Trade Show Marketing Blog

“Going green” is everywhere these days and the trade show floor is no exception. But you may be wondering what, exactly, is green exhibiting? What qualifies as being green and is there a benefit to making green choices in the trade show market?

What Are Green Exhibits?

What counts as green exhibiting will be different depending upon whom you talk to, but some key components of green exhibiting include:

• Exhibit materials
• Exhibit shipping
• Exhibit packaging
• Exhibit waste

Exhibit Materials. The most obvious example of whether or not a product is green is what it is made out of. The amount of recycled and recyclable products on the market today virtually guarantees that you can find products that have less impact on the environment than products of the past. When looking for green trade show ideas look for recycled products. Common recycled products that are used in trade show displays include: aluminum, plastic bottles, industrial plastics, wood and wood fibers. Naturally renewable resources that are finding their way to trade show exhibits are: bamboo, sorghum and eucalyptus.

Exhibit Shipping. The consumer does not readily see the impact of shipping or transportation costs of goods on the environment. Trade show exhibits are no exception. Exhibits and exhibiting itself can have a tremendous impact on the environment. Many exhibits are shipped across the country to trade show after trade show, generating new carbon emissions each time. Lightweight and modular displays are smaller and lighter than other types of displays, which means they cost less to ship. In some cases, these light weight displays can even travel as luggage with accompanying sales associates.

Intangible shipping costs, such as carbon emissions, are an often overlooked factor when talking about how green a product or display can be. For a company that attends several trade shows a year, these intangible costs may well be the greatest environmental impact you have, regardless of the materials used in your display.

Exhibit Packaging. Related to exhibit shipping, the type and amount of packaging your trade show display requires has an environmental impact as well.  You can use packaging that is reusable, recyclable or made of recycled materials itself. Instead of petroleum-based plastic shipping containers, seek out containers made from recycled plastics or made of natural fibers like corrugated cardboard and bamboo.

Exhibit Waste. Have you ever considered how much waste is generated at a trade show? Consider the waste material your products will generate when you develop your trade show marketing plan. Promotional products that are made from recycled materials and do not come individually wrapped are much more “green” than individually wrapped products made from non-renewable resources.

Many companies provide plastic water bottles with their logo affixed to them as trade show giveaways. A more environmentally responsible approach would be to provide reusable water bottles that have been printed with your logo. The benefit is two-fold. Not only are you saving waste from going into a landfill, your name and image will be seen over and over again as the water bottle is re-used.

What About Price?

Price is often cited as a hurdle to purchasing green products. However, manufacturing changes, increased demand, and improvements in production are driving down the cost of green products. In some instances, the cost of a green trade show display is quite competitive with traditional displays and perhaps even less expensive.

Going green can be excellent PR for your company, particularly if your company has a green focus or has adopted a green business model.

Internet connections are everywhere. Smartphones have made it easy to check email, social networking sites, and surf the internet no matter where you are, tradeshows included. Smart exhibitors are taking advantage of this and incorporating internet usage into their tradeshow marketing plan. One of the simplest ways of doing this is to add a blog to your tradeshow PR strategy.

The Benefits Of Blogging

Adding blogging to your list of tradeshow marketing strategies can provide your customers with special insights into your business. Blogs can announce sales, discounts, and special events, or provide information and articles on your company’s industry. Many businesses use their blogs as a way to interact with their customers by encouraging discussions and welcoming feedback on the blog site. This is a great way to build relationships with your customers, which can, in turn, lead to increased business sales.

Incorporating a blog as part of your tradeshow marketing plan operates in the same manner. The idea is to use the blog to drive tradeshow attendees to your booth. Most companies and organizations that exhibit at tradeshows spend loads of time and money marketing their trade show presence before the event even begins and then focus on their exhibit message or trade show goals during the exhibition.

Very few exhibitors consider how to reach their customers at the show. They wait for the customers to come to them, relying on their pre-event marketing to fulfill that goal.

How To Let Show Goers Know You’re Blog Is Active

Blogging can fill this gap. When you live-blog, you can entice customers to stop by your booth. Many trade shows are multi-day events; this gives you an opportunity to market to clients who are at the show right now.

Clients who are attending the show are most likely going to catch up on their email or social media accounts during breaks or at the end of the day. This is your opportunity to grab their attention and drive them to your booth the next day. Perhaps you can post quiz questions on the blog and award prizes for the correct answer - but only if the answer is given in person at your booth. Advertising specialties that relate to social media and blogging would be ideal prizes.

In other cases, co-workers of the attendees, who are back at the office, can read your blog and send word to their exhibit attendees to head over to your booth to catch a certain promotion or deal. This type of blogging works especially well if your customers have subscribed to your blog and receive notices whenever the blog is updated.

Another way to let customers know your blog is active is to use Twitter or other social media accounts to tell them. It’s a simple matter to send a tweet suggesting followers visit your blog for current specials and promotions available only at the tradeshow.

Blogging To Promote Your Tradeshow Attractions

If you have special tradeshow attractions or promotions taking place at the tradeshow, write about it!  Blogs are also a great place to post videos. If you can videotape your visitors scrambling in a money machine or spinning prize wheels, you should! There’s no better way to draw a crowd than to showcase fellow show goers having fun and winning prizes.

Blogs are meant to be ever changing and dynamic - what better way to keep it fresh than to share the excitement of a trade show with your readers in real time?

In today’s world of tradeshow marketing, it seems that just about everyone has jumped on the social networking band wagon. With more than 500 million users and 50% of those logging onto the site every day, Facebook is the frontrunner in social networking sites. With these statistics, it’s easy to see why social networking is quickly gaining popularity as an effective tradeshow marketing tool.

However, when the majority of businesses start doing the same type of convention marketing, after a while even a new thing can become redundant. While social networking is certainly an effective way to market your tradeshow attractions to your audience before, during and after the show, it shouldn’t be the only marketing you rely on. This is why I would like to suggest that you dare to be different.  Since everyone is texting or messaging through various social networking sites, why not get back to basics and use a more personal touch for your tradeshow marketing?

The Personal Touch

Years ago, sales people made sure to touch base with their potential buyers by making a phone call just to say ‘hi.’  Everyone knew that it was important to stay in touch with clients through regular calls. Today, technology provides us with a variety of communication tools that seem to be making the phone call almost a thing of the past.

Because most people are emailing and texting on a daily basis, the shift to this technology for a tradeshow marketing medium just makes sense. Of course, it’s obvious that we’re all very busy; so texting, e-mail messages and social networking are also very convenient and valuable tools. But with so many people communicating this way, doesn’t it make sense to do something different once in a while?

Why not make that phone call or even make an in-person visit if it’s possible so that customers connect with you on a more personal level. Give them a sneak peek of the cash cube you plan to feature in your tradeshow attractions for the next show, and personally invite them to stop by your booth to see your new product demonstration. Taking the time to apply the ‘personal touch’ to your tradeshow marketing might do more to solidify a sale than anything you’ve done most recently.

Give Customers More Than They Expect

As a tradeshow professional, I don’t have to tell you about the importance of friendly, open, face-to-face communication when you’re presenting at your tradeshow booth. In fact, it’s one of the most important aspects of convention marketing, particularly because this is your opportunity to shine.

However, whether you’re using tradeshow attractions to promote something at your booth that is high tech, or if you have an exciting new product that you’re eager to introduce, your objective is to give your customers more than they expect. In other words, if you focus your attention on people through a more personal touch, in combination with social networking and text messaging, you have a greater opportunity of being remembered and gaining a positive reputation.

If you have used social networking effectively in your tradeshow marketing strategy before and during the show, chances are you will have a full house at your booth. Then all you have to do is put a voice or a face to your company or product and you’ll be amazed at the effect you’ll have on potential buyers. Social networking is indeed the future of tradeshow marketing, but it shouldn’t be your only strategy. At the end of the day, customers still appreciate the personal touch, and a combination of technology and face-to-face communication makes a winning combination.

Give Customers A Reason To Care

Remember, you ask buyers to make an investment in your products and you hope they will love what they buy. For that reason, it’s important that customers know you care. Keep in mind that most businesses, especially those presenting at a tradeshow, rely heavily on personal contact. Why not take the opportunity to dare and be different? Start maintaining good relationships right from the start by establishing a more personal touch, then combine that with social networking marketing strategies, and watch your business grow!

Tradeshow marketing doesn’t begin and end on the trade show floor. For real success, you need to generate buzz prior to the event and follow up with anyone who visited your trade show booth after the show is over. You need to communicate with clients and associates weeks or even months in advance to and continue to communicate with leads long after you’re back in your office.

The “before and after” phases of tradeshow marketing can be time consuming and expensive, but it’s crucial to make contact with any leads before and after each trade show in order to keep your company’s name fresh in the minds. Communications researchers have determined that the name of a company, product or service doesn’t “stick” until listeners have heard it at least three times, preferably in a variety of contexts. Using more than one mode of communication (face-to-face at the show, via Internet, and by phone, for example) for your tradeshow marketing helps cement your message as well.

Incident Notification Systems Evolved Out Of Need

A recent innovation in mass communications tailored to client needs is the popularity of incident notification systems. Several companies, including Send Word Now (www.sendwordnow.com),  offer this unique and easy to use instant communication technology. Although initially developed out of the need for a faster, more efficient way to notify groups in the event of a disaster or potentially dangerous situation, it has quickly been embraced by businesses that need to communicate to large groups for sales force communications, conference calls, and corporate communications. It’s also a great tradeshow marketing tool.

How “Send Word Now” Can Boost Your Tradeshow Marketing Power

Today, companies around the globe are relying on Send Word Now’s easy incident notification system to quickly and efficiently relay their message. With Send Word Now, you can send any convention marketing message, simultaneously to computers, laptops, cell phones, Blackberries, landlines and pagers. Recipients can then respond individually from any of these communications systems.

Generate Interest Prior To Each Trade Show

Imagine the value this can add to your tradeshow marketing! A few months in advance of your next trade show, simply send out a mass tradeshow marketing notification to all your prior and current customers, potential customers, and business associates announcing your attendance at the next trade show to create buzz before the event. A quick reminder a week or two before the show will ensure it’s on everyone’s calendar.

Tradeshow Marketing During The Event

Tradeshow marketing messages sent via Send Word Now can also keep conference or trade show attendees in the loop throughout the event. Are you holding a raffle, featuring a prize wheel or demonstrating new products? Sending out an alert can stimulate more interest and ensure no one misses a demonstration. You can also use Send Word Now to entice visitors by giving them a clue or the answer to a question that will result in some type of reward if they use it when visiting your booth.  Any trade show attendees who might have been wavering about visiting will likely take the time to drop by once they receive your message.

Easy Follow Up

One of the most tedious aspects of convention marketing is following up new leads after the trade show is over, but Send Word Now makes it incredibly simple. You can send instant messages, emails or even a personalized voice mail message to anyone who stopped at your booth, as well as a “Sorry we missed you” message to anyone you didn’t see at the tradeshow.

The new tradeshow marketing possibilities with Send Word Now are endless. You can use it to send out product launch notices, tradeshow marketing materials, press releases and just about anything you can think of to thousands of leads in just a few clicks, ensuring impressive tradeshow marketing coverage on time, every time.

Are you one of those companies that avoids pre-show marketing and lets the show’s own trade show manager tackle all of the promotion? If so, you’re missing out on a lot of great convention display opportunities.

In order to get the most impact and best ROI on your convention display, you need to be proactive. Hoping that visitors navigate to your booth and speak to one of your sales team leaves a lot to chance. One of the best proactive measures to do this is by using tradeshow giveaways before the show even starts.

Using Trade Show Bags As A Teaser

Many companies have found success preparing show survival kits for visitors and sending them out beforehand. These trade show bags are durable and contain some essentials like a map and some pens. But most importantly, these trade show bags have the imprint of your company prominently featured, and have information about your convention display already inside.

Tradeshow giveaways like these trade show bags are functional during the event and after it. There are many people who will hold on to a well made bag for years afterward, and remember your company every time they use it.

Guide Visitors To Your Booth

There is another way to drive traffic to your booth: logo imprinted apparel. Trade show environments may not seem conducive to giving away clothing, but handing out t-shirts before the event can make a big difference. If someone is wearing the apparel, trade show attendance could be boosted long before they ever get to it. All they need do is be asked about it by someone, and then you’ve got another attendee.

Send A Personal Invitation

To make a real impact, your convention display can use a technique that no trade show manager would use. Studies have shown that personal appeals — true handwritten personal appeals — are one of the best motivators of turnout. Tradeshow giveaways have an impact, but there is nothing like receiving a handwritten invitation to partake. The handwritten invitation should be genuine and as personal as possible. It is most useful when combined with trade show giveaways, but will also have an effect if no tradeshow giveaways are used.

Using Teaser Tradeshow Giveaways

Trade show managers don’t have products to promote in the same way you do. They can’t send out a product, prize ticket, or scratch off card that can be redeemed for a better product at the time your convention display goes up. Offering new items to people is a great way to bring them to your convention display. In addition, sending tickets to be redeemed is cheaper than sending other tradeshow giveaways like trade show bags.

Combining Promotional Techniques

Any of these marketing techniques can be used individually for a great impact. But the best way to use them is if you combine two or more. For example, use tradeshow giveaways along with a personal appeal to drive traffic.

While a trade show manager is interested in driving traffic to the show in general and ensuring that you as an exhibitor are happy, their focus isn’t on promoting your booth specifically. Don’t leave your trade show traffic to chance — with some proactive measures, you can drive the success of your trade show event.

Trade shows and conventions are a great way to meet current and prospective clients face to face. These opportunities for networking can often prove vital to any company positioning themselves within their respective markets. Every vendor and company is looking to stand out with a unique trade show booth ideas to attract positive press. Staying ahead of the crowd puts a company in an enviable position to build their market presence.

Let’s take a look at some practical and effective exhibit marketing ideas.

Step #1: Getting Your Brand In Front Of Every Trade Show Attendee At the Event

With so many companies vying for attention, you need a way to grab their attention from the get-go. Contact the event coordinator and arrange to provide free logo imprinted canvas bags that attendees can use to carry the loot they collect throughout the day. Another option is to provided logo imprinted lanyards for the convention’s ID badges.

Not only will this branded item will be one of the first objects that every attendee will come into contact with, it positions you as a leading company at the show. More importantly, every person at the trade show will be advertising your brand as they carry around your bag or sport your lanyard.

Step #2: Take Your Offer Further: Give Them a Reason To Stop By and Participate At Your Trade Show Booth

If you are providing the bags or lanyards for the tradeshow, you have a unique opportunity to literally invite every attendee to your booth. This is your opportunity to stuff the bag or attach to the lanyard something irresistible that will drive attendees to your booth. For example, offering every visitor a scratch card or a fortune cookie that reveals a code that may unlock a prize vault at your booth or a chance to step into a Cash Cube Money Machine where they will have 30 seconds to grab at cash, funny money that can be spent on your products or services, or coupon vouchers for free offers.

The Psychology Behind Trade Show Marketing

#1 Driving Traffic: Getting people to visit a convention booth is the key to generating leads and contacts. Every effective trade show booth idea that attracts attention is another potential sale or growth opportunity. Beyond promotional items, interacting with attendees and hosting activities and ice-breakers will often attract a substantial crowd.

#2 Establishing Your Brand: Effective convention booth marketing ideas revolve around building a brand and exposing clients and customers to a company’s overall business. This exposure is achieved through branding via the creation of logos and slogans that convey a company’s unique products or services. One of the most widely used and effective exhibit marketing ideas is to give away promotional items that incorporate those logos and slogans.

Promotional items serve two purposes when it comes to brand marketing. First, practical items will act as a constant, passive source of advertising to a client as they are used. Secondly, those same items will also spread awareness of the company as trade show attendees bring them back to their places of employment or homes. Offering free promotional items is an excellent exhibit marketing idea that provides targeted advertising to pinpoint potential clients.

A trade show booth idea that is unique and can tie into a company’s products or services will ultimately generate buzz around a booth. Exhibit marketing ideas are about getting the word out on a company and establishing a presence and reputation in a market. Good convention booth marketing ideas separate the successful displays from the rest of the crowd.

Offering high-quality trade show giveaways to event attendees is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies you can leverage at the event. Trade show giveaways can attract prospects to your exhibit, support your lead-qualifying efforts, and promote your business long after your customers and leads return home.

Most trade show exhibitors underestimate the hidden potential of their promotional products. After years of using them successfully to build my trade show business, I can assure you that the right giveaways can boost your sales, increase your revenue, and deliver an impressive ROI. Today, you’ll discover 3 powerful reasons to use high-quality tradeshow giveaways at your next event.

#1 - Support Your Company’s Brand

More important than your products, your company’s brand is a powerful tool for building long-term trade show success. Tradeshow giveaways can support that brand. Promotional items that are immediately useful offer perpetual value to your customers and leads. Each time they use the giveaways you’ve provided them, that value is transferred directly to your company’s image. As a result, when they need the products your business sells you’re the first resource they consider.

#2 - Immediate Exposure At The Event

Nothing travels faster across a trade show floor than news about an irresistible promotional product. Because most exhibitors try to conserve their trade show budget by giving away items that are not necessarily useful, your giveaways will attract attention. As attendees learn about your promotional items, your booth traffic will surge dramatically.

#3 - Long-Term Visibility After The Trade Show

While more inexpensive trade show giveaways are useful to blanket the trade show with your brand, the long-term promotional power of other giveaways is critical as well. As long as you’ve sent your highly qualified leads home from the event with giveaways that provide practical value, those items will continue to advertise your company for months, even years. For example, an attractive 12-month calendar practically guarantees your name will be in front of your customers for the next year. Not only does this provide perpetual exposure for your business, but you’ll also enjoy instant name recognition when your staff follows up with leads after the trade show.

The Secret To Trade Show Giveaways

One of the most potent secrets I’ve learned over many years of event marketing success is to choose high-quality, immediately useful tradeshow giveaways. The majority of the exhibitors I’ve observed over the years completely miss the potential short and long-term advertising potential of their promotional items. That makes it even easier to set yourself apart during - and after - the trade show. Plus, if you can integrate your giveaways with powerful trade show attractions like the money machine cash cube, you’ll attract large crowds to your booth. That provides an ideal opportunity for your employees to qualify leads.

Trade shows are one of the most powerful vehicles for introducing new products, getting the word out about existing products, and attracting new business. If executed well, your trade show marketing plan can boost your sales and revenues, paving the way for future growth.

However, simply showing up for the event is not enough. The things you do before, during, and after the show have an enormous influence on your success. Collecting leads is one of the most important. Today, I’ll provide a 4-step plan to collecting high-quality trade show leads.

Step 1: Train Your Booth Employees

Set aside time to train your booth staff regarding how to properly collect leads. Being friendly is just the beginning. They need to learn how to approach attendees who visit your booth and ask the right questions in order to qualify them. Provide them with a script that describes the benefits of your products. Then, roll play so they can gain practical experience talking comfortably about those benefits.

Step 2: Plan Your Trade Show Giveaways

Your trade show giveaways are an opportunity to attract potential customers to your booth while promoting your company over the long run. Avoid using cheap promotional items that might reflect poorly on your business. Instead, invest in high-quality giveaways that make a lasting impression. If you can send your leads home with a promotional giveaway that they’ll keep using, that item will continue marketing your company’s name.

Step 3: Approach And Engage

This is where the training that you provided your staff pays off. When visitors come to your booth, your employees should immediately approach and engage them in conversation. The goal should always be to qualify them. Your staff should try to identify visitors’ needs, their budget, and whether they have purchasing authority. Establish lead-collecting goals before arriving at the trade show. That way, your employees are always aware of their objective.

Step 4: Qualify And Disqualify

Time is limited at trade shows and it’s essential that you spend it wisely. You’ll find that disqualifying prospects is just as important as qualifying leads. If a visitor is unlikely to do business with your company, your booth employees must be able to disengage and speak with other visitors. If you’re using trade show attractions to draw large crowds, it’s even more important.

Making Your Trade Show Leads Count

The 4-step plan that I’ve just described to you is one of the reasons for my trade show success over the years. Leads mean everything. If you implement a system with your staff that focuses on collecting as many of them as possible, you’ll enjoy a significant competitive advantage. Once you return home, start following up on your leads immediately to make them count. You’ll find that trade shows are a potent channel for growing your business.

Your trade show booth needs to attract visitors. If it fails to do so, your success at the event will likely be dismal. What’s worse, your plans to follow up with qualified leads become practically useless. Whenever I attend an event, I always walk around the floor to see what other exhibitors are doing to attract people to their booths. Most of the time, the booths are either empty or the staff are desperately trying to coax visitors. Today, I’ll share with you 3 ways to get people to your booth at your next show.

Plant The Seed

Getting people to visit your trade show booth starts months before the event. You should begin planting the seed in your customers’ minds about the show early so they can make plans to attend. Whenever you call, mail, or email them, let them know where your exhibit will be located. If possible, set up appointments during the show.

Here’s an idea that I’ve been using effectively for years: scratch off cards. Send them to your customers in the mail a few weeks before the trade show. Display numbers under the surface and let them know they can pick up their prize at your booth.

Use Quality Promotional Items

High-quality promotional items can create an instant buzz on the show floor. If your trade show budget allows, try to have a promotional item that you can give to every person who visits your booth. Imprinted pens, hats, or t-shirts will continue to promote your company at the show and afterward. Save the highest-quality giveaways for customers and qualified leads. One word of caution: use quality promotional products. They look better and last longer, creating a more favorable image for your company.

Create A Spectacle

Trade shows can be boring for a lot of attendees. Booths look similar, so they don’t spark the imagination. That means if you provide a spectacle that entertains those who are walking by your booth, you can attract large crowds. I’ve had great success with cash cube money machines. Here’s how they work: an attendee steps inside the cube and grabs as many dollar bills as possible within 30 seconds. They keep what they catch.

More Visitors Through Creativity

Attracting people to your trade show booth isn’t hard or complicated. You simply need to plan ahead and think creatively. Plant the seed in your customers’ ears about the show. Then, organize fun contests that require them to visit your booth to claim their prizes. At the show, give visitors quality giveaways that promote your company’s name (but, keep the best promotional items for your customers and leads). Finally, create a spectacle that will grab people’s attention.

That’s how I’ve been drawing visitors to my booths for years. It can work for you, too.

I’ve been holding trade show contests before and during trade shows in order to generate buzz among my customers and attract crowds to my booths. Trade show contests are incredibly effective for grabbing attention and creating excitement at the trade show. Executed correctly, trade show contests are part of a larger trade show marketing strategy. To close more deals, you need to generate more leads.

Collecting leads begins with attracting the right people to your exhibit. Trade show contests can play a key role in attracting those people. Today, I’ll share 3 ideas for trade show contests that I’ve been using successfully.

Trade Show Contest Idea #1 - Scratch Cards

As I’ve mentioned in recent posts, you should begin telling your customers about your trade show booth months before the event. Using scratch cards are a great way to inject fun and excitement about your appearance at an upcoming show. I’ll share with you a strategy that works particularly well. First, don’t list the names of prizes under the scratch-off surface. Instead, customize them with numbers to entice your customers to your booth. Then, mail the cards to your contacts weeks before the show, requiring them to visit your booth to get their prize.

Trade Show Contest Idea #2 - Prize Wheels

This idea appeals perfectly to 2 natural human instincts: attraction to spectacles and the chance to win something for free. Prize wheels can be custom-designed to fit with the theme of your exhibit, including your company’s logo. Small or large, these wheels can stand in front of your booth, drawing the attention of attendees. You can further leverage them by mailing your customers “tickets” to spin the wheel at the show. Like scratch cards, the tickets will generate excitement and encourage your customers to visit.

Trade Show Contest Idea #3 - Money Blowing Machines

Money blowing machines, also called Cash Cube Money Machines are one of my favorite trade show contests. In my experience, they have attracted some of the largest crowds to my exhibits. Booth visitors step inside the machines and have the chance to grab dollars, prize vouchers or certificates that quickly circulate around them. If you’ve ever witnessed one of these money blowing machines in action, you’ve probably seen hordes of attendees coming to investigate. To increase the excitement further and generate even more interest, you can hold a contest on the trade show floor, allowing people to win tickets to enter the machine.

Part Of Your Trade Show Marketing Plan

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of your contests when you see the crowds they begin generating. The most important thing to remember is that the 3 contest ideas I’ve just described are a part of your long-range trade show marketing plan. Your main objective at the event is to qualify leads. That’s what brings in new business. The ideas above are merely a means to that end. I’ve been using all 3 successfully for years and recommend you do the same.