TradeshowGuy Blog

Category: Tradeshow marketing

  • TradeshowGuy Exhibits Launches New Tradeshow Display Products Website

    For years, here at TradeshowGuy Exhibits, we’ve teamed up with great partners for various tradeshow display products: exhibit designers and producers, display products manufacturers, I&D labor teams and more. For example, our Exhibit Design Search website provided by Classic Exhibits is the standard-bearer of the branded exhibit search tool. We also work with the good folks at Orbus, a company that provides a wider range selection of exhibit graphics and accessories that tend to fall into a lower price category. They have an unbranded site of exhibits and accessories here.

    Now we have another partner to show off. Creative Banner offers hundreds of products through our branded website here.

    You’ll find banner stands and displays, accessories, banners and flags for indoors and outdoors, floor displays, retractable banners, signage, table covers, table top displays, event tents and total show packages. After working with them quietly for a couple of years and being impressed with their product quality and quick turnaround time, as well as flexibility on customizing some items, we decided it was time to have them fire up a branded site for us. So click on through to the other side: TradeshowGuy Exhibits – Tradeshow City USA and take a look! Let us know what you think!

    tradeshowguy exhibits tradeshows city USA

  • 14 Best Tradeshow Infographics on Pinterest

    Infographics do a great job of quickly communicating information in a fun and effective way, especially if you’re like me (and 65% of the rest of the population) and are a visual learner. So let’s sift through some of the great tradeshow infographics floating around on Pinterest these days.Click through to the Pinterest posts, or browse the infographics below.

    1. Pipeliner Sales: 7 Keys to Getting Leads from Tradeshows
    2. Xibit Solutions: Anatomy of a Tradeshow Booth
    3. Inpex: Tradeshow Etiquette 101
    4. Media Mosaic: How to Boost Traffic at Your Tradeshow Booth
    5. Infographicality: Six Things to do Before Your Next Tradeshow
    6. Solutions Rendered: Creating a Successful Tradeshow Booth
    7. Skyline: Bad Booth Staffers
    8. Proj-X Design: How to Get the Most out of Tradeshows
    9. NWCI Displays: Tradeshow Booth Regulations
    10. Pardot: Marketing Automation for Tradeshows
    11. Bartizan Connects: Countdown to ROI: A Timeline to Plan for a Tradeshow
    12. Exponents: How to Get in to the Mindset of Attendees
    13. Skyline: 25 of the Most Common Tradeshow Mistakes
    14. Nimlok: Tradeshow Elements

  • TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee: July 24, 2017 [video replay/podcast]

    I sat down with Jay Tokosch of Core-Apps on this week’s TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee. Jay’s been in the industry for about eight years, and is CEO of Core-Apps, which creates apps for show organizers, show management software, apps for exhibitors and more. Check out Core-Apps when you get a moment, and be sure to look at the ShowcaseXD app here. Fun and lively conversation – check it out:

    ONE GOOD THING: I saw the movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets over the weekend. Critics say it’s the standout movie of the summer, and I don’t disagree. It’s a gorgeous movie, a pretty good story led by a couple of unknowns, but supported by a notable cast including Clive Owens, Ethan Hawke, Rihanna and Herbie Hancock (!). Good stuff. See the trailer here.

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  • 7 Signs You Should Invest in Tradeshow Marketing

    Never done tradeshow marketing before, but wonder if it’s something to finally seriously consider? Let’s take a look at seven signs you might recognize in your business that could steer you towards opting for tradeshow marketing as one of your marketing tools.

    1. tradeshow marketingWhen your business has nearly maxed out its current marketing reach. One of the best and most cost-effective ways to reach new markets is through tradeshow marketing. You have access to buyers and decision makers far outside your local or regional markets if you set up an exhibit at a national tradeshow.
    2. When you’re selling enough product so that you’re banking a decent amount of change, giving you the option to spread your wings a little more in the marketing arena.
    3. When your product or service creates a buzz all on its own. Putting it on display at the right show can open even more doors.
    4. When you have a great partner that’s already exhibiting and is willing to bring you along for the ride. Let’s say they have a larger island booth but for a fraction of the price of exhibiting in that big of a space, they’ll bring you on as a complementary product or service.
    5. Your sales have plateaued, and you’re looking for a new source of prospects. Making the jump into tradeshow marketing is a great way to kick-start new sales and lead generation.
    6. You’re ready for a laser-focused marketing event. Putting all your skills and talents on display at a tradeshow means you’re ready to show off to a ton of potential customers. You’ll benefit in new leads and increased brand awareness.
    7. You’re ready to move from a small/local company to a regional or national company. If your product is ready for prime time (production and distribution), putting those wares on display at a tradeshow can open doors to new retailers and distributors that can help you achieve those higher goals.

    No doubt there are other signs, but these 7 signals should alert you to the possibility that tradeshow marketing – if you haven’t done it yet – might be a good bet for your marketing dollars.

    Download a free digital copy of my “Tradeshow Success” book – click here!

  • It’s All in the Follow-Through

    When I was a kid, my basketball coach used to tell me to follow through on shooting free throws and making basic passes. When I started playing golf, the instructor told me to be sure to follow through on my swing.

    Frankly, I wasn’t impressed. My instinct was to believe that the initial movement, not the follow through, was important. Hell, the follow through had nothing to do with the original shot or pass or golf swing, so what was the point?

    follow throughBut have you tried to swing a golf club without doing a proper follow through? It’s like you’re doing half a swing. How do you pull up short? Even if the club swing has nothing to do with the trajectory or distance of the ball, for some reason, it does play an important part.

    Same thing with your tradeshow marketing. If you don’t have a good follow through, you’re only doing half the show. And in your tradeshow efforts, it makes a bigger difference than your free throw or golf swing, because without a good follow through or follow up, you’re leaving money on the table. A LOT of money. In fact, it could be said that without a good follow up on your tradeshow marketing after the show, you might as well not go.

    When I first got into the business of tradeshow marketing, the one statistic that stood out like a sore thumb was that almost 8 out of 10 tradeshow leads are NOT followed up on. That’s still pretty true. Yup, somewhere between 70 to 80% of tradeshow leads don’t get followed up on for any number of the following reasons:

    • Not properly scored (cool, warm, hot), so the sales person making the call has no idea where the prospect is in the sales process.
    • Incomplete contact information.
    • Incomplete follow up info: what does the prospect want from the call and when does she expect the follow up?
    • Lost between the show and the office.
    • Sales people don’t understand the importance or urgency of the lead, so it sits on their desk for way too long until it doesn’t matter anymore.

    Any of these means that money is left on the table. Follow up is simple.

    And speaking of follow through / follow up: Click here to grab my Tradeshow Follow-up Checklist

  • TradeshowGuy Monday Morning Coffee, June 19, 2017 [video replay and podcast]

    I take a look at blogging: what it takes, why to do it, how it works, what kinds of content you can use, and a little commentary on how it’s worked for me at TradeshowGuyBlog.com.

  • Embrace the Tradeshow Marketing Learning Curve

    “Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.”
    ― Isaac Asimov

    There are countless books written about how you can do something better, whether it is tradeshow marketing or underwater basket weaving. But the real secret to improvement is to approach the task with the intent of seeing what works and what doesn’t and use that information to increase your outcome the next time.

    tradeshow marketing learning curveWhich means that no matter what book you read, you are responsible for the success or failure of that venture. Or, as Peter Shankman recently said, “Lose is not an option. Your options are to win or learn.”

    Frankly, even the most seasoned tradeshow marketers run up against forces that give them less than stellar results, leaving them to question their approach.

    But if you’re a rookie tradeshow marketer, the learning curve can be steep with many bumps and potholes along the way. Don’t let that dissuade you. Yes, you’re under pressure from the boss to bring home more leads than last time, and to have your sales team close more sales from those leads.

    What if the lead count is not what you want? What if the sales results are not optimal? Your choices are to keep moving forward and ignoring the reasons why you had those results, or dig into the various moving parts to learn what happened. Was your booth visitor count down? Did your booth staff perform poorly because they were not as well-trained as they should have been? Did your competition have a better product or service?

    All of these and more can affect your results, and the more you understand about why you got the results you did, the better you can respond and improve.

    Learn. Review. Adjust. Act. Repeat.

  • 10 Tradeshow Marketing Secrets They Didn’t Tell You

    Well, these might not be actual tradeshow marketing secrets, simply because by its very definition, a secret is something that is not well known. The following items are fairly well known and no doubt you can easily find them online – but the question is: are you using them to their full capacity and capability?tradeshow marketing secrets

    1. First, let’s look at first impressions. Hey, you only get one chance! And as you know, in tradeshows, perception is everything. Make your first impression strong, and the second piece of the puzzle will fall into place a little easier.
    2. Next, know that the image you put out at a tradeshow isn’t just a random piece of your brand – it’s your whole brand. It IS your brand. If you miss the mark here, your next puzzle piece just got harder.
    3. Up next: your staff. You can have the sweetest exhibit at the show, but if your staff sucks, it will all go for naught. Which means that your staff should not only know what they’re doing and be presentable and friendly and good with people, they should be well-trained in the challenges of dealing with hundreds of people on the chaos of the tradeshow floor.
    4. Now, be sure to have something for people to do when they arrive at your booth. It could be a product demo, an interactive tool, a video to watch, a virtual reality headset to wear – anything that engages them for more than 8.4 seconds.
    5. Ninety percent of success is showing up. Of course, you say, you’ll show up. But do you really? Are you really there for the full show? Are you there ready to listen to a client’s complaints and respond? Are you there to jump in when there is a problem or challenge and not leave it for someone else? Be there. All the time. Not just when you’re on the clock.
    6. Get the word out before the show. Pre-show marketing can take many forms. First question: do you have a plan? Second question: does your plan work?
    7. Cross your T’s. Dot your i’s! Details are important. When you slip on an important detail, someone – perhaps a potential client – is bound to notice.
    8. Yes, details are important, but so is keeping your eye on the bigger picture. Tradeshows are a powerful way to reach markets that you otherwise would not be able to access so easily and economically.
    9. Really, it’s all in the follow-up. Yup, I was kidding back in that earlier paragraph where I said the key to tradeshow marketing success was to draw a crowd and then know what to do with them. You’ve got to have a good follow-up plan in place. And be sure the work the plan.
    10. Finally, be flexible. Sometimes, you just gotta MacGuyver things and adjust to a changing landscape. Be willing to go with the flow and see where it leads, as long as your overall strategy doesn’t change.

  • Tradeshow Giveaways for 2017

    Frankly, I don’t know that much about tradeshow giveaways. I tend to leave that to the people I know who have been doing it for years. Maybe it’s easy to pick something out of a catalog and submit an order. Choosing the right giveaway that resonates with your audience takes more thought and insight.

    So I thought it might be fun to see what shows up when you search for tradeshow giveaways + blog posts + 2017.

    What’s New for 2017?

    First, here’s a post from the Delta Marketing Group. It’s a 2014 post that was updated earlier this year. It highlights tech giveaways such as smartphone smart phones, cable dock magnet mounts, keystands and more. There are also several with non-tech items such as socks, adult coloring books and more.

    Perry Office Plus offers a look at light-up items, chargers, LED flashlights and others.

    EmbroidMe offers a variety of items in this infographic.tradeshow giveaways 2017

    The idea behind tradeshow giveaways would seem to be to make something useful so that they keep the item around for a long time. IAEE looks at some of these items, which included phone chargers, wearable tech and others. If your giveaway is environmentally friendly, it leaves the visitor with a positive impression of your company.

    Metro Exhibits looks at some of the best ideas for 2017 giveaways, including keychain LED lights, sports bottles, drawstring bags and more.

    Let’s wrap it up with this blog post from Crazy Dave’s Promos, which offers tradeshow giveaways such as USB flash drives, totes and bags, stylus pens and more.

    Of course you can easily go online and order tradeshow giveaways. But to me it makes more sense to find a trusted partner that you can work with over time. It’s a good way to keep you aware of trends. This helps you come up with unique offerings that match with what your company is trying to do with tradeshow giveaways.

    Twice a month we send out some great deals – and nothing else! Get on the list now – click here!

  • 7 Ways to Create Social Media Buzz Before the Tradeshow

    So you wanna create social media buzz before the tradeshow but aren’t sure exactly how to pull it off? Of course there are dozens of strategies and tactics that will raise your profile above the average company, but not all will work in all situations and of course nothing is guaranteed. Your tweets and Instagram posts could be swept away by an unforeseen event or distraction that swoops up the eyeballs you were hoping to grab!

    Create Social Media Buzz
    Bob Moore of Bob’s Red Mill marches into Expo West with a dixieland band.

    One of the most memorable methods was one I saw years ago when Griffin refurbished an old VW bus and drove across the country for a couple of weeks, tweeting and posting photos and videos all the way. By the time they drove the bus onto the tradeshow floor, hundreds of people were waiting for them. So you might consider how to play up your travel to the event. It might grab attention if it’s different than the norm. Anyone want to bounce from SF to LA on a pogostick wearing a branded shirt? Hey, just a thought!

    So here are some more thoughts and ideas on how to create a little social media buzz prior to the show:

    1. Know the show hashtag, so that everything you put out is trackable and findable by show followers, whether they follow your actual account or not.
    2. If you have new products or services, create a teaser video or three and get them out onto your social media platforms.
    3. Maybe you’re going to debut a new exhibit at the show. Work with your exhibit house to tease elements of the exhibit with photos prior to the show.
    4. Consider creating a special landing page on your website just for the show. Let people make appointments, view more videos, learn about new products, get invited to parties, sign up for email or text notifications, whatever.
    5. If you have a company CEO or other management member speaking at the show or being part of a panel, be sure to include that in any information you post. And if you’re sponsoring a specific event or area of the show, don’t forget that.
    6. Got a contest or something else to draw people to your booth? Start promoting the contest online a week or so prior to the show. Any sooner and it becomes old quickly. Wait too long and you won’t reach as many people.
    7. Create a special hashtag just for your company for just this show and invite people to post photos of themselves wearing your product using the hashtag. Draw several prize winners from among the photos during the show and give away a bunch of your products to both show attendees and those that weren’t able to attend.

    By engaging with attendees prior to the show, you create social media buzz that increases the odds you’ll draw more people to your booth during the show. If you manage to come up with this year’s VW bus promotion that goes viral, you might even get a raise!