Do you want to ratchet up your sales? Increase potential new business opportunities? Build your network? Explore new vertical markets? Consider event marketing. Take your company on a road trip and explore new territory. Forget “visitor,” you can become a trade show exhibitor—think of the badge upgrade. Imagine your logo on that big vinyl banner. Seriously, trade shows mean business and this kind of effort works in strange ways. You’ll also learn things about your own company in the process. Here are five practical steps to make the trip more fun. Go for it.
By the way, a big show, The 2010 North American Industrial Coating Show started this week in Indianapolis. Perhaps you, or some of your peers will be there? Our friends at HIT Solutions will be—it’s the company’s first outing as “exhibitor”—their new address for the week: booth 1124.
Events and trade shows offer your company many benefits. Here’s the short list.
- Enhances your relationship with customers (let them know where you will be showing)
- Bonding with employees—new ground, new challenges, new conversation
- Increased exposure and awareness—at a bare minimum
- Gain one-on-one experience with prospects—learn the swag
- Sales and new business networking—it can start here
- A chance to meet new people around the fringe of your industry
- Identify prospective employees and/or partners
- Reap untold amounts of experience and learning about your industry
- It is also fun—there is no perspective quite like being the one behind the display.
Step One. Shop for a Show
Look for a show that makes sense to you: one that reaches your target audience. Consider affordability; convenient or perhaps strategic geographic location; timing and finally, the reputation of the host/sponsor. Ask friends and peers what their experience has been. Talk to some of your current customers; see what events they attend or would recommend. Tip: Go to “Events in America” Their search function is easy to use, try entering “industrial coatings” you will be amazed at all the options.
Step Two. Determine your Objectives
How will going to the event create value for your company? To answer that, focus on how a show is different from (investing in) other forms of marketing and sales. Be fair to yourself, the employee enthusiasm for the opportunity and the change of scenery is worth a solid ton. Otherwise, consider sales, leads, publicity, image and awareness building. Most of you will probably set your sights on sales (conversions) as your primary objective. No problem. When you know what your objective is, everything should fall in to support and measure that goal.
Step Three. Set a Budget
You know what to do here but you may not realize just how long the itemized list of “budget items” can be. Most exhibit specialists offer planning guides that include these kinds of checklists—they’re a huge help. Here’s more:
Free 16-page, “Planning Guide” Request your copy from my friend at Skyline, Lori is expecting you. Her email is: lorireitz@skyindy.com. Include your mailing address and she will be happy to mail you a hard copy.
To give you some idea of cost, I direct you to “Trade Show Trends” research report. In on their study, “attendees from 60 trade shows were asked, How much did [you, as an exhibitor] spend, on average, per attendee who entered [your exhibit] in 2008?” The result: $165 per booth visitor, up nearly 4 percent from 2007, when they spent an average of $159.” However, the website also noted “34 percent of attendees reported that their purchase intentions were more favorable after visiting companies’ exhibits on the trade show floor.”
Step Four. Create a Message
Spend some quality time (and/or get some professional help) and create a booth that sends a clear, powerful message that is on target. To be powerful it has to have stopping power and it has to be relevant. Remember, this is your company as a live show. Strive to make the “show” intensely engaging, friendly and memorable. The first step to relevance is picking the right show in the first place—don’t forget that point! When your trade show plan is on target you communicate a simple consistent message to a select audience. The message is coordinated with other marketing efforts and it promotes a compelling, competitive difference. The goal is to be known for something. People remember very little, they will classify you, and store away in their brain a single word or a phrase. What will that word or phrase be?
Step Five. Make it Work
Plan well ahead (6 months to a year or more). Start small and get everybody on board. Learn by doing. We grow by trying new things and taking on fresh new perspectives.
INSIGHT:
Knowledge comes to us when we engage with the individual parts of a process—like event planning. But wisdom comes when we put things together in new ways, try them out, and then reflect on our learning.
I welcome your comments or more discussion.