Most brands don’t understand how to make the most of their participation in trade shows and miss first-rate opportunities for business growth
Trade show visitors will tell 6+ people about their experience
IT IS A NO-BRAINER THAT DOING THE RIGHT KIND OF PROMOTION WILL DRIVE MORE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BOOTH
However, most brands don’t understand how to make the most of their participation in trade shows and miss first-rate opportunities for business growth.
HOW DO YOU TURN THIS AROUND AND MAKE YOUR PROMOTIONS A MEGA SUCCESS?
Shigeru Miyamoto is to the gaming world, what Steve Jobs was to the life style technology world — an artist who understands better, what people want better, than they do.
Very early on Miyamoto recognized that addictive games offered something to both novices and experts. Games designed only for the beginners will grow stale and games designed only for the experts would loose newcomers before they become masters. Hence, with dexterity, he crafted games that were attractive to players at all levels.
YOUR TRADE SHOW PROMOTIONS NEED TO HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF ADDICTION. DESIGN A PLAN THAT CREATIVELY TRAPS THE INTEREST OF YOUR AUDIENCE — PRE-SHOW, AT-SHOW AND POST-SHOW.
IT IS A NO-BRAINER THAT DOING THE RIGHT KIND OF PROMOTION WILL DRIVE MORE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BOOTH
However, most brands don’t understand how to make the most of their participation in trade shows and miss first-rate opportunities for business growth.
HOW DO YOU TURN THIS AROUND AND MAKE YOUR PROMOTIONS A MEGA SUCCESS?
Shigeru Miyamoto is to the gaming world, what Steve Jobs was to the life style technology world — an artist who understands better, what people want better, than they do.
Very early on Miyamoto recognized that addictive games offered something to both novices and experts. Games designed only for the beginners will grow stale and games designed only for the experts would loose newcomers before they become masters. Hence, with dexterity, he crafted games that were attractive to players at all levels.
YOUR TRADE SHOW PROMOTIONS NEED TO HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF ADDICTION. DESIGN A PLAN THAT CREATIVELY TRAPS THE INTEREST OF YOUR AUDIENCE — PRE-SHOW, AT-SHOW AND POST-SHOW.
INVENT — Failure is always a possibility And KNOW THIS, “Every game-changer fails at some point. The reason they eventually succeed is because they don’t let their failings deter them.”
1. Invent a great product demo to do in your booth, to pull in attendees, get them involved, and start valuable conversations.
Again, keep in mind, that you do not have to have a new product for demo. However, you have to give the perception that it is 'new'. You have designed specifically for your audience visiting you at the show. Become sophisticated and pre-segment your audience, so that you are knowledgeable about their level of expertise with your product.
2. Give your audience something to tinker with your brand. They are worthwhile because, they get more people to enter your trade show exhibit and help you be remembered after the show, but, you can attract the wrong people if their appeal is too broad and beyond your target market. Make every tangible effort to tie your giveaway with your product demo.
We call this the butterfly effects of marketing. The solid point about it, is, whether you have a small 10' x 10' trade show booth or an island exhibit, you can do it with ease and without hurdles. You simply have to stretch your imagination about the capabilities of your product, have it journey with your audience. Download your copy here.
Again, keep in mind, that you do not have to have a new product for demo. However, you have to give the perception that it is 'new'. You have designed specifically for your audience visiting you at the show. Become sophisticated and pre-segment your audience, so that you are knowledgeable about their level of expertise with your product.
2. Give your audience something to tinker with your brand. They are worthwhile because, they get more people to enter your trade show exhibit and help you be remembered after the show, but, you can attract the wrong people if their appeal is too broad and beyond your target market. Make every tangible effort to tie your giveaway with your product demo.
We call this the butterfly effects of marketing. The solid point about it, is, whether you have a small 10' x 10' trade show booth or an island exhibit, you can do it with ease and without hurdles. You simply have to stretch your imagination about the capabilities of your product, have it journey with your audience. Download your copy here.
3. Set client and top prospect meetings in advance.
(You have just accomplished doing 50% of your promotions), if at all possible, by offering them something of value such as a gift, access to decision makers, or exclusive information. When you do this, you are preventing your brand from the fatalities of being a sad story of digital amnesia. This method have always worked for us.
(You have just accomplished doing 50% of your promotions), if at all possible, by offering them something of value such as a gift, access to decision makers, or exclusive information. When you do this, you are preventing your brand from the fatalities of being a sad story of digital amnesia. This method have always worked for us.
ACTIVATE — PLANNING AND STRATEGY WORKS ONLY WHEN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT SET OF PEOPLE TO ACTIVATE IT "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
4. Promotions are great conversation starters — but your booth staffers have to keep the conversation going, rather than let the prospect walk off. However, the key to this is effective training of your booth staffers. Because, the sorry truth is face-to-face is rather challenging in our digital age.
Reading human emotions is a finely tuned skill that atrophies with disuse and improves with practice. Repeated research shows that we as human species perform much better when we spend time together, because, we read emotional cues through repeated feedback.
5. Discounts and show specials help you close the deal when you get rare face-to-face time with hard-to-reach prospects. Try something radical. Instead of the usual show discount tactic, tell them that you are willing to invest certain number of hours on educating the prospect on the solution that you are offering. This will lead to to connect with the decision makers involved and very soon, you will know whether it is the right fit for you.
ABOVE: The challenges facing your buyers. Source: The B2B Millennial Buyer Survey Report
6. Know the lingo of the demographics of your target audience. Chances are, you will be engaging in in-booth marketing as you are going about doing your business as an exhibitor. Know that difference between "haha" (I get it), "hahaha" (very funny indeed), "HAHAHAHA" (uproaringly funny. The exclamation point is a bit trickier. Use single "!", you shout. Use "!!" or "!!!" you exclaim loudly.
Bottom line, there is a mathematical precision to these signals — you do not want to get it wrong and mis-communicate. For example, we see people replying with a dismissive "k" instead of "okay" — obviously ignorant about it's implications.
7. Crowd follows crowd. "Assertive, friendly, and persistent crowd gatherers are worth their weight in gold-dipped foam stress balls."
Bottom line, there is a mathematical precision to these signals — you do not want to get it wrong and mis-communicate. For example, we see people replying with a dismissive "k" instead of "okay" — obviously ignorant about it's implications.
7. Crowd follows crowd. "Assertive, friendly, and persistent crowd gatherers are worth their weight in gold-dipped foam stress balls."
CLOSE — HUMAN BRAINS CRAVE FOR CLOSURE BECAUSE, CLOSURE IS THE ULTIMATE PLEASURE-PELLET OF YOUR MARKETING KIT.
However, we remember better that which is unfinished or incomplete. (DEVISE A PLAN FOR THEM TO ALWAYS COME BACK TO YOU.)
8. Perform small doses of closure in your interactions, building up to the actual event.
Reach out to your prospects and clients before the show. Again, you do not want your brand to slip into digital amnesia. So, reach out with a personal phone call, follow up with an email that offers something of value and definitely a direct mail that ties to a super special offering for your top prospects
ABOVE: What are your buyers wanting from you. Source: The B2B Millennial Buyer Survey Report
9. Perform small doses of closure by pre-qualifying your prospects on social channel.
However, "put more effort into social media for trade show promotions — but only when you are already maximizing traditional pre-show and at-show promotions. Your social media efforts should be proportionate to the social-media adaption rate of your target audience."
Here is an idea. We marketers frequently preach. 'Know your Customers". But really, do we really know them?
Send out polling questions before the show: Ask them what is that they would like to learn, like and experience when it comes to interacting with your brand. Make sure that the polling questions are followed up with phone conversations or better yet, face to face interactions before the show.
10. The long term gift of giveaways.
You have all heard the spiel, "Giveaways that tie into your marketing message are much more memorable after the show."
DO YOU KNOW WHY?
About more than 40 years ago, a psychologist named Bluma Zeigarnik, while sipping coffee in a cafe in Vienna, realized that the waiters over there, seemed to remember complex orders that allowed them to deliver the right combination of food to the tables, yet the information vanished as the food was delivered.
This realization inspired her to design an experiment to uncover the effect more carefully. To her astonishment, she realized that the brain does not like the conflict that arises from the tension of not being able to complete the task. Hence, the Zeigarnik Effect was born: "incomplete experiences occupy our minds far more than the completed ones."
NOW YOUR JOB IS TO OPEN UP A ZEIGARNIK LOOP — CREATE TENSION, GET INTO THEIR BRAINS, ENGINEER AN ADDICTIVE EXPERIENCE, BECOME HUMAN