Tradeshow Marketing Podcast: David Schenberg Interview
David Schenberg of BusyEvent.com discusses his company’s software/hardware product and how it enhances the information that exhibit organizers are able to track.
Check out BusyEvent.com.
Guerrilla Tradeshow Marketing: What Makes it Different?
Jay Conrad Levinson, Mark S. A. Smith and Orvel Ray Wilson released “Guerrilla Trade Show Selling” in 1997. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Orvel; I’ve given copies of the book to clients and find it a treasure trove of usable ideas – many of which I’ve either recommended or used.
A dozen years later it still packs a wallop in terms of great ideas to implement in your ‘guerrilla’ tradeshow marketing efforts.
As an example, here are a few highlights of some of the ideas that make guerrilla marketing different:
- Guerrillas rely on time, energy and imagination instead of mountains of cash.
- Guerrilla marketing is based on psychology instead of guesswork.
- For a guerrilla, profit is the only reasonable yardstick of success. Profitable marketing is good marketing. All other marketing is bad.
- Guerrilla marketing is strictly geared to small business.
- Guerrilla marketing removes the mystique from marketing.
- Guerrilla marketing is based on cooperation instead of competition.
- Guerrillas don’t go for the sale – they go for the relationship.
- Guerrillas know that it takes a combination of advertising, direct mail, telemarketing and other practices. Combine more than one tool and they reinforce each other.
- Guerrilla marketers use as many marketing weapons as possible – tradeshows are just one weapon in the arsenal.
The book is easy and fun to read – hey, you want a marketing book with attitude? This is it!
You’ll find ways to save money, generate traffic, decide which shows to attend or exhibit at and close more sales. Who wouldn’t want that?
Free Tradeshow ROI Webinar
Joyce MeKee at LetsTalkTradeShows.com got together with Skip Cox of Exhibit Surveys recently for a webinar on the new ROI Toolkit created by Exhibit Surveys, IAEE, CEIR and PCMA. The ROI Toolkit was released by Exhibit Surveys in January of 2008 after years of development. The webinar is an effort to explain what it does, and how it can help with your tradeshow marketing – as well as show you exactly how the ROI toolkit works.
Check out the webinar here at LetsTalkTradeShows.com.
Take a look at the ROI Toolkit from Exhibit Surveys here.
Tradeshow Marketing Podcast: Karen Silvers interview
Need a promo item for your next tradeshow, but think it might be a waste of money because your guests will just throw it away? It doesn’t have to be that way. As in most marketing efforts, when you bring in the services of a professional your results usually improve dramatically.
Karen J. Silvers, a promotional products distributor with Lee Wayne Company, spent some time discussing promotional products marketing – and firmly believes there is no time when you should NOT be able to put together a promotion around giveaways.
Check our Karen’s website PromoMarketingExpert.com and find her on Twitter – @KarenJSilvers.
13 Tips for a Successful Trade Show
Guest Article by Emilie Barta
So you have purchased your booth space, had your exhibit house design and build your exhibit, contracted all of your services, booked your airline flights and hotel rooms, hired your Professional Trade Show Presenter and other trade show talent, and chosen which of your employees are going to staff your booth. So now all you have to do is show up at the convention center…right? WRONG!!
The biggest reason that exhibitors have an unsuccessful show is because they just stand around and expect attendees to come to them. Trade shows have a lot going on in a condensed space, and you need to attract attendees to your booth. Here are some simple tips for a successful show:
- A SMILE and a POSITIVE ATTITUDE are the best accessories you can put on in the morning!
- Make sure to do PRE-SHOW MARKETING to drive attendees to your booth. The walk-bys are the icing on the cake.
- You must give attendees a REASON to walk into your booth, otherwise they will just walk on by.
- Make sure your PURPOSE for being at the trade show is crystal clear so that no attendee gets confused by your message.
- You must WELCOME attendees into your booth and be a perfect “party host” once they are inside. It is all about the first impression!
- Maintain your ENERGY LEVEL throughout the day, no matter how tired or hungry you are.
- STAFF YOUR BOOTH with the employees who recognize the value of trade shows, shows up on time, will not wander away from the booth, knows the answers to the questions the attendees will ask, maintains a put-together appearance, and are not prone to losing business cards or information that will be needed back at the office.
- Make sure that the staff of your booth has a UNIFORM APPEARANCE so that it is obvious to the attendees who works for your company and can answer their questions.
- Don’t think that you can do it all, because you can’t. Make sure to OUTSOURCE functions to companies who represent your company image.
- LISTEN to the attendees and give them exactly what they are looking for in the moment. Upselling can happen once the show is over and a relationship has been established.
- Have a designated method for getting HOT LEADS to the appropriate sales person both on the show floor at back at the office. Never let an opportunity slip away due to disorganization.
- Remember that you are REPRESENTING YOUR COMPANY from the minute you get to the airport in your home city to the minute you are in your car driving home. Many relationships have been started on airplanes or shuttles, in the cafeteria, or at dinner. And many more relationships have been destroyed during these same times.
- And most importantly, HAVE FUN!!
Some of these tips may sound obvious, but I can’t tell you how many times I approach a booth only to find one employee present, sitting with his/her back to the aisle, with a scowl on their face, hunched over their computer. These are the exhibitors that complain that they had an unsuccessful show and give trade shows a bad name.
Have a successful show!!
Presenter, Program Host, Narrator, Actress, Voiceover Artist
web: www.emiliebarta.com
blog: www.emiliebarta.blogspot.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Emilie-Barta
twitter: www.twitter.com/EmilieBarta
Using Music at Your Tradeshow Booth
Have you ever been walking through a tradeshow only to be diverted by the onslaught of a loud steady hip-hop beat from a booth three rows away? It’s happened to me a few times.
Typically, if music at a booth is too loud, neighbors will complain and it won’t take long for the music volume level to drop to acceptable levels, whether voluntarily or through enforcement by show organizers.
So does all music at a show rub people the wrong way? And with thousands of exhibitors won’t low-volume music get lost in the hustle and bustle?
Perhaps, but there are ways music can be used effectively. At a recent show I was drawn to a faint but persistent reggae beat emanating from inside a small barn-like structure. Once inside I heard Bob Marley’s “Jammin'” and I was treated to a small art display that enhanced the exhibitor’s image in my mind. Of course, being a stone-cold reggae and Marley fan helped, too!
Across the floor I heard light new age music that was barely audible from ten feet away – but it sounded perfectly appropriate for the product on display.
In both cases the music was unobtrusive and supported the client’s image. If you’re going to consider music as a background for your tradeshow it should do both.
Podcast: Jeffrey Brown Interview
Jeffrey Brown of Tradeshow Blues discusses the re-launch of the tradeshow industry online ‘newspaper,’ as well as other properties including the Tradeshow Blues Wall, the CTE and others.
Show links:
Video: 6 Reasons to Attend Tradeshows
Earlier this year I gave a presentation to the Oregon Health Care Association on tradeshow marketing, and opened up with a short segment that included ‘6 Reasons to Attend Tradeshows’:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KViLc95xsbA
P.S. Oh, yeah, I’m available to address your group, too! Current topics include:
- Twittering Your Way to Tradeshow Success
- 7 Ways to Make Your Next Tradeshow a Success
- How Graphics Can Bring People Into Your Booth
- Staff Training: The Best Money You Can Spend
and others…all of which can be customized to your particular company or situation. If you’d like to find out more, just drop me a line or pick up the phone – I’m always happy to talk!
Podcast: Greening Your Exhibit with Tim Morris
Tim Morris of Eco-Systems Sustainable Exhibits and Exhibit Design Consultants discusses his white paper “A More Sustainable Event Industry is Just Around the Corner”. Tim has spent several years looking to make the exhibit industry a more eco-friendly and greener industry.
Grab his free white paper here.
Podcast: Whitney Mathews Interview
Whitney Mathews of Spiral16 shares how she used Twitter to meet people, create connections and more business by using Twitter at tradeshows.
Whitney was featured as one of our mini-case studies in “Twittering Your Way to Tradeshow Marketing Success”, the free e-book available here (opens new page so you can keep listening to the podcast!).
Here’s Whitney Mathews’ home page. Follow her on Twitter here.