Tradeshows are an outstanding way to promote your business to new clients and offer another avenue to sell deeper into current customers. While it is true that tradeshow presenters and traffic is down in 2009, many regional tradeshows are still going strong and offer solid opportunities to grow your business.
Recently I attended a seminar put on by Exhibit Systems, a tradeshow booth distributor in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. The focus on the seminar was effective trade show marketing in a down economy. During the presentation, the presenter made some insightful points about how to effectively use promotional products to make your next tradeshow a success.
Before I go into the strategies of effective tradeshow marketing, I want to review some general data about trade shows that was presented during the event. The presenter told us that over 80% of the exhibition attendees have buying influence and 33% of attendees do not attend any other exhibitions. In addition, 33% attendees did not attend the same event last year and 77% represent a new prospect for exhibiting companies. With those facts in mind, lets discuss some strategies.
The first strategy to increasing the effectiveness of your tradeshow is to get on the radar screen on the attendees. Around 65% of attendees are influenced by pre-show activity. So your goal is to get on the attendees dance card before they attend the show. To get on the dance card, the presenter discussed using a mailing to promote your booth at the show. To further increase your booth awareness, the presenter discussed including a promotional product in the mailing (ex: magnet or note pads) or include a coupon to bring to the event to receive a promotional product (t-shirt, tote bag…). There have been great studies done by PPAI (Promotional Product Association International) on the effectiveness of re-show mailings. To read this interesting study, click HERE.
The second strategy for effective trade show marketing that we want to highlight is the use of promotional products draw attendees in to your booth and give to qualified prospects at the show. The presenter discussed that 80% of all the information collected (including company literature, flyer's, folders and samples) are thrown away either before the attendee gets home or back at the office. Since promotional products not only advertise your business but are often a useful product, they tend to be held on to by the attendees. The presenter then discussed six keys for a successful promotional product business builder at a trade show;
These are great points that we often discuss with our clients when reviewing tradeshow product options. To read a study on how promotional products are effective giveaway at trade show, click HERE.
There are numerous factors to making a trade show successful, but using these strategies will increase your chances of making your next tradeshow a success.