Trade Show Marketing Blog

In order to generate trade show leads, you must first attract people to your exhibit. Don’t wait for the day of the event. At any given trade show, there will be dozens, even hundreds of trade show exhibits, clamoring for attendees’ attention. In order to attract trade show visitors, you need to think outside the box. Even if your booth staff is engaging and your displays are attractively designed and strategically placed, traffic may be scarce.

Having said that, if you plant the seed among your customers and prospects before the trade show, you can create excitement leading up to the event. Do it in a compelling way and you can help ensure your trade show exhibit is flooded with visitors. Today, I’ll describe two promotions you can use to increase your trade show booth traffic and generate a larger number of qualified leads.

Using A Scratch-Off Cards Promotion

You’re likely already sending mailers, newsletters, and other marketing materials to your in-house list. Several weeks before the trade show, send customizable scratch-off cards to everyone. Colorful and light, they ride along easily with your other marketing collateral and immediately grab the recipient’s attention. Plus, on the day of the event, have an employee give out the cards to each person who comes into the convention hall.

Don’t list the prizes on the scratch-off cards, though. Instead, use numbers or symbols as a code for the prizes. That way, your customers, prospects, and other attendees will be excited to visit your trade show booth to see what they’ve won. When they visit, they’ll approach your staff, who can begin qualifying them as leads.

Using A Treasure Chest Promotion

Treasure chest promotions work under the same principle. The purpose is to generate excitement about visiting your trade show exhibit. There are a few ways to do this. First, you should let your customers know about your treasure chest promotion weeks before the show. Mail out customized keys with a special invitation to visit your booth and for a chance to open the locked chest.

Second, create a page on your website that allows people who are not yet on your in-house list to request a key. Once they submit their request, add them to your prospect list and mail the key to them. Third, have one of your employees give out keys to attendees as they come through the exhibit hall’s doors. They won’t be able to resist trying to open the treasure chest.

This type of promotion is a fantastic way to introduce new people to your company. You control every aspect of the promotion. Choose the type of treasure chest, prizes, and the ratio of winners and losers. When people visit your booth to try their luck, your staff can engage them in conversation and qualify them as leads.

Lead generation is at the heart of successful trade show marketing. It begins with attracting booth traffic. With a creative and exciting promotion, you can draw that traffic to your exhibit.

Trade show giveaways are undervalued and underestimated by most exhibitors. The evidence can be found within the trash bins that are scattered throughout the convention hall. The problem is that many exhibitors think promotional items are only useful to the point of attracting attendees to their trade show booths. Nothing could be further from the truth.

While trade show giveaways are incredibly effective for attracting attendees, their value extends long after the convention hall lights have been turned off. Today, I’ll explain how you can squeeze the most long-term value from your trade show giveaways.

Invest In Quality And Durability

One of the most common mistakes that exhibitors make is to offer cheaply-made promotional products to their customers and booth visitors. While low-quality items may represent a smaller investment, they can also tarnish your company’s image. Trade show giveaways that offer high quality and durability are more likely to be kept and used after the event. They normally cost a bit more, but can promote your business long after the trade show. Inexpensive doesn’t need to be “cheap.” If you choose a high quality ad specialties distributor, you can find many high quality, low cost promotional giveaways.

Come Prepared With Multiple Promotional Items

Your trade show marketing budget should allocate funds for quality promotional products, but that doesn’t mean you need to offer the best items to every visitor. Instead, consider coming to the event with two different trade show giveaways. Give the best item to your current customers and most promising leads, and provide the other, lower-cost giveaway to the rest of your visitors. That allows you to conserve your budget while offering a useful promotional item to everyone.

Provide Ongoing Usefulness

Unless your trade show giveaways are useful to attendees, they’ll be discarded at the show or soon thereafter. The more useful it is, the longer your customers, leads, and other visitors will keep them. For example, a paddle-and-ball set with your company’s name, logo, and contact information may seem fun. But, it doesn’t offer any long-term value to attendees; it will probably be thrown away. On the other hand, an imprinted coffee mug can last for years on your customers’ desks.

Leave A Lasting Impression

All of your trade show giveaways should have your company name and logo imprinted on them. They should also include your contact information and marketing message. Too often, exhibitors imprint the name of their business on their promotional items, but neglect to include their phone number. Remember, the goal of your giveaways is to perpetually advertise your company’s name to your customers. Make it as easy as possible for them to get in touch with you.

Quality promotional products can build your company’s image, ingratiate you to the attendees who visit your trade show exhibit, and advertise your business months - even years - down the road. Use the tips above to get the maximum value from your trade show giveaways.

The types of trade show displays you choose for your exhibits play an important role in making an impact on your audience. At some trade shows, your exhibit space will be limited and require a compact, flexible solution.

At other events, you might have an expansive exhibit and need to make a memorable impression; a large, innovative truss system with integrated lighting and plasma panels might be appropriate. With so many convention marketing ideas, you’ll need to focus your brainstorming and finalize a plan.

There are several types of trade show displays and each type is designed to provide specific advantages, given your budget, need for flexibility, and space limitations. Here’s an overview of the 3 most common types of trade show displays:

#1 - Panel Trade Show Displays

Panel displays are foldable and can be designed to fit a range of exhibit space requirements. They’re lightweight and can stand on the floor or placed on a tabletop. Each panel is normally 2 to 3 feet in width and 3 to 4 feet in length. They’re often constructed of high-quality polymer on sturdy frames and can support nearly twenty pounds. Panel display systems are cost-effective, flexible, and can unfold within minutes.

#2 - Pop-Up Trade Show Displays

Pop-ups are popular because they’re relatively inexpensive and simple to set up. Exhibitors can integrate them into large trade show exhibits or use them as turnkey solutions for smaller exhibits. However, they’re not without limitations.

Even though you can have shelves placed on pop-up displays, they cannot support much weight due to the lightweight frame. And while pop-ups are an economical alternative to larger display systems, they’re not adjustable. That said, if you’re on a limited budget, pop-up trade show displays might be an ideal solution. But, be aware regarding whether their limitations will hamper your goals.

#3 - Truss System Displays

Truss systems are high-end trade show displays. They’re ideal if your budget is flexible and you need to make a stunning impression on your audience. They can attract attention and draw visitors to your exhibit. Truss displays use frames which are constructed of aluminum, giving them a durability that other display systems lack. As a result, they can support a significant amount of weight. In fact, you’ll often see truss systems supporting mounted LCD screens and heavy fixtures.

The drawback is the price. It’s not uncommon for truss displays to cost over $40,000. That said, given your trade show objectives and your marketing budget, it may be a fantastic investment for your company. If you plan to use truss systems, consider hiring trade show contractors who can set up the entire exhibit for you on the convention floor.

Using Trade Show Displays That Deliver An Impact

Your trade show exhibits and displays need to communicate your brand, convince attendees to visit, and allow your booth staff to engage them in conversation. What’s more, they need to do so in a limited space at a price that fits your trade show marketing budget. Bigger is not necessarily better. A creative pop-up display with the right marketing message can deliver a lasting impression upon your audience. On the other hand, larger trade show exhibits might require a durable, versatile truss system.

When they’re well-designed and properly deployed, your trade show displays will make a distinctive impact on your audience, regardless of size.

Most exhibitors fail to promote their trade show booths. Instead, they show up at an event and wonder why their booth is empty. The problem is nearly always a lack of marketing and promotion. Having the highest-quality products and most creative displays won’t be enough to make your attending a trade show worthwhile.

Successful exhibitors know that they need to spread the word well in advance in order to meet their goals. The promotional wheels need to start turning 7 or 8 months before the event arrives.

Today, I’ll reveal 4 effective promotional activities that you need to perform if you want to make your next trade show a success.

Tip #1 - Let Your Customers Know

Your best leads are at your fingertips. Think about the ways in which you maintain contact with your customers. Are you sending direct mail or mailing newsletters to them? Do you send an email to them periodically? Do they visit your website? Each of these is an opportunity to inform your customers and prospects about your exhibit at an upcoming trade show. Call your customers and personally invite them to your booth. The extra attention will pay dividends at the event.

Tip #2 - Advertise At The Location

There are plenty of ways to advertise your booth in the city in which the trade show is being held. For example, attendees will be flying into town and staying a few days. Advertise at the closest airport; buy ad space on buses or taxis that will be passing the venue; promote your booth at the nearest hotel. And don’t neglect to reserve an ad in the trade show’s directory.

Tip #3 - Secure Local Media Coverage

You might be surprised by the willingness of the local media to provide free news coverage of your trade show booth. Not only is this type of coverage free, but it has an extra level of credibility over paid advertising. Keep in mind that you’ll need to develop a story or angle in order to spark interest from a reporter. Once you do, consider hiring a trade show vendor to create your company’s press kit.

Tip #4 - Plan Your Promotional Giveaway Strategy

Few trade show promotion ideas have as long a reach as high-quality promotional giveaways. If planned correctly, your giveaways can keep your company’s name in front of your prospects for months after the trade show. The key is to avoid trendy items that provide little to no value to attendees. Instead, think about products that people will use for a long time. That way, you can send your company name and marketing message home with them, confident they won’t be discarded.

Your Trade Show Booth Traffic

Remember, exhibiting at trade shows goes hand-in-hand with marketing and promotional activities. If you don’t start promoting your booth several months before the event, you may end up wasting your time and effort. Use the 4 trade show ideas above to spread the word and increase your booth traffic.

In the past, I’ve given you a number of trade show ideas that you can use to improve the success of your trade show marketing efforts. We’ve talked about promotional giveaways, motivating your booth staff, attracting visitors, and creating eye-catching trade show exhibits. Each contributes to your bottom line. Today, I’ll give you 4 creative trade show ideas that a lot of exhibitors haven’t considered.

#1 - Leverage The Media

Local newspapers, as well as radio and television stations are always searching for compelling stories to tell. If you can weave your marketing efforts around a newsworthy story, your business can attract free media coverage. Contact the trade show organizer for a list of local press outlets. Also, consider hiring a trade show advertising agency to help you develop an attractive press kit.

#2 - Give Booklets To Your Booth Visitors

The value of giving away key chains, tape measures, and similar promotional items to your booth visitors is questionable. Instead, consider giving them small booklets that you can fill with tips regarding how to use your products. There is an insatiable hunger for practical information that can be absorbed quickly and applied easily. By giving away information-dense booklets, you can sate that hunger while pre-selling your products to your target audience. Plus, they’re less likely to be thrown away and will keep your business name in front of your prospects longer.

#3 - Use Attention-Grabbing Trade Show Attractions

Classic video games, colorful prize wheels, and popcorn machines that send mouthwatering aromas into the trade show aisles can attract large audiences to your exhibit. These types of trade show attractions capture attendees’ attention and draw them in, encouraging them to investigate. When they visit, your booth staff can engage them in conversation in order to qualify them as prospective leads.

#4 - Repackage Your Presentation

The majority of people who attend trade shows are looking for new solutions. Uncovering an exciting new product can make the time spent on the convention floor seem worthwhile. If your product is dated, consider repackaging your presentation. You won’t be able to rely upon dazzling your booth visitors. Instead, talk about the features and benefits of using your product. Chances are, a large portion of your target audience will be familiar with your product, yet unaware regarding how it can solve their problems.

Rising Above The Noise

Most exhibitors follow the same menu of marketing tactics in their effort to draw people to their trade show booths. The problem is, they lack creativity. By taking action on tactics that other exhibitors neglect, you can rise above the noise and capture attendees’ attention. The 4 creative trade show ideas I’ve described above are easier to implement than you might imagine. The key ingredient is a willingness to take the first step.

As a business owner, it’s important to realize that your employees may not have the same level of excitement or passion about trade shows as you do.

They don’t have the same vested interest. And more often than not, they’re less than thrilled than you are about having to attend the event.

Unique trade show attractions, trade show games, and trade show contests can go a long way in drawing crowds to your trade show booth, but a smiling face and inspired booth attendee is what will ultimately make the sale!

Trade shows can take an enormous toll on anyone’s enthusiasm. 14-hour days spent on your feet, smiling and greeting attendees who have limited interest in what you’re selling can affect anybody’s motivation.

However, it’s critical that your trade show booth staff have a positive attitude and are enthusiastic about being there! Today, I’m going to give you 3 ideas that will help keep your trade show booth staff motivated.

#1 - Establish Goals Before The Show

Without having goals, your employees are going to perceive the event as a chore. They’ll be paid for being there, but they won’t feel any level of personal accountability. Before the show, take the time to speak with them individually in order to establish their goals. Depending upon your overall objectives, those goals might include collecting a certain number of leads or meeting a given sales target.

Once your trade show booth staff have established their goals for the show, gather them together so they can share them with each other. Not only will this foster a sense of team spirit, but the accountability will keep them excited.

#2 - Recognize Your Employees

Studies have repeatedly shown that employees are more motivated by individual recognition than they are by monetary rewards. During the event, take your employees aside to recognize their efforts. Let them know that you appreciate their participation. Remember, each day at the show can be extremely long and draining. After 12 or 14 hours, even the most enthusiastic member of your team can lose their motivation. Pull them aside and recognize them for making a sale, attracting a key lead, or remaining professional and engaging throughout the day.

#3 - Hold A Contest

A fun, simple contest can inspire your trade show booth staff to remain energetic throughout the event. Use their personal goals as the benchmark for their performance. You can offer them small prizes, such as a free day off, lunch at the restaurant of their choice, or movie tickets. You can even make the contest a team effort. That is, if your trade show booth staff meet a team goal, they share a group prize. This type of contest can keep them excited and motivated during the long days.

The Face Of Your Business

Your booth staff plays a key role in projecting a professional image for your business. In many ways, they represent the only face that attendees will ever see. It’s critical that you keep them motivated. Invest the time to help your staff plan their goals for the event, organize a fun contest to get them excited, and recognize their efforts throughout the show. Using promotional giveaways and trade show attractions in order to draw the right type of crowds will always be important. But, your trade show booth staff must remain motivated and inspired during the event.

With companies in every market reducing their trade show marketing budgets, financial resources are limited. Reserving space, setting aside time to attend trade shows, and paying for travel and lodging for yourself and your staff can put enormous strain on a dwindling budget.

Meanwhile, the costs associated with the design and construction of your exhibit can balloon if you’re not taking steps to control them. Today, I’m going to give you a few ideas for controlling the costs of your trade show exhibits.

Rent Your Booth

If your trade show marketing plan includes more than a few shows each year, renting an exhibit is probably inappropriate. Instead, invest the money to have an exhibit created that will deliver the impact you need while supporting your brand. On the other hand, if you’re only attending 1 or 2 events each year, reduce your expenses by renting your trade show exhibits. By doing so, you’ll save money on construction and storage. There are a number of trade show vendors who can accommodate your needs and budget.

Buying A Used Exhibit

New trade show exhibits can be expensive due to the time involved with designing and building them. Because used exhibits have already been constructed, you can buy them at a significant discount. In fact, there are many trade show vendors who specialize in pre-owned booths. Those booths are kept in excellent condition and can easily support your banners and other displays.

When your trade show marketing budget expands in the future, invest in having a new exhibit designed. Until then, used trade show exhibits can meet your needs while preserving valuable cash flow.

Avoid Rush Fees

A lot of exhibitors underestimate the time involved in planning for a trade show. As a show approaches, they start to rush. Details begin falling through the cracks. Between renting trade show attractions, training your booth staff, and letting your customers know about the event, don’t forget to plan the design of your trade show exhibits. If you leave it to the last minute, you might face rush fees which can eat into your budget.

Low Budget Doesn’t Mean Low Impact

You can control your costs without sacrificing your exhibit’s impact. Consider renting your booth or buying a pre-owned alternative. If you’re have a new exhibit designed, plan it well in advance to avoid rush fees. Also, it’s worth noting that there are plenty of trade show contractors who can help with installing and dismantling your exhibits. Call the event organizer and ask whether those services are available. A limited trade show marketing budget doesn’t mean that you need to limit your booth’s impact on the floor. Think creatively and plan in advance. You’d be surprised by how much you can accomplish with a small budget.

For several weeks, we’ve been talking about deploying effective trade show marketing tactics, properly training booth staff, and implementing follow-up systems.

There’s another area which requires a keen eye and a savvy marketing approach: booth displays. The display you use can play a key role in attracting the attention you need from your target audience.

There are many types from which to choose and each can deliver a unique set of advantages given your budget, space availability, and objectives for the event.

In today’s post, I’ll provide 4 trade show display and convention booth tips that will help you select the design that best suits your goals.

#1 - Know Your Space Limitations

Not all types of displays work well within small spaces. In fact, the flexibility of larger systems, such as truss displays, are best leveraged over wider areas. If you’ve reserved a small area measuring 10′ x 10′ or less, you should consider using a pop-up solution. They’re convenient and affordable, but can also deliver your message and logo with memorable impact. Once you’ve reserved your area, communicate the dimensions to your designer.

#2 - Simplicity Sells

Keep your message simple. This is one of the most important convention booth tips I can give you. A lot of exhibitors I’ve observed over the years try to communicate too much in their trade show displays. Predictably, their message gets lost in the noise. Your displays should include your logo and 1 or 2 graphics that attract attention. Then, use bullet points sparingly to communicate the most powerful benefits of your product.

#3 - Be Careful When Transferring Collateral Pieces

You may be tempted to cut corners by using the graphics and content from existing collateral pieces. It can be done, but you need to approach it carefully. For example, a graphic that looks perfect on your brochures and mailers may transfer poorly to a large display. In the same way, the content you’re using within your collateral pieces may be too verbose or complicated to attract the fleeting attention of attendees.

Convention Booth Tips For Trade Show Success

As I’ve mentioned in past posts, your success at trade shows is the result of several factors that must work together seamlessly. Your pre-show marketing tactics should build expectation in your customer base. Your trade show attractions should draw attendees to your booth. Your giveaways should support your lead-qualifying efforts. And your follow-up system should take advantage of those leads after the show. But, if you deploy the wrong type of display with the wrong message, you can easily sabotage your efforts.

Use the 3 graphic and convention booth tips that I’ve provided above to deliver your message with the greatest impact possible to your target audience.

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.

Your company’s trade show marketing success is a reflection of several factors that converge to bring about a specific objective. One of the most important factors is your trade show booth staff’s ability to approach visitors and qualify them as leads. These leads are what make your trade show marketing plan worthwhile. Because it’s unlikely that your staff will know how to do this naturally, you’ll need to train them. Here are 3 tips for training your employees to qualify trade show leads:

The Hard Sell Doesn’t Work

A lot of exhibitors often think they should “hard sell” visitors. But, aggressive sales tactics are ineffective at trade shows. Most attendees are not at the event to buy products. They attend in order to find potential solutions. While visiting the booths, they collect pertinent information along with a few promotional trade show giveaways. If your employee corners them with a hard sell, it turns them off and makes your company less desirable in their eyes.

Focus On Visitors’ Needs

The most effective salespeople listen more than they talk. They ask questions in order to identify needs. Your trade show employees should do the same. Train your booth staff to focus on attendees’ needs and subtly uncover their problems. Once your employees understand the problems that are facing attendees, they can more effectively coax them into the next step in the lead process (i.e. gathering contact information).

Too often, exhibitors and their staff are so absorbed with making a sale that they neglect to consider what attendees want. They may sell something to that attendee, but they’ll damage their brand and chances for establishing a long-term, profitable relationship in the process.

Engage Without Dominating

Train your staff to approach visitors in a non-threatening way. Attendees don’t want to feel cornered in your booth, especially if space is limited. Your employees should approach them in a manner that encourages open conversation. Coach your staff to allow room between them and visitors so they won’t seem to dominate the space. Then, your employees should begin asking questions to identify the visitor’s most pressing needs. The more the visitor talks, the longer he’s likely to stay and consider doing business with your company.

Qualifying leads so that you and your staff can follow-up after the event should be a crucial part of your trade show marketing plan. Using tools such as cash cubes and prize wheels to draw people to your booth along with high-quality promotions giveaways is important. But, ultimately, your success comes from following up on leads collected at the event. To do that effectively, you must train your employees to approach visitors and qualify them.