by at least 500%?

2. Decrease your phantom lead volume by at least 80%?

ANSWERS:
1. Don’t give away chocolate (unless you’re a chocolate maker)

2. Don’t give away toys (unless you’re a toy maker)
If you want to take a quantum leap in your trade show ROI, you’ll need to ask trade show organizers and exhibit display makers for case studies

3. Yes, give away something valuable but ONLY if it didn’t cost you anything:

a. Give away proprietary data, a white paper, an ebook, but make sure it’s something that ONLY your prospects would be interested in.

b. Give away a valuable electronic research document so you have to get the freeloader’s email address

c. Sell samples of your products for $1 each. make the dollar go into an almost full see through charity box. this way you know exactly how many units you gave away and you earn wide spread good will. you BRAND yourself as a company that gives back. you’ll be remembered.

You can even mark footnote the donation box with the words, all profits will go to charity. After the charity, deduct the actual costs of samples.

d. Only give away items that directly lead to sales of your products or services and clearly display what it is that you’re giving away in a big overhead trade show truss display. (you don’t think THAT will bring you more traffic?)

4. Make alliances - Make deals with non competing exhibitors to trade leads. If you make 3 alliances you’ll get 100% more leads. simple math.

If you sell hot dogs and sausages and you’re at a food fair, make an alliance with a mustard maker and a bun maker.

5. Launch an adult easter egg hunt - Give a token to every vistor and tell them that if they go to booth number J-15, they can get another token. Then, if they go to booth number D-7, they can claim their free hot dog. of course, you’re still better off giving away a free database of some sort or other. AND if you put your heads together with your other marketing alliance partners, I’m sure you can come up with some pretty racy data your prospects would love to get a hold of.

6. To do all this, you’re going to have to dub a manager in your company the Director of Alliances.

7. And finally, you’re going to have to pick the brains of the organizers of the best trade shows and Trade Show Displays and Exhibits Companies that have a ton of experience in your particular industry. Contact the Exhibit Source.

sparkah.com

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As a business owner, you understand that there are many types of marketing opportunities and give you an overview for you to take advantage of. Trade show marketing is one of your options.

Trade Shows and Expo’s – Exhibiting at a trade show or expo is about awareness more than anything, many business owners make the mistake of thinking they will sell enough to pay for their booth or stall space and yet this is often not at all realistic.

Trade show exhibiting is more about building awareness, being seen, showcase your expertise, products and services, and meeting the community to create conversations, present your information and make contact in person with your audience. The more targeted the show the better as this is a great way of putting your business in front of a pre-qualified audience.

Just remember a trade show or expo is not a market and your trade booth is not a shop. Think long term about your participation and prepare to dazzle the show visitors with free demonstrations and great information – prove to the audience why they need what you have. Think long term gains.

For assistance creating a captivating a trade show exhibit, contact The Exhibit Source.

Business 2 Community

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Trade shows and events are staples of marketing, but they are also very expensive, so you need to make the most of them.

Trade shows are one of marketing’s biggest budget line items including exhibit construction, storage, transportation, erection and space rental, along with staffing and travel expenses.  As a result, you need to be sure that you do trade shows right.

Trade show investment is high, but more often than not, exhibitors rely on card readers for the sole measure of lead and results, trade show booths lack customer interaction, and little or no pre-show or at-show promotion or communication takes place.

Keep in mind that trade shows can attract thousands of customers and prospects, channel partners, prospective employees and other important contacts.

Follow these trade show best practices:

Promotion:
Be sure to properly promote your exhibit via pre-show and at-show communications. Often trade show producers will provide email lists of registrants, some free of charge. Certainly, email and contact customers and prospects prior to the show, with your exhibit location, invites to hospitality events and related. Prior to the show, schedule customer, prospect and editor meetings.

Customer Interaction:
Be sure to enhance customer interaction with attractive exhibit design, graphics and video. Create a “buzz” before and during the show with promotions, contests, celebrity appearances, hospitality, and entertainment events.

Measurement:
As mentioned before, results measurement at trade shows is typically weak or lacking. Be sure to measure trade show results in multiple areas:  card readers, contest registrations, editorial placements, sales personnel notes and more.

To make the most of your trade show exhibit, contact The Exhibit Source.

Construction Marketing Association

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Here are a few ideas for a more successful trade show experience. Even if you will only be attending the show, these tips will help make the next trade show you do exhibit at a more rewarding and profitable selling experience.

First, make sure that everyone in your network and all of your clients and potential clients know you will be exhibiting at the show. The Trade Show Bureau reports that 45% percent of trade show attendees are drawn to a company’s trade show exhibit as the direct result of a personal invitation. The personal invitation will definitely increase the traffic from buyers.

Preplanning is very important, but appropriate follow-up is critical. The vast majority of exhibitors do not engage in any form of organized follow-up (leaving the field wide open for those who do). Have your trade show sales staff collect leads and sort them with the hottest leads marked for immediate follow-up. Ideally, you should follow up on leads obtained at the show within one to two weeks.

Don’t bring a chair, you shouldn’t be sitting. Consider placing the booth table at the side or back of the booth, removing that physical barrier between you and the potential customer who approaches the booth. If the table will be holding handouts, always keep a few in your hand.

For more information on trade show marketing, contact The Exhibit Source.

Syracuse.com

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If you have decided to market your business at a trade show, don’t do it last minute. There is much you can do ahead of time to maximize your trade show experience. Give yourself a few months to think, plan, and carry out the plan in an effective way.

Make A Plan

The first thing that you should do is to make a plan. Gather those who are an important part of your team and sit down to brainstorm. Ask yourselves these important questions:

• Who is our target market?
• What is our goal at the trade show?
• How much do we have in our trade show budget?
• Who can be the most effective in our plan and where do they fit in?
• What is our time frame?
• Who should we contact beforehand to invite to the show?

As you consider these questions, you can come up with a general outline of what you are going to try to accomplish at the trade show and before.

After you have a plan you need to talk about a trade show booth.

Choose A Booth
Another reason why you should plan in advance is so that you can design a trade show display for the exhibition that will best suit your marketing needs and your budget. Waiting too long will sometimes get you a small booth in a secluded corner where nobody will really notice you. Look into sizes, locations, designs, and even the lighting, so that you will choose the best booth for your needs.

Use Graphics
When you are considering the design for your booth, don’t forget the graphics. This means that you have a graphic that people will remember and connect to your business. If this means a distinct logo, then that’s what you should use. Check out some exhibit companies that provide graphic design so that you will have the best graphics at the show.

For information on designing the most effective trade show booth, contact The Exhibit Source.

Business2Community

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B2B companies who measure their trade show ROI are able to increase the effectiveness of their exhibit marketing investment and determine which trade shows are working.

Many companies keep doing trade show exhibiting without much hard analysis of if the trade show is generating a positive ROI.

Determine if a trade show is worth the investment.

1. ROI

The best way to track ROI is using this formula:

ROI = Gross Profit – Marketing Expenses

It’s important that the gross profit number reflects deals that happened due to attendance at the trade show. For the purpose of the calculation, you would assume that the deals would not have happened if you didn’t attend.

2. Tracking

To determine what leads and sales were generated as a result of the trade show, a CRM tool is recommended. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is software for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients, and sales prospects.

During or immediately after the show, enter every lead generated (via badge scanning, business cards, or email addresses collected). Then set up reports to monitor the performance of those leads, and when a lead becomes a customer, calculate the lifetime value of that customer and enter it into an updated ROI calculation for that show.

As the lead matures, you will be able to determine which shows are generating a positive ROI and which shows might actually be a drag on earnings.

For help with your trade show exhibit, contact The Exhibit Source.

Business2Community

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There are five concrete benefits for decision makers to consider when determining the fiscal viability of investing in a trade show exhibit and actively participating in a trade show.
 
1. Cost effective. Trade shows offer the opportunity for hundreds, if not thousands, of potential buyers to view your products during a single event which reduces the cost per acquired sale.

2. Time saving. For the same reason, trade shows save time and the cost associated with individual sales calls and the travel involved presenting products one buyer at a time.

3. Building customer relationships. For many businesses, the only time they are able to meet with customers face-to-face is through a trade show. The opportunity to connect in person with customers and potential customers helps to solidify the relationship and leads to additional sales opportunities.

4. Hands on experience. The best traditional and new media marketing in the world can't take the place of the opportunity to actually see, feel, taste, touch and experience your products. Trade show displays allow buyers to try your products "on for size" and see the potential solutions you offer.

5. Industry trends research. Participating and attending trade shows not only allow you to display and present your products but also afford your sales executives the opportunity to see firsthand what the other businesses in your industry are presenting. Learn and listen to peers, vendors, suppliers and customers to hear what the latest trends are for your industry.

For the first time trade show participant, the most effective and efficient way to plan and prepare for your experience is to partner with a company who offers vast knowledge and expertise. The Exhibit Source offers a menu of trade show services: Event Management Tools, consulting, designing and building custom trade show displays, and a comprehensive knowledge of trade show graphics customized for your individual trade show display. Contact us.

Market Watch

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