Marketing Strategies for your Next Show

There are many important factors to consider when developing your marketing strategy for a trade show. You need to consider costs for pre-show marketing, show costs, and post show follow up. Focusing heavily on pre-show costs will give you a competitive advantage at the show because attendees will be more likely to recognize your name and your brand when you are at the show. This may even result in attendees targeting your booth because they saw a pre-show promotion. Trade show booths are a very important factor in a successful show. You need to anticipate what your competition will be using and how you can stand out at that show. There are many different booths to choose from and it’s important to get a display that will hold up against your competition and make you slightly unique among other exhibitors.

Your post show follow up will consist of cold calling clients you talked to at the show. When you are at the show it is a great idea to make notes on each potential lead. Try to find something unique about each individual and use that to break the ice when cold calling. This will give you a competitive advantage over other exhibitors because your clients will remember your unique conversion and will be more likely to become a client. Never underestimate the power of a greeting card or thank you note to attendees who visited your booth. Courtesy and sincerity can go very far in the sales world.

-Matt
Northwest Creative Imaging

Marketing Strategies Related to the Trade Show Industry

Typical marketing campaigns and trade show marketing can require completely different styles of marketing techniques. Standard marketing strategies can consist of brand recognition, target market research, and demographic studies. With a trade show campaign the time and money should be spent in different places to insure you generate the highest number of qualified leads at your next show. It is very important to research the shows you want to attend to makes sure your company fits with the attendees of the show. This can be accomplished by speaking with previous exhibitors, online research, and study of the attendee list.

Next it is important to simplify your company message and mission. At a trade show, attendees are flying through the show trying to cover as many booths as possible in a short amount of time. A complicated and busy booth can distract from your message and divert potential leads from your booth. You also need to research trade show booths to see what size your company will need and the display that will be required to fill the booth. When looking for a trade show display it is very important to take into consideration what your competitors will be displaying in order to spend the proper amount on a display. If your competitors are using banner stands then a fully customized display will not be cost effective.

The most important aspect of the entire trade show is an effective graphic design for your booth backdrop. It is very important to take into consideration that attendees will have 1-2 seconds to view your booth when they are sprinting down the isle. A trade show design needs to be simple, eye catching, and professional. On my facebook page I have many examples of design I have done that have worked very well for my clients.

Keeping good notes and following up after the show is the last step to completing your trade show marketing campaign.

-Matt
Northwest Creative Imaging