Trade shows can cost a ridiculous amount of money. But if you know how to get the most out of them, they can be a sales and marketing opportunity gold mine. Some companies go all out with big and expensive exhibit spaces, promotional items and hospitality rooms and events. But, you can get the same results (maybe even better) with some strategic planning around your business and a coordinated game plan with the team that’s going to be at the show.
Define a theme or big idea
You will differentiate yourself more effectively and stand out from the competition if you focus on a big idea or theme for your show attendance. Most events have a theme each year and they promote it early so that you can piggy-back YOUR promotion to match.
If you set a theme for the year that launches around the time of your big annual industry show, you can use it all year long and save a ton of time and money on marketing ideas and materials. Not only that, but a theme that is consistent through the year will anchor itself in your customers’ minds and keep you top of mind.
To find a good theme, think about your ideal customer and what frustrations they might be having, then put a spin on your products’ features and benefits to match that. Don’t be afraid to be bold or different because that’s exactly what you want—to stand out from the rest.
Set goals for your trade show
The biggest mistake you can make is not setting goals for the show. Goals will keep you and your team focused on getting the most information and value from the unique environment a trade show provides.
- Are you looking to generate leads from a specific audience?
- Are you launching a product and want to set demonstration appointments?
- Maybe you can actually sell at your show and you have a sales goal set. Be specific about what you want to achieve
Decide what's important to your target audience
Think about the target audience that will be coming to this show.
- What job titles do they have?
- Who are they?
- What are their objectives for the show? Are they looking to learn or purchase?
- What's important to them when they are buying what you're selling?
Use the list if items that are important to them or that frustrate them as the core of your trade show theme or presentation. If you’re not sure what benefits to focus on, take the time to call a few prospects or customers and just ask them what’s most important to them as they go around the show. Talk about what they will be looking for from their suppliers, or what new products or services are interesting to them. This will give you the ideals you’re looking for.
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Run a pre-show promotion
Companies don’t send a lot of employees to the show for the duration. Usually, people will break into groups and attend a day or two of a show. That means that they will start looking at the list of show attendees early and making a list of who they will want to see. You want to be on that list.
The best way to get on the prospects’ short-list of companies to visit is to send a pre-show promotion. Don’t just send e-mails; send a series of actual direct mail pieces. Ideally, create something “lumpy” that either includes product samples or a series of interesting items that relate to your product or service.
Create a promotional landing page for the show and tie it to a mailing or a contest. This will get interested prospects into your pipeline BEFORE the show.
Create a Twitter hashtag for your company at the show and include it in your pre-show promotions. Then be sure to tweet before the show and during the show. Instead of collecting business cards at the booth, plan on promotions using Twitter or Facebook.
Run a "booth camp" before the show
"Booth camp" is what I called dry run meeting we would have just before the booth shipped off to the location. Everyone who was going to the show was required to be there.
The booth assembly team (whoever would get there early) would practice assembling the booth, making sure we had all the pieces and parts. The staff that was going to be manning the booth would get a “tour” of each area of the booth and how to draw prospects in and what to talk about at each station.
The idea is to review the theme, our marketing plan and goals and how to use the booth as a selling tool. We would also take the time to review any lead generation forms or information we wanted to collect. Other topics included who might show up at the booth and how to handle them; customers, press, etc.
Create a booth schedule
Decide what the optimum number of people is for your booth. For a 10-by-10, no more than two; for a 10-by-20, maybe three. If you stock your booth full of your own employees—there will be no room for prospects and customers. The idea is to keep the booth as clean and clear as possible, so that you can feature and demonstrate what you are there to sell.
A booth schedule will give everyone on your staff enough time at the booth as well as time to meet with prospects and customers or do research and explore the show.
Debrief before and after each show day
Once the show closes for the day, most people head over to the hotel bar for a drink. Take that opportunity to have a 20- minute meeting with your team about what happened at the show. Review your goals and what information you needed and wanted. Make adjustments for the next day. Here is a standard agenda we used:
- Leads collected that day: What was the goal? What did you get? What adjustments should you make?
- Lead action: Which leads need to be contacted right away?
- Competitive Intelligence: What did we see from competitors that was different, new, surprising, etc.?
- Industry chatter: What’s new in the industry that we should be paying attention to?
Track and measure results
Treat those leads with respect. Get them into your system and start nurturing them with information. You can set up an e-mail campaign just for the people visiting the show and they can start getting information from you when they get home.
Learn from the experience and use the feedback to improve your process for the next show. Tracking the sales you got from each show will help you determine how much to invest in that show the next year.
Trade shows are still a critical component of any sales and marketing strategy. They offer you the unique opportunity to have face-to-face interactions with a large number of customers, prospects and industry thought leaders. Use these tips for your next industry show and get the most bang for your trade show buck.
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