30 Quick Tips To Help You Visit A Trade Show

Building Brand Awareness Through Tradeshows

The Magic of Using Booklets for Tradeshow Giveaways

Benefiting From a Regular Exhibiting Workout

10 Quick Tips for Tradeshow Exhibiting

10 Simple Methods For More Effective Trade Shows

10 Simple Methods For More Effective Trade Shows,
Part Two

Tradeshow Exhibit Articles

“Your guide to better marketing and advertising.”

30 Quick Tips To Help You Visit A Trade Show
by Susan Friedman

Exhibitors often have to reverse roles and find themselves on the other side of the aisle playing tradeshow attendee. According to a CEIR (Center for Exhibition Industry Research) study, 39 percent of attendees spend less than eight hours visiting a show. As with exhibiting, planning and preparation are essential to maximizing time on the trade show floor. The following 30 points will help simplify the process next time you find yourself playing visitor:

Before the Show

1. Know what you want to achieve by visiting the show, and if the company is sending you, understand what your boss wants you to achieve by attending the show.
2. Develop a plan of which exhibitors you want to visit, and then organize your list into two parts: "must see" and "want to see" companies.
3. Decide how much time you want to spend at the show and then at each booth. Allow extra time for browsing, distractions, and waiting in lines.
4. Find out who else from your company is going to the show and develop a plan to maximize your visit, especially at large shows.
5. Know what information you need from each exhibitor. Research different vendors to find out how they differ and what is most important to you. Then plan intelligent questions to ask them.
6. Design a lead-gathering research form to make accurate comparisons for specific products/services.
7. Make appointments with exhibitors you really want to meet with.
8. Get a map of where the exhibitors are located and prioritize your route.
9. Take plenty of business cards to avoid filling out forms.
10. Pack comfortable shoes and clothing to wear on the show floor. Walking shows is extremely tiring. Try insoles for extra comfort. Remember to leave room for things to bring back.
11. Take a light and comfortable "carry-all" for accumulated materials. Plastic bags are often uncomfortable as they cut into your hands.
12. Make travel and hotel reservations early to maximize on discounted rates.
13. Stay at a hotel closest to the convention site to save on traveling and to give you a place to rest, sort through the information you are gathering, and refocus your energy.
14. Plan the seminars/workshops you want to attend. Split sessions with your colleagues to maximize data gathering.
15. Obtain a map of the city and know how to get to the convention center.
16. Pre-register for the event and arrive 30 minutes before opening to avoid standing in long lines.

At the Show

17. Revise your plan at the show. The show directory and schedule often change several times before a show.
18. Collect information that interests you or might interest others in your company. Request that literature and samples be mailed instead of having to carry them with you.
19. Tell exhibitors you are on a tight time schedule to avoid casual chatter and get straight down to business.
20. Look for networking opportunities. Network with industry leaders. Get invited to exhibitors’ hospitality suites and receptions. At workshops, introduce yourself to people around you. Hand out and collect business cards. Hook up with new contacts at mealtimes for added information.
21. Skip overly crowded booths and plan to come at the end of day when traffic is slower.
22. Check coats and bags so you don’t have to drag them around with you.
23. Carry a pad and pen to jot down important notes, or have a small tape recorder for note taking.
24. Take a break after a few hours to refresh and get some fresh air. Air in convention halls is dry, stale, and draining. Drink water regularly instead of pop or beer to avoid dehydration.
25. Write a trip report as you go along and summarize your notes every evening.
26. Be prepared to push for answers to questions exhibitors are not prepared to answer.
27. Avoid conversations with vendors in whom you have no interest.
28. Leave the show about 30 minutes before closing to avoid long lines for buses and cabs.

After the Show

29. Plan how you are going to implement information you gathered.
30. Be prepared to follow up after the show for literature and samples requests.

Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach is based in Lake Placid, New York. The Tradeshow Coach - http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com

Building Brand Awareness Through Tradeshows
By Susan Friedman

Branding is a basic marketing concept that is designed to set your products/services apart from the competition. By using a particular name, phrase, design, symbol or a combination of these, you can create a unique identity. When choosing a brand name, consider the following five criteria:
1. It should suggest product/service benefits.
2. It should be simple, memorable, and unique.
3. It should fit the image of the company.
4. It should have positive connotations for the target market.
5. It should be easy to pronounce and to pictorialize.

Branding is not a sales and marketing gimmick. Instead it refines and defines corporate culture and identity. A brand must have meaning to its consumers, its organization and its employees. Brand is an emotional link between you and your customer. It is what people buy when they buy your product or your company. The most important part of a brand’s identity is the promise it makes to customers. The essence of branding is simplicity and timelessness.

Integrating Brand Awareness Into Your Exhibit Program
Since exhibiting is a powerful extension of your company’s advertising, promotion, public relations and sales function, that automatically means it is an excellent way to enhance brand awareness. Everything your company stands for, no matter how large or small, is being exhibited on the show floor. This means there needs to be total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus in every aspect of your exhibiting program, before, during and after the show.

Here are three important points to consider as you plan to integrate brand awareness into your tradeshow program.

1. Consistency and repetition is vital in creating brand awareness. People buy brands they know and they trust! A brand is a promise that companies make to their customers. Strong branding requires all the levels of communication to agree with one another.

2. Ensure all your marketing and promotions are consistent and that they have your logo, colors, typeface, slogans and characters. Everything you develop should have the same look and feel.

3. Peoples’ perception about your company, products, and services is a major factor in their choice of brand preferences and their buying behavior. All perception is subjective and based on experience. Individuals tend to interpret information according to existing beliefs, attitudes, needs and mood.

The following is a 10-point checklist to act as a reminder for many of the questions you need to ask and answer as you plan brand integration into your exhibit program:

1. What needs to be done to ensure that your booth conveys total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus of your company image and brand?
Consider:
• booth size
• location
• graphics
• demonstrations
• staff
• handouts and giveaways
• lead management

2. How can your graphics work best for you?
• can be easily seen and read in three seconds
• use a simple and bold typeface
• have striking and grabbing visuals
• are instantly memorable
• use a unique size or shape
• reinforce your message
• make your message a single, strong, provocative idea
• use a "What’s in it for me?" message
• use bold colors
3. What are the best promotional activities you can use to enhance brand awareness?
Personal invitations (e.g. with incentive and response form)
Direct mail with incentive
Pre-show advertising
• trade and/or local publications
• local media
• websites (e.g. company, show, association)
• broadcast faxes
• association newsletters
• city billboards
• transit advertising
At-show advertising
• show catalogs
• show dailies
• airport billboards, banners/electronic message boards
• hotel closed-circuit television
• hotel - on door or in room promotion
• kiosks/banners at show site
• convention television channels

4. What types of PR communications could be used?
Pre-show:
• press releases for local and trade publications
• product/service application articles
• personal invitations to trade/local editors
• company newsletters
At-show:
• press kits for the press office
• press reception
• video/slide presentation at the booth
• reprints of articles as giveaways
• seminars/workshops
• contests
• personalities/spokesperson at booth

5. What sponsorship opportunities exist and would complement your company image?
Some of the most frequent sponsorship opportunities are:
• press room
• international lounge
• speaker or VIP room
• awards reception
• educational programs
• keynote sessions
• coffee breaks
• luncheons/dinners
• banners
• badge holders
• audio visual equipment
• display computers
• tote bags
• shuttle buses

6. What advertising premiums will be consistent with your image and complement the message you want to convey?
Consider:
• budget
• originality
• usefulness and appropriateness for your target audience
• distribution
7. Who are the best ambassadors for your company - the right people to staff the booth?

8. What training should they receive?
Consider:
• prospect qualification
• booth etiquette
• product knowledge
• product demonstration
• obtaining commitment

9. What is the best dress code to convey your company image?

10. What is the best way to follow-up after the show that is consistent with your exhibiting program?
Remember that branding is a process, a business system, that fuels and sustains all customer/company relationships! Total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus in every aspect of your exhibiting program, before, during and after the show are essential.

Written by Susan Friedmann, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, who works with exhibitors, show organizers and meeting planners to create more valuable results from their events nationally and internationally. Website: www.thetradeshowcoach.com. Author "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies")

The Magic of Using Booklets for Tradeshow Giveaways
By Susan Friedman and Paulette Ensign

Candy, squeeze balls, pens, and key chains -- these provide questionable value to anyone visiting or staffing a tradeshow booth. More and more meeting and marketing professionals are considering something a little different - booklets. They are a way to attract higher quality prospects, reap a handsome return on the investment of time and money in attending shows, and help set a company apart from the crowd.

What is a booklet? The ultimate purpose of a booklet is to educate a target audience. It contains tips, techniques or strategies to help accomplish certain tasks. Typically it measures 3 _" x 8 _", has 16 to24 pages, fits perfectly into a purse, pocket, or briefcase, and can conveniently be mailed in a standard #10 business envelope.

The following five points highlight how you can use booklets as a powerful marketing tool to increase sales from tradeshow leads.

1. Why booklets make a great tradeshow giveaway item.
Booklets have a lasting value, more than many handouts currently used at tradeshows. Yet booklets are not overpowering in any way. One major purpose in exhibiting at a show is to educate your target audience about how you can provide solutions to their challenges. A booklet packed full of a useful tips might address those challenges. In addition, it heightens your company's credibility as an expert in the industry, and draws the prospect to you when it’s time to purchase.

Your company's name on a coffee mug or pen doesn’t quite have the same impact when a prospect is looking for solutions to their challenges. Rather when they easily read your information in a booklet, you’re perceived as knowledgeable. Also, you leave the reader with the distinct impression that you are looking to establish a rapport, and a business relationship with them. Handing out booklets separates you from those with a dish of candy at their booth, or those who offer yet one more shopping bag. And, the cost of booklets is less than many other giveaways and can effectively and easily be used throughout the year in other parts of your sales and marketing efforts.

2. Who uses booklets as a giveaway?
Anyone in any industry who is selling or exhibiting at a trade show is a candidate for using booklets as a unique promotional tool. A company can write and produce their own booklet, have a booklet produced for them, or purchase copies of someone else's booklet on a topic of interest for their target audience. Small, mid-sized, and large companies alike use booklets. The minimum purchases are usually completely manageable, and there is an economy of scale as you purchase larger quantities.

3. What kind of information to include in a booklet?
The best information to include in a booklet is common sense, grass roots, basic, practical "how-to" content on a topic relevant to your business and important to your customers. The material can be solutions to everyday concerns, which people often overlook. Sometimes the "magic pill" answer to challenges turns out to be information that is known but merely forgotten. The booklet acts as a reminder. It can also serve as new information for novices to an industry.

4. How else you can use a booklet to market your company?
Once you have produced a booklet, you can often find other organizations that can benefit from it. This then helps to recoup your production costs, should that be of concern. For example, a manufacturer could sell it to distributors. You also continue marketing your own company, and generate new revenue in the process.

Other uses include direct mail campaigns or licensing the rights to your booklet to another company. Licensing might also involve translating it into other languages to reach additional markets. Licensing agreements mean that the client produces the booklet. Your company grants specific rights, by written contract, for the client to do all the production of the booklet manuscript that your company owns.
Identify prospects in your own industry by looking at the vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers. Each is a marketing niche. Approach them in a common-sense way. Remember that you are providing solutions to many of your clients' problems.

5. What common mistakes do companies make when exhibiting? One of the biggest mistakes companies make when exhibiting is in repeating what other exhibitors are giving away, or repeating what the company has done year after year regardless of the results. An uninteresting handout makes the statement that a company has put limited thought into their clients' needs. The importance of educating the clients about how you can help them cannot be overstated. When your company makes one more sale because someone reads the booklet you gave them, the investment of purchasing or creating the booklet pays off handsomely.

Getting a return on the overall investment of the tradeshow is ultimately the primary reason for attending the show at all. Some industries, such as the pharmaceutical industry, are now making a concerted effort to pull back on money spent on excessively expensive and inappropriate giveaways, and are turning toward giveaways with educational value.

Using a booklet as a tradeshow booth giveaway creates magic as you enjoy better-qualified leads that produce larger sales over a longer period of time with well-educated clients. A small investment in the booklet is definitely worth the large return.

Written by By Susan Friedmann, CSP and Written by Susan Friedmann, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, who works with exhibitors, show organizers and meeting planners to create more valuable results from their events nationally and internationally. Website: www.thetradeshowcoach.com. Author "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies")

Benefiting From a Regular Exhibiting Workout
By Susan Friedmann, CSP

How often do you exercise your exhibiting muscles? Do you have a regular workout designed to increase your tradeshow dexterity and boost your results? Whether you’re looking for strength training to increase your competitive edge, flexibility to improve your marketing strategy, or just general overall fitness, a regular conditioning workout program is a must.

Before beginning an exercise program, take time to think about the results you’d like to achieve, so that you can gear your workout strategy toward attaining your desired outcome. Take time to assess why you participate in tradeshows. If you go because you’ve always gone, because the competition is going, or because you’d be conspicuous by your absence, a fitness program will propel you to new heights and increase your marketing longevity. The purpose of a regular exhibiting workout program is to revitalize, invigorate and rejuvenate your exhibit marketing strategy. However, realize that the toughest part of this program is usually getting started, and having the discipline to make your exercise routine a regular part of your exhibit marketing strategy.

The following is a general fitness level guide to help you determine what type of exercise you should do and the intensity level. Whether you want to build marketing muscle, or just firm up/tone determine the intensity that’s right for you. Each level incorporates a strength, an aerobic, and a flexibility component. All three will help you achieve your desired results.

Fitness Level 1 - You never or rarely stretch

This first level is geared for the low risk-taker who is in the habit of always doing the same thing at industry shows. To increase your level of flexibility in the marketplace, try stretching your exhibiting muscles prior to your next tradeshow. Be willing to take a risk and differentiate a little from your regular routine. Schedule a warm-up session with your exhibit marketing team several months prior to your next show.

Strength component: Define exactly why you are exhibiting and what it is that you want to achieve through your tradeshow participation.

Aerobic component: Brainstorm possible ideas and generally get your major muscle groups working in a rhythmic fashion. Consider giving your booth a facelift, with some new and exciting graphics. If you don’t have a new product or service to display, emphasize and/or educate your target audience about a benefit that normally gets forgotten.

Flexibility component:
Try using a theme to add some new blood to your tradeshow muscles to help attract more activity into your exhibit.
Using this gentle routine regularly before each show will help increase a sense of accomplishment and well-being, as well as decrease the risk of painful unproductive results.

Fitness Level 2 - You occasionally stretch most of the major muscle groups

This level is designed for exhibitors who want more of a challenging exhibiting workout to increase their market strength and flexibility. As with level one, make sure that you devote time prior to each show with a thorough warm up - planning your tradeshow strategy.

Strength component: Building strength in your major muscle groups involves weight training and cardiovascular work. You know you are making headway when upper management supports your program. This means that you fully understand their corporate goals and objectives and can integrate them into your exhibit marketing strategy.

Aerobic component: The goal is to get your heart rate into the target zone and sustain that pace for an extended period of time. This means that you need to direct your pre-show promotional workout to those people who you really want to actively walk into your exhibit, find out more about you and do business with you. Think in terms of multiple, distinctive promotional programs directed at the various target groups.

Flexibility component: An exhibiting company’s range of motion will vary depending on its age, activity and structure. Good news is that your degree of flexibility can always be increased. Take time to find out what your prospects want and like so that you can tailor your marketing activity accordingly.

Fitness Level 3 - You always stretch the major muscle groups

This level is designed for the serious exhibitor who wants to build marketing endurance, strength and muscle tone.

Strength component: Your people make up the strength and backbone of your exhibiting presence. They represent everything your company stands for, so select the best. Prepare them well beforehand. Make sure that they sell instead of tell; don’t try to do too much; understand visitor needs; don’t spend too much time; and know how to close the interaction with a commitment to follow-up.

Aerobic component: Public relations is one of the most successful ways for pumping blood into your tradeshow activity. Build media relations, prepare press kits, investigate speaking opportunities and consider sponsorship opportunities

Flexibility component: Reduce the possibility of sales injury and market muscle soreness with a flexible and timely lead-management plan. Make your sales representatives accountable for leads given to them, and then measure your results.

Conclusion

No matter what your fitness level is or what your exhibiting goals, your company will look and feel better when you regularly participate in an exhibiting workout program. To be successful, you must incorporate it into your daily marketing strategy.

Written by Susan Friedmann, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, who works with exhibitors, show organizers and meeting planners to create more valuable results from their events nationally and internationally. Website: www.thetradeshowcoach.com. Author "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies")

10 Quick Tips for Tradeshow Exhibiting
by John Libonati

1. Sell. Sell. Sell. Tradeshows are for selling, not networking. Make sure you have order forms ready to sell on the spot. If you own a service business, keep your appointment book ready. Schedule to meet or follow up with phone calls.

2. Since you are there to sell, make sure you always have a good salesperson in your booth at all times.

3. If you give away something, make sure you get something in return. The brochures and gifts on your table cost money. Require everyone who takes one to give you their information.

4. Be proactive. Instead of waiting for customers to come to you, have one of your people walk around the tradeshow handing out flyers directing people to your booth. If you can afford to, hire an attractive female model. Use a male model if women are your target market.

5. Just because you have 100 square feet in your booth does not mean you have to fill the entire space. Sometimes having too much intimidates potential visitors. A client once told me a story of how his tradeshow exhibit 'missed the flight,' so to speak. With only a few samples, a couple tables, a sign and his flyers, he received even more visitors than usual. People actually complimented him on such a clutter-free and inviting booth.

6. Low on cash? Split a booth with someone else, preferably someone with complementary products or services.

7. Stand outside your booth and invite people in. Do not place your table between yourself and the public.

8. Be creative. What makes your booth different, makes it better.

9. Make sure you are as 'uppy' in the afternoon as you were in the morning. You never know when the buyer with big bucks to spend will drop by.

10. Smile. A smile is still the best invitation there is.

John Libonati is a partner at Ascension Design, a full service graphic design firm near Philadelphia. He can be reached at John@ascensiondesign.net or 215-591-1010.

10 Simple Methods For More Effective Trade Shows
By Susan Steinbrink

By the time you factor in the production of a booth, cost to exhibit, membership and/or registration fee and the travel and entertainment expenses for attendees to go to a tradeshow, it might seem that the costs far outweigh the benefits of going. But this could not be further from the truth.

Tradeshows are a fabulous venue to gain brand awareness, introduce new products/services and cultivate new sales leads and prospects within your own industry or others you are seeking to target. Your success with a tradeshow all depends on how you leverage your own resources and those available to you at the conference/tradeshow.

In this two-part series, we offer 10 simple methods by which to gain the biggest bang for your tradeshow buck. This first article highlights pre-show tactics to reduce your costs and improve your return.

Tip #1 - Early-bird Savings: Commit early to booth and attendee registration to take advantage of pre-registration prices and special discounts. This can easily add up to $300 or more per attendee. If you have a large number of attendees from one organization, call to see about a reduced group rate. And, unless you work for a travel agent, it's best to book your hotel via the show's or sponsoring organization's Website. They have already negotiated great rates (some with continental breakfast) and reserved blocks of rooms at conveniently located hotels (most often with free shuttle services). Just book early.

Tip #2 - Refresh Your Booth: Construct a modular booth or alter an existing tradeshow booth used in previous years to ensure you create a new image for your company each year. It is amazing the long memories that the press and habitual tradeshow attendees have from one year to the next. And, always plan to use a gimmick, giveaway or contest to encourage visitors to your booth. While most are looking for a trinket to put in their office or bring back to children, it affords you an opportunity to break the ice and reel 'em in.

Tip #3 - Prospect Data: Capturing business cards is still an effective way to obtain contact information on prospects while off the tradeshow floor. But when on the floor, use the "swiping" tools that many organizers now offer. Simply swipe attendee tags and you quickly capture contact, company and other information about your prospects without searching for a pen. Be sure to inquire, in advance, about these tools and the varying levels of data you can pay to obtain from them. The extra cost for additional prospect information turns out to be only pennies. And, the best part is, you'll have a print out of all booth visitors to review on the flight home.

Tip #4 - Just The Facts: Be prepared to give one-page fact sheets that succinctly describe your firm's capabilities, key benefits and tangible deliverables associated with customers doing business with your firm. Be sure that, at a minimum, your company name, contact, email address and phone number appear on every page to make it as easy as possible for prospects to reach you post-show. Save the four-color brochures and 10K reports for later in the sell cycle when you've qualified your best prospects.

Tip #5 - Pre-Registration Means Pre-Armed: Registered attendees can obtain, in advance, a list of the companies and individuals attending the tradeshow. Use this list to target prospects with a "teaser" invitation to visit your booth. Disseminate this list to attending employees so they can research the hot buttons and challenges confronting your key prospects and their industries. This knowledge will distinguish you and your company from the competition.

The costs can seem staggering at first. But a little homework and advance planning will guarantee your company tradeshow success.

Susan Steinbrink is president of Market Architext, a strategic marketing consulting firm. She can be reached at susan.marketarchitext@verizon.net or 215-628-4777.

Simple Methods For More Effective Tradeshows Part Two
by Susan Steinbrink 
 
This is the second article in a two-part series about how to simply maximize the return on your tradeshow investment. The first article highlighted pre-show tactics to reduce your costs and improve your return
 
Management agrees that a booth at your industry's premier tradeshow is essential to your marketing and promotion program for the year.  But your calculator and budget say the booth production costs, exhibit fees, association membership fees and related T&E are cost prohibitive, especially given your past tradeshow experience.    But, before you remove this line item from the budget, read these five tips on how your firm can easily gain brand exposure, competitive information and new clients while at and after a tradeshow.
 
Tip #6 - Competitive Landscaping:  The tradeshow is not only an opportunity to generate leads, but also check out what your competition is saying, doing and promoting.  This knowledge will help you better position your firm against the competition not only during the show, but also to win business afterwards. Just beware; your competitors are doing the same to you.   
 
Tip #7 - Media Attention:  Receiving 'ink' is challenging at a tradeshow when the media are bombarded with messages from competitors, suppliers, etc.  The press relies on the show's media room to interview company representatives about late-breaking product news, company services, acquisitions, etc.  While open throughout the show, the press is stationed there at designated times a day or two before the show.  This is a golden opportunity to speak with all of your industry's most influential writers.  And, because exhibitors can receive the media list in advance of the show, you can be well-stocked with the right number of professional press kits to give to the media. 
 
Tip #8 - Make Your Mark:  Every tradeshow offers exhibitors many opportunities to promote their brand and gain exposure.  From lunch sponsorships, to banners, directory advertisements, newspaper inserts, magazine wraps and more.  But it's the unconventional and creative that leave an indelible impression on prospects and the media.  Nothing is more eye-catching than your name painted on the show's escalator, your brand appearing on the 700 seat backs in the main ballroom or your logo skirting the tables in the coffee bar or refreshment areas of the conference.  
 
Tip #9 - Walk The Talk:  No doubt your suppliers and distributors are attending the same tradeshows, so use their booths to gain additional exposure for your company.  Work with these firms to be featured in their case studies, 'best-in- breed' client lists and booth demos or prototypes.   And, leverage these awards and your expertise to win a slot on the show's speaker roster.  
 
Tip #10 - Post Time:  Be sure to pepper your prospects with correspondence after the show.  A targeted, varied and systematic approach will keep you in front of your prospects long after the show closes.  Capitalize on proposal opportunities by telephoning prospects within a week after the show.  Refresh and distinguish your company from the pack by sending a 'thanks for visiting' email imbedded with a picture of your tradeshow booth.  Engage the prospect by using snail mail to send requested information, provide samples or offer references.  Keep in touch, 'cause this is where the money is left on the table.
 
Implement even some of these and you'll realize a positive return on your tradeshow investment!
 
Susan Steinbrink is president of Market Architext, a marketing consulting firm. She can be reached at susan.marketarchitext@verizon.net or 215-628-4777.