Breathing New Life in your Exhibit Program
“Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn!”
(The actual line in the movie was “Frankly, my dear,…”, but it is frequently misquoted.)
Have you ever had that reaction to your exhibiting program from management? If so, you’re not alone.
Trade show marketing has proven to be effective. Surprisingly, management frequently feels indifferent—or even indignant—about trade shows.
Sometimes, they just can’t see how well a strong and strategically planned program will work for the company.
Many exhibitors don’t have a real reason to be at a specific trade show, they just want to have a presence.
They take part in trade shows because they’d be conspicuous by their absence. They believe that if they’re not there, competitors hold it against them.
Or that their customers and prospects might wonder whether there’s some company problem. Sound familiar?
Many companies use that vague reasoning as their sole justification for attending in trade shows.
If you’re the one responsible for your company’s trade show program, it’s time to change things. Begin a crusade to create a trade show marketing program that has real muscle to it. One that can bring big and demonstrable rewards for your company.
But how do you do that?
The first step is simple, but not easy. You have to set marketing objectives.
Is your company seen as the little fish in a big pond? Do your competitors take more space at shows and project a bigger image?
What you need is a stronger marketing identity.
VK-5093-20×30-Hybrid-Modular-Trade-Show-Island-Display-reconfigures-as-10×10-10×20-20×20
This may or may not mean moving to a larger booth, but it does mean having a larger presence.
There are several ways to do this.
One way is to incorporate a demonstration of your product into your exhibit.
Unlike Gone with the Wind, it doesn’t need to be a big production with actors and sets and props.
What I am referring to is an innovative way to show what your product does and why it’s superior to its competitors.
One great example is to look at how GE Plastics introduced Lexan. At the time, this was a new shatter resistant transparent plastic material.
They used a large slingshot, a bowling ball and a one-inch thick sheet of their new plastic. You may be getting ahead of me already.
The demonstration simply and effectively proved the toughness of the Lexan material.
The presenter loaded a bowling ball into a slingshot. Then they launched the bowling ball on a trajectory toward the center of the plastic sheet. With a loud thud, the ball dropped away from the plastic, causing no damage at all.
This was a straightforward demonstration. Yet it was amazingly effective!
It was memorable, inexpensive and didn’t take up too much space in the exhibitor’s booth.
The moral? Think of innovative ways you can show the unique aspects of your product to booth visitors.
Don’t settle for just telling them about those features or benefits.
Another way to create a more successful exhibit marketing program is to do some math.
Use those rusty math skills to do a few quick calculations:
- How many potential prospects might visit your booth at this show?
- How much space and staff will you need to accommodate them?
This process surprised one exhibitor when ran these numbers. She discovered that her company would need a larger exhibit to handle the crowds at major shows.
As a result, she modified elements of her existing 10’x30’ inline booth. She added extra exhibit components to come up with a more suitable 20’x30’ island.
(TIP – Use modular trade show display ideas and elements. This allows enormous flexibility in your trade show booth planning!)
You may not need to double your booth size, but the same logic applies for 10×10 trade show booths too.
Make sure your exhibit won’t be too small.
If it is, you’ll lose the ability to reach all the prospects you could, which may turn out to be false economics. Meaning, you might not save as much money as you think. And if you expanded your trade show booth, you might bring in significantly more money or prospects.
Don’t guess at this; take the time to do the math.
Even if you’re just shopping for a 10×10 exhibit, consider selecting a modular design. This will allow you to enlarge it or add new elements to it in the future.
Another way to grow your exhibiting program is to do some targeted marketing.
You can use direct mail, special promotions and personal calls. Have your sales team members reach out this way to your best clients and hottest prospects.
These should be part of your trade show marketing strategy, designed to get those people to visit your exhibit. Often, a simple sales letter is effective.
A personal invitation from a member of your sales department can work wonders to attract the kind of people you want to see. And be sure you’ve planned to staff the booth with enough people to handle all those clients and prospects.
Nothing is as unfortunate as a booth with more prospects than it can manage, which results it too many “big fish” getting away.
Once you’ve had some experience with various shows, it’ll be easier to determine how many staffers you’ll need. I’ve written at length about this before, so I’ll just mention it here.
Don’t overlook training your booth staffers in how to sell on the show floor. You can do this yourself or hire a professional booth staff trainer.
What you want to avoid is the potential that your least skilled booth worker will end up talking with the hottest prospect at the show.
Multiquad Modular exhibit 10×20, easy to reconfigure bigger and smaller
Effective training will help all your staffers work together to make the sale.
What results can you expect from all this planning, internal and external marketing and training? The truth is, it depends.
Some companies can do virtually everything wrong and still blunder into a successful show. Why risk that? Why not be a company that does everything right and plans for success?
Assuming your exhibit:
- looks as good as it can,
- is properly sized for the event,
- incorporates a novel demonstration,
- and – you’ve done your pre-show marketing out-reach,
you’ll have plenty of planned visitors.
You’ll also capture the attention of passers-by. They’ll come off the aisles and check out your demonstration or presentation.
Then your booth staffers can zero in on the hot prospects to go for the close.
Don’t forget the post-show evaluation, either.
Track how many prospects and how much revenue comes from each show. You’ll be better positioned to prove your trade show marketing is effective.
This will help convince a skeptical or disinterested management to give you the tools and talent you need. Which will make your trade show marketing program continue to rock!
So take the time to rethink your approach to your trade show marketing program. And while you’re doing that, rethink your exhibit, as well.
Does it represent your company the way you want prospects to see you? Do you need trade show supplies like banner stands or literature racks to make your exhibit more effective?
If you’re thinking of something new, give us a call at (425) 556-9511. Or email [email protected]. We’ll be happy to show you how one of the many great trade show product lines we represent can be a perfect fit for your trade show exhibiting program.
For more, learn how first impressions matter or how to make your exhibits more effective with video.
