Oh My Achin' Feet

What you can learn about trade show marketing by attending trade shows.

By Andrea Fitting
President and CEO, Fitting Group

A few years ago I accompanied a client to a very large conference and exhibition, THE annual not-to-be-missed show for their industry. While there, I had an opportunity to walk the show and I got quite an education. There were a couple of booths that, while not the largest or most expensive, were the best in almost all ways. I talked to the marketing people from those two companies to find out what they did right. Here's what I learned.

Long before the show they developed a "trade-show strategy." First they read the Exhibitor Information Manual to find out everything they needed to know. They took advantage of things like advertising opportunities in exhibition catalogs or show supplements that received wide circulation and attention. This was done to reinforce pre-show and at-show promotions, building qualified booth traffic. They got free editorial in the catalog, too. Catalogs are kept for a long time after a show because they serve as a valuable source of reference. This can generate leads for exhibitors long after the exhibition has closed, so their editorial was not show-specific but rather clearly stated the benefits of what they sell.

They advertised on the show website, which gave them a worldwide audience even before the show opened. They endeared themselves to the show's Public Relations Consultant whose job is to obtain maximum publicity for the show, relying heavily on exhibitors for stories and news. The effect of PR both before and at the show increased their booth traffic and generated inquiries from buyers unable to attend the conference.

Both companies had a very organized approach to lead management. All of their promotions were aimed at generating the greatest number of quality leads and then they had a system for managing, processing and converting those leads to orders.

The booth staff was trained to identify what customers really need. The first thing written on their lead form was the prospect's needs the last thing written was their name and address.

Unlike most of the other exhibitors, these two never gave anything away at their booth, including literature, without completing a lead form. All show leads were immediately added to a database. Their plan was to mail to them frequently and forever. The booth managers for both companies sent out numerous pre-show promotions and invitations to visit their booths to a very targeted list of best prospects. One of them told me that this had improved the quality of traffic to their booth by 300%. Other pre-show tactics used over the years included: launching a competition where buyers had to visit the booth to enter (using their products as prizes pre-qualified visitors); free service to all show visitors, which the organizers were only too happy to promote; direct mail to 100 qualified companies once a week for 8 weeks leading up to the show with the last one including a show special offer that they had to collect from the booth; adding a snipe to all company communications, letterheads, faxes, statements, invoices, etc. inviting people to the booth; and sending e-mail with a link to the home page.

At the show, these two successful booth managers had prime booth locations, selected well in advance and reserved year-to-year. Their signs were as high as the exhibition hall would allow and both were clearly visible from almost anywhere in the hall. One of the booths included a very entertaining combination live and video demonstration of their products in a small theater-like area with a flat-screen display. There were only a half dozen seats, but they were almost always full with additional people standing behind. Buyers visit exhibitions to see products in action, which they can't get from advertisements and other one-dimensional media. We remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see and 50% of what we both see and hear. In these two booths, the demonstration and the audio-visual presentations used each clarified, substantiated and reinforced what their sales staff was saying.

Both booths had great giveaways that reinforced their product and had value for their prospects. Neither displayed the giveaways at the front of the booth where passers-by could just help themselves but instead displayed them more creatively and presented them as a token of appreciation at the close of a sales conversation. The staffs in both of these booths were very professional and had been extensively trained ahead of time. Each day before the show opened and after it closed there were staff pep rallies and post-mortems. They didn't sit or stand around talking to one another.

They engaged everyone who came by in conversation. One of the managers told me picking booth staff was like picking actors for your play. The role they were playing was identifying opportunities for salespeople to close later. They rotated staff often so that no one had to work longer than 4 hours before having, at least a one-hour break. Both staffs had very recognizable uniforms with company logos prominently displayed. And both staffs were motivated to generate leads with daily contests and prizes.

I have never been so impressed and so ready to buy. Too bad I didn't need their products. Anyway, I got some great ideas to share with my clients over the years.

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