Trade show turning point-
Actions a mid-marketer can take

Theories are great, but they don’t make the cash register ring. Developing a sound trade show action plan requires vision, team effort, and being deliberate- before, during, and especially after the show. Much of what you need is already covered in another MidMarketer Perspective titled Effectively Using a Creative Input Document. Fact is, the “think track” used for creating an effective trade show strategy is just like one used for advertising, brochures or any other tactical output of your marketing mix.

Here’s what to do

No matter how many years your company has done the same thing; go through the Creative Input Documentation exercise. Try and be objective. Crystallize the desired response. Right off the bat, set clear objectives, and be specific. But first, ask yourself…

• What is the real reason this show is being considered? (To say “We go every year” is not good enough)
• Are there better options? (regional shows, vertical market shows, etc.)
• What can this show do for us that we couldn’t do in other ways? (What does it truly add to our marketing mix?)
• If it is a new market, and a new show, do my support staff and I know enough about it (and how our product/service fills a need) to make it worth our while? (Have we done our homework?)

Once legitimate reasons for selecting the show have been established, build a list of specific objectives you want to achieve. Here are some examples:

• To leave people with a clear idea of what you do and how you are different
• To introduce your company and its products/services to an entirely different market by attending a different show for the first time.
• To use the trade show as a “launching pad” for a new marketing/sales initiative you are rolling out for the first time
• To support your selling channel partners (e.g., distributors, brokers, and field sales) in their efforts by simply showing up and answering questions customers may have about your product and service offerings.
• To encourage your products/services by extending an image of leadership, responsiveness, and innovation.
• To generate leads with a clear mechanism in place after the show to follow up.

With these established, what strategies will you employ to achieve your objectives? Commonly, they might include:

• Picking a unique creative theme that ties back to your objectives and makes sense
• Consider and support a booth promotion that builds booth traffic and generates leads

Prepare for after-show before it happens

Put your after-response in place before it even starts. With leads, finding the right prospect may require capturing a specific job title, level of responsibility, time window for purchase or an email address. The more you specify the kind of information you want to capture from leads in advance, the better.

Knowing that post-show time is critical, create a plan and schedule that assigns
project management responsibility for handling literature/pdf dispersal, lead qualification, follow up, and reports.

Less is more

Remember: you will often be competing for the attention of thousands of attendees with hundreds of other companies. This gives you just seconds to register a message: hopefully simple, unified, and meaningful to them.

By focusing all of your efforts back to a single desired response, one good piece or takeaway can easily prove more effective than many smaller/cluttered ones that usually get tossed. On that subject, why not consider mailing or emailing literature next time-rather than be part of that pile of collected “crap” at the end.

Assign motivation to your creativity

Creative booth themes are always great and valuable-as long as they clearly trail back to what you’re trying to say. For example, you might think dressing your people up to look like E.T. could
be great for business. But unless the connection with some primary business benefit or attribute is obvious, it could do more harm than good.

Set proper expectations for all people

It takes many people to create a productive trade show effort. Make sure to make your goals clear to each of them by sharing them in advance. This means verbalizing your expectations, and detailing actions you want taken. Every one of your show and booth staff should be able to recite the desired response of your strategy.