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Tradeshow Success Starts with a Plan

By Debra Murphy, Vista Consulting

Tradeshows are great venues for generating qualified leads and super opportunities to meet existing and potential customers face-to-face and talk with them about your products and services in a very informal environment. Trade shows can be very effective, or of little use; it all depends on how you develop and execute the plan. This article helps you develop a trade show marketing plan that ensures your time spent at the show brings in quality leads that result in sales.

The Components of a Trade Show Plan

A trade show is not a singular event where you set up a display, gather business cards and go home. It is one component of an entire marketing process of integrated activities that begins weeks before the show and ends a couple of weeks after the show. These activities can include direct marketing, Internet marketing, and advertising. It requires a creative theme that highlights your product and/or service’s major benefit to your customers. It also requires a coordinated effort from all the individuals working the booth, from attire, to product demonstrations and messages, to how they conduct themselves. And, it ends with you re-connecting with those customers and prospects you met at the show with their requested items, a phone call, or a marketing piece. If you plan this campaign as a well-integrated set of activities, you will achieve the major goal of attending a trade show – sales.

The tradeshow plan needs to develop your goals for attending the show. Are you there to generate leads or build awareness? Without objectives, your show will lack direction and focus. If you are attending multiple shows, your plan can determine the overall strategy, messages, and themes for all shows, saving you money.

Pre-show planning

When planning the event, there are many details that need to be addressed. The major areas to understand and select as soon as possible are:

  • Booth size and location;
  • Show theme (strategy) including booth signage, giveaways, and attire for booth workers;
  • At show marketing opportunities.

Booth Size and Location

Booth space is sold on a price per square foot basis; therefore your booth size will determine the cost of the floor space. It is not necessary to buy the largest space to get noticed. You are better off going smaller and putting your money into quality booth materials and other marketing activities, such as signage, literature, apparel, and sponsorships. A creative tradeshow plan can drive a lot of traffic to a 10x10 booth.

When determining where you want your booth to be located, see if you can acquire a booth location on a main aisle or major walkway that encourages people to pass by your booth. If you cannot get the main aisle, get a corner booth near bathrooms or food. These locations usually receive the most traffic because they force attendees to pass by your booth a number of times, not just once. The extra name exposure and multiple opportunities to meet could turn a browsing attendee into an interested prospect.

Why Develop a Theme for the Show?

Before you start developing the marketing collateral, signage, and other brand materials, you must determine the theme for the show. The purpose of the theme is to help the attendees quickly understand what makes you different and why they should buy from you. Everything you create, from signage, web site, pre-show postcards, booth attire, giveaways, literature, advertising, and post-show emails, should consistently reflect this theme. A creative, well-defined theme that makes an impact and creates curiosity will help you stand out in the crowd of exhibitors.

At Show Marketing Opportunities

Many trade shows have marketing opportunities that you can purchase for more exposure for your company. Choose the one that best fits your budget. Sponsorships may be worth looking into because the price usually includes your floor space, some conference badges, publicity and opportunities to get your brand identity in front of the attendees more often. If the show is slated for a major announcement, buying a sponsorship may make sense.

There are other marketing opportunities such as sponsoring the show bag, putting literature in the bag, putting your name on the badges, or sponsoring an event at the show like a refreshment break.

You may also want to purchase a half-page or full-page advertisement in the conference guide. These guides are given to all the attendees and contain the conference session schedule, an exhibition floor map and descriptions of all the exhibitors. Ensure your message is crisp, targeted and include a call to action to visit your booth at the show. Be sure to include your booth number in the ad.

Depending on your budget, other at show marketing opportunities you might want to consider include prize drawings, a show game, theatre presentations, or entertainment to attract people into your booth.

Pre-show Marketing

Send an email to your clients and prospects from your own database letting them know that you will be exhibiting at this show. Make sure your email clicks through to a landing page on your Web site that has more information about the show. Publicize the show on your Web site and send free exhibitor passes to your hottest prospects encouraging them to go to the show. Schedule meetings with these people at the show if appropriate.

Many trade shows offer the exhibitors the use of the registration list for pre-show and sometimes post-show direct marketing. Four to six weeks before the show, send a postcard or letter to this list, inviting the attendee to stop by your booth and see what you have to offer. Provide an incentive, such as a contest or drawing, to entice the attendees to come by and register for the drawing. A good prize is usually the hottest electronic gadget of the day or something that would appeal to your prospects.

If you have sales people going to the show, have them invite their hottest prospects. It is a good way to have prospects meet many people in your company very cost-effectively. This personal touch leaves a very positive impression on the prospect.

Find out if the show has a list of press and analysts that will be attending the show and have your PR people schedule interviews with them, especially if you have an updated strategy or are announcing something new at the show. This is a great opportunity to get in front of several of the key industry influencers in one location.

Showtime - Getting Attention and Generating Leads

First impressions are key. Your exhibit makes a strong statement about your company. Your booth tells visitors why they should stop, what makes you different, and what benefit you offer your clients. Make sure your graphics are eye-catching, sending a key message with minimal words. Most attendees will not take the time to read a lot of content on your signage. Make your booth attractive and inviting, encouraging people to stop in and see what you have to offer. Do not put a table between you and the aisle! That is a sure-fire way to say, “Stay away”.

One of the most important factors in the success of your tradeshow comes from your booth staff. Send qualified, knowledgeable people to staff your booth who can comfortably speak with prospects, answer their questions, and collect information about their interest in your products or services. Send your front line sales force, the engineers, product managers, the V.P. of Marketing, and the President of the company. Having your best in the booth tells the attendees that you are very interested in meeting them and in finding out what they want.

If you are conducting a prize drawing, a game, or a presentation that results in a prize, remember the point is to get people into your booth so you can talk with them about your products and services. Don’t waste time on those who only want the gift. If a visitor only wants to give you their business card for the drawing, thank them for stopping by and put nothing on the back of the card. After the show, you will be able to easily tell which visitors were interested in you and which only wanted to enter the contest.

To simplify lead collection, create a lead sheet for the booth that contains a place to staple the business card and write notes about this prospect. Make sure the lead sheet has a check box for indicating whether someone wants to be added to your opt-in email list. Do not assume that if someone dropped off a business card or stopped by your booth, they want to be added to your list! This is now critically important to understand since misuse of people’s personal information could result in your company getting sued. Stopping by a booth is not establishing a business relationship. Therefore always ask the person if they are interested in being added to your list and record their answer on the lead sheet.

Post-show marketing

Post-show marketing is following up with people you met at the show within two weeks to ensure they remember your company. The following are examples of what you can do:

  • If you had a prize drawing, send a personalized email out to the list of people who entered with a thank you for entering and the name and company of the winner. Make sure this email contains an opt-in mechanism, since this email is specific to the people who entered the drawing. If you did not get their permission to add them to your opt-in email list, or if they originally said no, this gives them an opportunity to change their mind and subscribe to your email list. Use an email marketing tool that provides this personalized sending capability.
  • Send the winner their prize along with a letter congratulating and thanking them for stopping by your booth.
  • To every prospect that you had a more detailed conversation, send a follow-up letter summarizing your conversation. Copy sales on the letter so that a sales person can also call them and know what was discussed. If the prospects are hot, consider sending them a modest, but nice gift.

Are you ready?

Planning and executing a tradeshow marketing plan can determine the success of the event. A well-executed plan will help you put your best face forward and expose your company to prospects from 4 to 10 times in a two-month timeframe. There are not many marketing programs that give you this type of opportunity to get in front of your prospects. If done well, your company can greatly benefit from a well-run tradeshow.