Scary Trade Show Marketing Mistakes

It’s the week before Halloween, stores are full of merchandise, homes are decorated and kids are getting ready to trick or treat. Recently, I participated in a local business to business trade show – Trade Nassau in Farmingdale, NY, where over 1,000 people attended and over 100 businesses exhibited their products and services. Shows like this are where businesses and businesspeople introduce themselves to prospects and contacts. Participating in this show got me thinking about the mistakes business owners and entrepreneurs make when they decide to take part in this kind of an event. Thankfully, most of the exhibitors at Trade Nassau did a solid job marketing. However, there is always room for improvement.

Throughout the year businesspeople spend significant amounts of funds and resources on trade shows. From attendee reservations, exhibit space, displays and marketing materials as well as promotional giveaways, they want to have a presence. The concept behind shows is to make a good impression and attract people to your brand. Efforts should get those passing by to engage with you and enter your exhibit space.

The four biggest mistakes that small and medium size businesses’ make at trade shows are the following:

1. Inadequate preparation – no plan for trade show activities (before, during and after).
2. No advanced promotion – failure to market to attendees and prospects
3. Poor presentation – e.g., an unprofessional booth; no time invested thinking about the impression the company will make at the show.
4. Inattentiveness – failure to look for opportunities to engage. Too many people at trade shows sit behind their exhibit tables all day texting, reading, making calls and looking disinterested.

Trade show attendees at Trade Nassau in Farmingdale, NY on Oct. 21, 2015.

Why do businesspeople attend trade shows? The answer is simple: to attract attention and build relationships. To do this you have to create the best temporary environment to generate those conversations. This starts with strategies for drawing people to or into your booth. Quality signage, video monitors, interesting product displays and open layouts all play a part.

Have trouble standing for long periods of time? Bring a high chair or stool to enable you to make direct eye contact with attendees as they pass by or enter your space. To draw trade show attendees’ attention, your booth needs to be visually pleasing and interactive whenever possible. Use your iPad, a laptop or other screen to show off your business, show success stories, provide product demos, re-purpose news media coverage. To succeed you must stand out from others in your industry as well other exhibitors. Being different, as I have emphasized in the past, is critical. If you look and sound too much like others, your message will never be heard.

Once you have attendees’ attention, you should welcome them into your space. Create a space that will coax them to enter and stay. For small businesses and small business shows, during setup you should push your table back to create a larger area for you to have a conversations and conduct demonstrations for people. This gets people out of the isle and they won’t get pushed by passersby.

At Corbett Public Relations we are all about education and making people better marketers. We work with businesses to get their brand message heard in the media and for individuals we work with them to grow their personal brands.

Bill Corbett (l) interviews WRHU radio host Tim Healey (r) at the Corbett PR studio at Trade Nassau on Oct. 21, 2015.

At the recent show we differentiated our booth by creating a show within the show. We did this by setting up a unique video and audio studio environment. Throughout the day we interviewed sponsors, business leaders and exhibitors in talk-show fashion. This was done live on Periscope; we also recorded on video and audio. The interviews will be used as a future podcast and as videos to further support the show’s value for our firm and for the show producer.

Earlier, I mentioned the importance of planning for trade shows. I worked with my team for weeks to plan and prepare but the effort paid off in several ways. We attracted considerable attention during the show with attendees stopping by to watch and also take photos of what was going on. Some of these photos were posted on social media creating an additional buzz. We took photos with guests and these were shared online. The process created content for my soon to be launched podcast and videos for the Corbett Public Relations YouTube Channel. The investment of time paid off with leads for business. We helped to strengthen our brand awareness and recognition in our home market of Long Island.

Bill Corbett Jr. at Trade Nassau on Oct. 21, 2015.

During the recent show I played “double duty” as a featured speaker for one of the seminars. For those who are speakers or offer seminars at a trade show, remember you need to give your audience an incentive to visit your booth after your presentations is over. I offer tips sheet on how to use LinkedIn more effectively and questions to ask to identify your key differentiators.

There is a saying that the “real” trade show starts after the trade show ends. This is when you will follow up on your leads. Unfortunately, there are those who expend their time, energy and money at shows but never follow up. An estimated 61 percent of trade show leads are never followed up on – truly a frightening statistic.

Remember to block off a full day to follow up after the show. I usually wait one day then follow up with my best contacts. Have a follow up system and process. Identify the best prospects and work your way down the list. You may have to try to reach people four or more times. Keep trying, you made the investment and this is why you were at the show to begin with.

To avoid such horror stories, remember to plan out your trade shows activities including marketing strategies. Think about what you are going to do and be sure to follow up with what you are going to do after. Take the time to assess your show activities, examine what you did well and identify areas for improvement. Review your plan and make notes about how you will make your next trade show more successful. Avoid the scary mistakes I have outlined and look for ways to be different, attract attention and find more prospects.

wjcorbett@corbettpr.com

By Bill Corbett

Corbett Public Relations Long Island and the World 

@liprguy

@corbettpr

Extending the Value of Trade Show Marketing with Social Media

This article originally appeared February 23, 2012 on Digital Brand Marketing Education & Interactives

Social media networking and marketing allows businesses to reach and provide tremendous amounts of information to clients, prospects and referral sources.  However, face-to-face marketing still has an important place.  Trade shows are one area where social media can provide significant support to face-to-face efforts and create opportunities for overall event marketing success.  Exhibitors can use all the help they can get; The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) reports that 80 percent of exhibitors make no attempts to follow up on their leads from trade shows. Considering how much is spent on trade shows this is a shocking statistic.

c/o http://skgtechnologies.com/

Trade shows are typically face-to-face, relationship-based marketing events.  However, when in-person marketing activities are combined with social media, sales success can be improved, and the effectiveness and lifespan of marketing messages and branding can be extended well beyond the trade show itself.

According to marketing industry veteran David Clark, “Ratcheting up your social media marketing, before, during, and after a trade show is proving to be one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your booth and cement the relationships.”

Before the show a business must leverage its collective social media presence to promote its appearance and related activities.  Post information, pictures and/or videos (perhaps a preview of a new product or video invitation to visit the booth) about the event, the business’s participation and/or booth activities.  The goal is to let people/prospects know the who, what, where and when and most importantly the why they should visit the company’s booth.  Use social media to promote contests, giveaways or prizes that will be connected with a specific trade show appearance.  If the trade show has its own hashtag, include it in all posts.  Hashtags can be used to engage audiences, generate buzz and form relationships.  Promoting the show in general helps attendance and all exhibitors should work together to mutually support each other.  Often show producers can help lead a team of exhibitors and provide them content to help them promote their appearance as well the show.

Getting Connected

Connect with the show organizer/producer, show marketing firm and other exhibitors with whom there may be synergies.  Non-competing exhibitors can use this strategy to build relationships and find cross selling opportunities as well.  Exhibitors and show managers can and should share content via social media. Starting early and being proactive will allow exhibitors to reach more people and prospects with a variety of messages and images and get a jumpstart on creating a buzz which will attracts booth traffic.   From a media relations perspective it is essential to get to know and communicate with show managers and their marketing firms.  Here is a link to a short video I recently published with a few tips on trade show public relations strategies.

c/o http://www.diymarketers.com/

Post often to social media sites during shows.  Show people what is happening and what will be happening at the booth or the show.  Invite people to check-in on Facebook or Foursquare, perhaps for a drawing or other reward (show special) or simply to invite people to visit the booth in person to learn about something new.  Be sure to remind attendees of the contests, giveaways, and all the exciting and interesting products or demonstrations happening at the booth.  Post information about the show, pictures, video, or gems of information from seminars or workshops.

According to trade show marketing professional Timothy McClain, by “link[ing] your Foursquare account to your Twitter and Facebook accounts…you [can] check in, add a special note, and it will appear with your location link on Twitter and graphical map on Facebook and be shared across your channels.”

At the booth businesses can use smart phones and social media apps to grow their social media “followers” directly on site.  Give access to social media pages in the booth by setting up a designated computer or tablet to allow users to “Like” the business on Facebook or follow on Twitter.  Recruit booth visitors to “Like” the business using their smart phones as well a QR (Quick Response) code can be used or link visitors to Facebook on their phones.  After Facebook is mobile enabled, people can then text “Like” and the business’s Facebook page username to 32665 and they will automatically “Like” the page.

After the show, continue to post pictures and video from the event.  Post pictures and create albums to Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, etc. to show booth activity and interactions.  Be sure to post thank you messages to the event organizers and to key prospects and contacts.  Social media can assist with follow up.  It provides the opportunity to present images, messages, video and other branded content in such a way that will allow prospects learn about the company, but not be hit with hard sales messages.  Use LinkedIn and Facebook direct messages to start conversations, share information and continue relationship building.

Social media’s role in the trade show space is growing.  It can make trades shows more fun, support branding and assist in the relationship building process.  This is key to building trust and we all know that people want to do business with people that they trust, like and know are capable of doing the job.  Social media can help create a buzz before the show, make interactions at the show itself more interesting and extend the marketing value of a tradeshow appearance.

Boosting Trade Show Success

Bill Corbett Presents at Trade Show Seminar

Over the past month I have had the pleasure of offering several workshops on trade show marketing and strategies for success with Judy Fairbanks, VP of Sales & Marketing for Skyline New York and, Rob Fishman, Partner of Sandler Sales Training Institute.  Events events were held at Skyline New York’s modern facility in Hauppauge, New York.  

My firm Corbett Public Relations  has promoted many trade shows and we have assisted many clients who use trade shows to market their products and services.  The sessions that I am giving with Judy and Rob continue to help me find new strategies and look at the overall trade show experience from different perspectives.  It remains clear that exhibitors of any company need help in being more successful and securing ROI from trade show appearances. 

There are many benefits of being involved in trade shows.  Shows allow businesses to be directly in front of people, demonstrate products and services and start relationships.  We are in a day an age where online communication is dominant, it’s great to see people face to face and have real interactions.  This also means getting out from behind the desk to promote and selling a product or service.  Selling and promoting effectively takes skill, planning and a system.   

The following are five quick strategies that must be part of successful trade show appearances:  

1. Plan- To be successful in any marketing effort you need to plan.  Start by working the calendar backwards. Set dates for materials to be ready, for publicity efforts and creating campaigns to invite prospects to your booth.  Remember 60 percent of people who attend trade shows go on a mission to see you specifically or to look for a specific product or service.  Don’t forget to contact the show producer, they want to help you promote your appearance and be successful.   
2. Promote Appearance– Create your online trade show promotions and use social media. List your trade show appearances on your website, create a Facebook event page, create a special Twitter account or hashtag and certainly create your media kit with a press release.  Alert the media and the show producer if you have new products or services that you will be introducing at the show.   
3. Training– Educate and train all booth/exhibit workers. Start this process early and make sure everyone knows what they need to know about the products and services offered.  Have them practice their elevator pitch but most importantly help them create questions to assist them to start conversations.  Remember it is as important to listen and ask questions, as it is to talk about the benefits of your products and services.  Hard selling will never get you leads, but conversations and solving problems will. 
4. Exhibits and Booth– Take the advice of the professionals like those at Skyline New York. Create open and inviting booths that do not overload show attendees with too much information.  Create a booth that is open, inviting, branded clearly and interesting. 
5. Next Steps and Following Up- Did you know that 80 percent of leads that are received at a trade show never receive a follow up? This is a tremendous loss of money and time.   In order to be successful, take the time to create a clear system for qualifying leads and procedures for following up.  As Judy Fairbanks says “the real trade show starts when the breakdown of the booth starts.”  Set up your system and even block off a day or two for specific follow up after the show.  Quick follow up is essential.   

These are just a few basic strategies to think about for enhancing trade show success.  The workshops we are offering at Skyline New York hit on these topics and many others. 

For Additional Trade Show Tips from Skyline:

 http://www.skylinenewyork.com/Seminars/Successful-Trade-Show-Marketing-Strategies/

http://www.skylinenewyork.com/Seminars/Trade-Show-Marketing-Strategies-For-Todays-Economy