Articles & Whitepapers

Trade Show Basics

12/01/2008

By Jonathan Fisher, CEO

A quarter-million dollars’ worth of manpower utilization at your booth daily…$30 trash can rental... the $8 hot dog — trade shows are another dimension when it comes to creating economics that make short- and long-term financial sense. But here are some tips you can use to not only avoid turning your show into a money pit, but to actually come out of the event with new business that makes a big difference that very same quarter.

1. Correct your context.

A trade show isn’t an event that happens for two days at a convention center somewhere in Houston, Las Vegas or Madrid. It’s a program —one that starts several months before the show and ends several months after. Either tie the program together through a broader campaign with the proper planning, promotion and capitalization or save your money and stay at home.

2. Actively sell booth attendance.

The “If you build it they will come,” kind of thinking won’t get you far in the trade show environment. Trade shows represent a high concentration of prospects, but also create an intellectually noisy environment for attendees: networking with colleagues, on-site events or lectures, after-parties and calls from the office. Make an informed, intense effort to sell audiences on visiting your booth.

Deploy a preshow strategy that ensures they will visit your booth out of the 3,000 other exhibitors. Build a preshow micro site and drive traffic there to tease prospects on what is to come. Offer exclusive preview windows for new technology to ensure attendees know it’s a special service or demo you plan to bring. Post banners on your home page to attract Web traffic to the event. Offer an after-show private viewing for those unable to attend. The point is to leverage the current show investment. Eighty percent of all opportunities happen before and after the show. Don’t miss out – plan ahead.

3. Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Let’s say that at the end of the conference you have a pile of business cards or scanned visitor data, possibly with a few scribbled notes. Not bad — but it’s not contact information you’re after, it’s dialogue. You need a formalized, repeatable way to qualify leads at the show so the contacts you make are immediately plugged into an appropriate place in the sales cycle. Staple a small survey to every business card, assign someone to monitor information, customize your data swipes, whatever works and fits the team. Drive visitors to a post online raffle where you gather qualifying questions when they resister to win.

There are thousands of ways to improve tradeshow profitability. We invite you to call us and gather more information (free of charge) on how to maximize your show marketing investments.

Jonathan Fisher is the CEO of BrandExtract, an integrated branding and communications firm that guides growing companies by providing strategic branding solutions, marketing communications, advertising, print and interactive services.

For more on evaluating agency performance, contact Jonathan Fisher or Bo Bothe at 713-942-7959.