« Quality—Not Volume—of Booth Traffic Spells Tradeshow Success (Part I) | Home | Being Disconnected from Critical Resources »
Rising Above Tradeshow Chaos
By Joyce McKee | May 28, 2008
Editor’s note: In the second installment of a two-part article, FrogDog Communications provides helpful tips on standing out in the tradeshow crowd. Click here to read last week’s tips on strategic planning for tradeshow success.
By Ed Davis
Account Manager
Nothing triggers sensory overload like a busy tradeshow floor—except maybe a carnival midway.
Your message can be easily drowned in such a frenzied environment. But the brass ring doesn’t go to the company that yells the loudest; the exhibitor with the best aim wins the prize.
The five tips below can help you make the most of your tradeshow strategy with attention-grabbing visuals, engaging participation and effective follow up:
1. You can’t lead the pack sitting down. Staffing a tradeshow booth should be exhausting work.
If it’s not, sales staff may be spending too much time sitting behind a skirted table and not enough time engaging attendees.Training staff on how to recognize and effectively pursue sales leads and drilling them on product and service messages enables companies to get the most out of their tradeshow appearances. Removing chairs and positioning small tables for collateral and giveaways off to the side can also eliminate barriers between salespeople and potential customers. And since tradeshow work is exhausting, it’s important to maintain adequate staffing levels so employees can take breaks.
Opportunities are lost if a single sales representative is assigned to handle booth traffic alone all day. That person can only focus on one attendee at the time, and fatigue will no doubt hinder his or her effectiveness as the day wears on.
2. Maximize media relations.
Major tradeshows present numerous press opportunities for on-the-ball marketers. In addition to post-event coverage, industry magazines frequently publish special issues to be included in registration packets, and some tradeshows print daily publications summarizing activities and highlighting key exhibitors.
However, competition for trade media attention can be fierce. Pitching key editors several weeks out is crucial for advance coverage and for scheduling interviews with executives during tradeshows.
Getting editors’ attention is easier if your media relations team maintains contact with them throughout the year. When tradeshow time rolls around, trade journalists will be just as busy as everyone else in the industry.
Well-established relationships can mean quick, often favorable responses to your pitches and may open the door for company-written, executive-bylined articles when editors don’t have the time or resources to produce all the content they need in-house.
3. Give it away!
Companies routinely use giveaways and contests to create interest in their booths. This tactic is used so frequently that unless gifts truly standout, they are apt to languish at the bottom of those ubiquitous canvas conference bags.
Inexpensive giveaways must be memorable, relevant, or useful to sustain attendees’ attention, and contest prizes must be significant enough to make visits to your booth worthwhile.
However, if the lure of a big prize crowds the booth with people not likely to buy the company’s products or services, marketers might rethink this tactic or make the contest more exclusive.
4. Go beyond the tradeshow floor.
Drawing potential customers away from the mayhem for a few hours can provide them a welcome respite and you a terrific opportunity for relationship building. Inviting your most promising prospects to an exclusive, low-key dinner, reception, luncheon, or cocktail party can buy a couple of hours of valuable one-on-one or small-group interaction.
The same tactic can work with influential reporters and editors.
5. Follow up, follow up, follow up.
It doesn’t matter how many great prospects you meet at a tradeshow if you don’t maintain and grow those relationships.
Many tradeshows have simplified the lead collection process by implementing infrared badge screening systems. Attendees can fill out forms once at registration, then exhibitors can just swipe or scan their identification badges at booths of interest.
Exhibitors no longer must ask them to take the time to provide contact information at each stop. Tradeshow organizers can then provide visitor lists to exhibitors for follow up. However, this technology can’t record personal or business details gleaned during conversation, so sales staff should still make note of promising meetings.
Planning and executing a sound tradeshow strategy that reaches the right—not necessarily the most—people can be a daunting prospect for a company that doesn’t have a robust, multiskilled in-house communications staff.
But sinking money into tradeshow marketing without a comprehensive and integrated strategy can waste valuable time and resources.
Calling in outside marketing communication consultants to help bring order to tradeshow chaos can be a wise and ultimately profitable investment.
Ed Davis is an account manager at FrogDog Communications, a marketing communications consultancy that helps businesses bring ideas to market and achieve their goals through strategy development, marketing, advertising, public relations, media relations, design, and more. The firm has clients throughout the United States and in western Europe and Israel. For more information, visit www.frog-dog.com.
Topics: Trade Show Tips |