Direct Marketing News

Having been in the trade show industry for over 20 years as a designer,
manufacturer and collaborator with exhibitors and show management has been
very enlightening. What always seem to get my attention are the new trade
show attendees who come to the show with great expectations only to find that
at the end of the show they have made neither leads nor sales. I am here to
tell you that you have either exhibited at the wrong show or most likely you
went to the show totally unprepared. In this article we will offer some
pointers to the unprepared exhibitor. Here are a few suggestions: Goal:
First thing and one thing only, “sales and leads” Sure you want product
branding, but ultimately sales and leads ought to be the exhibitor’s primary
objectives.

For the new exhibitor’s first trade show I would suggest taking this approach.
Secure your booth location preferably a location near the front of the main
entry to the exhibit hall, It’s also always good to get located near one of
the larger veterans of that particular trade show. This will help to get you
in the traffic spot light. Many people feel that getting on the front line of
the exhibit hall is the best location, but that’s not necessarily so,
sometimes people move through the exhibit hall pass the front line before
they truly begin to focus on what they want. Therefore, a location near the
front, but not right in the immediate front line.

The exhibitor’s booth should be a “crowd pleaser” while still projecting the
company’s image - a good way to get traffic to your booth. Secondly, offer a
good product give-a-way or a prize. Please make sure that this prize is a
good one, if you specialize in tire changing equipment do not give away iPods,
or plasma screens. Everyone in the convention hall would love to get a
plasma screen or an IPod. They will sign up for this, even if they are not
interested in your product. This is a waste of time. Smart move is to have a
drawing for a top of the line tire changing equipment or some service you
provided. This will ensure that whoever signs up for this has some knowledge
of systems and would prefer part of your service. They most likely are
interested and need a tire changing machine and are willing to spend that
kind of money on one. The list of sign-ups for the give-a-way/prize you have
a list of leads, remember you what you are there for hint leads which can
eventually turn into sales. How easy would that be to follow up a lead from
your list of people who signed up for your drawing to win a tire changing
equipment? Let’s call this a targeted lead, why? you know what they are
interested in - mufflers.

Second thing, at your first trade show always have a theme for your trade
show booth. I have seen exhibitor at trade show with great looking custom
trade show booth, crowds form around the booth and say wow what a nice
looking booth, but five minutes later after leaving the booth they do not
remember the exhibitors name or his or her product, but they remember the
theme the booth had. Use this to your advantage design your booth with a
theme that relates to your product. Incorporate your product name as well as
your corporate name, now you are cooking with grease. I remember a few years
ago I met a childhood idol, Jerry Lucas, yes the same Jerry Lucas who played
for the world champion New York Knicks in basketball. When I met Jerry Lucas
he was promoting a way to remember names of people he met. Well I am here to
tell you it works, he simply would pick out some unique feature about that
person, it could be the voice, the person’s height or some unique feature, he
would then make a mental tie to the person’s name. This way he would remember
a unique feature and the name would follow. The same principle works with
trade show booth, remember the design and theme and then you will remember
the corporate name.

That same theme should not only be reflected in the exhibit booth design but
it should also be carried through onto your literature and give-away. That’s
your “corporate branding.”

Dexter Powell has had over 26 years in the trade show industry. He is the lead designer at http://www.eldsusa.com

He has worked with some of the largest exhibits in the trade show industy. He has had the pleasure of servicing client in should shows like COMDEX show, SEMA show, AAO, and CES shows. Please view some of our custom trade show solutions at http://eldsusa.com/custom_trade_show_displays.html

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