Are Trade Shows Marketing Money Well Spent? YES, If Done Correctly!
Verifiable return on investment at trade shows doesn't have to be an unattainable dream. It is possible to create a system to track and manage all aspects of your trade show marketing strategy and budget and to assess the merits of trade shows for targeted marketing and lead sourcing.
Quit laughing, I'm serious!
While nothing I say here will make up for the hard concrete floors, inadequate air conditioning, poor hygiene of your neighboring booth-mates, or the greasy ill-tasting concessions, with these tips and strategies I can make sure your trade shows suck a little less!
Target Market
Targeting the most profitable market segment can be elusive in b2b marketing strategies because most sales efforts are done by outbound calling one at a time. While extremely effective it can also be extremely time consuming and if travel is required can be cost prohibitive. BUT wouldn't it be great if someone threw a party and conveniently gathered up all your best prospective clients into one large room? Trade shows offer the opportunity to network to a large gathering of industry specific professionals in an environment where they will be receptive and open to new information and opportunities.
Show Selection
The trade show selection process can seem daunting and if done incorrectly can cost 10's of thousands of dollars. When researching shows to consider, check out professional associations, organizations or societies as well as trade groups and educational organizations within your industry. Taking the time to properly research each trade show's audience, traffic and the other exhibitors will give you a clear idea of who attends, who exhibits and what kind of traffic you can expect to see pass by your booth. BUT should you exhibit or should you walk the show?
Quick Tip: If your prospective customers are exhibiting you should NOT exhibit. The show is intended for your customer's customers. Instead you should plan to walk the show to visit your prospects at their booth.
If you see competitors on the exhibitor list that would be a good indicator for you that it is worth looking into with more depth. You want to exhibit at the trade shows that your prospective clients will be walking through seeking information and solutions. Every decision should be made with that in mind. What will my target customer be looking for and what can I do to engage with them quickly, easily and effectively.
Budget
As much as we would all like unlimited marketing budgets that just isn't reality. Dag-nab-it! Budgeting is necessary to begin the process of calculating return on investment. Once you've identified a few shows you'd like to consider you need to establish a realistic budget. The first time I did this I had complete STICKER SHOCK at what things actually cost. I soon realized that by careful planning and cost comparison you CAN and WILL meet your budget and still have the outcome you desire.
For about a half a second I considered going into the exhibitor services industry for the FAT wallets I imagine they must enjoy but my sanity returned!
Size of Booth
Most trade shows (in the US) offer booths in increments of 10' (feet) with the smallest typically being 10' x 10'. The pricing is determined by the square footage so a 10x10 booth = 100 square feet. If a show is charging $45 per square foot the 10x10 will cost $4500 for literally just the space on the exhibit floor, nothing else. You can go up to 10'x20' or 10'x30' but some of the most impressive booths I've seen are "island" booths and costs can go up to the 100's of thousands. They are open on all sides and are usually front and center at the big shows. Prices across various industries will vary widely, the pricing I'm using as an example is a common price per foot in the medical industry. This is where research will pay off. Most trade shows have websites with their prospectus so you can review pricing in advance of committing. I recently booked a 10'x10' booth for a client for only $850 and felt like I'd won the lottery!
Floor Location
Similar to site selection for locating your business within your market, the location of your booth will greatly impact the success. As with retail, you want to be front and center! Consider points of entry and exit, gathering spaces, convention services locations like concessions and restrooms and the natural traffic flows. Outer corners tend to be less traveled as is the very back of the exhibit hall. Often, the "better" shows will have their stages and seminars located in the less desirable areas to help booth traffic flow in those areas. By reserving EARLY, you get to pick better locations so it pays huge dividends to plan ahead.
Booth Design
This is my favorite part of the trade show marketing strategy but this can be overwhelming to those who don't absolutely love design. Most companies who intend to participate in trade shows regularly are best served by hiring a booth designer to assist in developing the best booth for their industry and company. Your booth needs to be functional, offer enough signage space to convey your messaging, offer enough display space to effectively showcase your products (if any) and also offer a space conducive to your staff and client needs. Do you need shelving? Literature racks? Multimedia monitors or screens? Closed cases that lock? Seating for client meetings? Make a list of what you'd like to see in your booth, google images to see what styles appeal, and present all of your wish list to your designer.
Quick tip: If you have product samples to showcase, consider showcasing them vertically instead of laying them down on a table! You can purchase stands with up-lights to make your samples sparkle like jewelry. You know, if they aren't actual jewelry!
Booth Messaging
"Ummm, what do you do?" Is NOT something people walking past your booth should be asking! Consider how people view your booth; Top to bottom, left to right. Your messaging should be large enough to read from a good distance, have enough color contrast to make it easily readable and be in an easy to skim font.... God loves garamond!
Additionally, your messaging should follow a logical hierarchy, with your all encompassing message being first and your benefits following. Too much text will kill your impact and large high resolution images can be an important component of your messaging!
i.e. Janet's Awesome Clothing Shop!
Where awesome people come to look even more awesome.
Our awesome clothing will make you taller, thinner and smarter!
Staff Engagement
I may be an awful person but if booth staff is sloppily dressed and are engrossed in their phones or computers, I figure they don't want to sell me anything and I keep walkin'! Booth staff MUST be neat and clean and engage with attendees, get out from behind the counter and great people as they walk by! Offer literature, samples, premiums or candy to start conversations. Greet people by name as they approach (most attendees wear name badges with crucial information printed right there for you). Put on your best and biggest smile and pretend everyone there has been eagerly anticipating learning about your widget!
Booth Merchandising
If you are selling products from within your booth your booth needs to function as a mini store, if you are sampling products your booth will need to function as a showroom. Seems obvious but let's consider the differences:
Retail stores need to be able to get product into the consumers hands and complete the transaction quickly. They also need to maintain additional product inventory and plan for restocking.
Showrooms exhibit the product but do not need to maintain inventory beyond the sample and do not need to accommodate monetary transactions. There will be more in depth conversation with booth attendees and literature or brochures will likely be handed out.
Booth Engagement
At a show I attended recently there was a large booth with several women in LBD's wearing neon pink wigs. WOW! We joked about the "booth babes" but I'll be damned if I can remember what that booth was selling! While they got a lot of attention, that would be a booth failure on their part. Another booth at the same show had a really tall and funky metal robot sculpture as part of their booth and guess what, they do custom metalwork. THAT booth had the right idea! Other great booths had interactive displays and some even gave away really cool prizes. I'm a sucker for a good giveaway.
Your booth needs to draw people in but for the right reasons! Your "get attention" tactics need to relate back to your product or service. Video, lights, motion and sound are great attention getters as are large high quality photographs and well displayed samples. You can also lure people in by offering free WiFi or offering phone charging stations. Or a place to sit, seriously, if you've ever walked a 100k foot exhibit hall, a comfy chair would win me over every time! Damn these heals!
Show Marketing
You can have the best booth in the best spot with the best stuff but if you haven't marketed yourself you will miss out on company exposure that could make it or break it for the show's ROI. The best strategy is to be consistent and to market before, during and after the show.
Pre-show marketing is the opportunity to tell your best prospects and current clients that you will be exhibiting at the show and they should plan to stop by and see your newest products or services. Promote your upcoming shows on your website, your social media, your industry advertising and even your email signature!
At-show marketing can be an extremely effective way to get access to your prospective clients. Most shows offer sponsorship opportunities that you can use to expand your brands messaging beyond your booth boundaries. Consider sponsoring a trade show event like a networking social or a seminar on a relevant topic. Also, continue to promote to your own audience while you are the show using social media and email marketing. You will also want to include in this category your sales literature and any items you give away.
Post-show marketing is a great method for keeping your brand in the forefront of attendees minds by reminding them of your product offerings and continuing the conversation with prospects after the show. Be sure to thank attendees for visiting your booth and send out follow up offers or discounts.
Lead Tracking
Lead tracking can be the nemesis of many a booth exhibitor. If you ever struggled with a badge scanner that wouldn't scan or scanned badges only to find out they took another persons spot at the last minute you know the struggle is real. It is a necessary evil and the better your staff is at engaging attendees the better your lead tracking can be accomplished. Badge scanners can be helpful, having a lead tracking form that your staff uses to capture attendee information is also very helpful. I've even seen exhibitors photograph the attendees (with permission) to aid in lead tracking.
Once you have the lead's information you will then enter it into your CRM (customer relationship management) system. Even if that system is a simple spreadsheet, you need to capture all the information in one place so you can track the leads through the sales pipeline to a completed sale for the sake of calculating return on investment. I've always suggested having one staff person responsible, they gather up the cards, they manage the information scanned in and they compile one lead list for each show.
All leads should be contacted by their assigned sales person within 24 hours of the show. I. am. not. kidding. 24 hours max!
Hidden Costs
Most trade shows charge exhibitors for every little thing. Trash cans can cost up to $75 and you don't even get to keep it. Things to be aware of that can add tremendously to your booth expenses; carpeting and pad (yes, you want the padding!), electricity for your lights, monitors and to charge your laptop and phone, exhibit and furniture rentals, waste removal, booth cleaning services like vacuuming, booth graphics on rental booths, freight and labor charges for shipping your exhibit to the show, labor charges for moving your exhibit on and off the exhibit floor, warehousing charges for storing your exhibit, crating and labor to assemble or disassemble your exhibits, lead tracking systems, advertising, event sponsorship, signage and so on and so on and so on...
Pitfalls
As with any marketing vehicle there are potential pitfalls. Selecting the wrong shows, poor attendance, not having what you need, staff performance and competition can all negatively impact your show performance, however, learn from your mistakes. All marketing avenues run the risk of under-performing and trade shows run the same risk. By taking the time to plan in advance and be thorough in your strategy your will avoid the pitfalls. You know what? Sometimes, shit happens and you just gotta role with it. Take the lesson and move forward with the knowledge gained.
Post Show Assessment
A week or so after the show gather up your staff and have a debriefing. What worked? What didn't work? Also get updates on lead activity, finalize the show expenses and proceed with your post show marketing and lead nurturing sequences.
Update your post show assessment every 30 days and be sure to track any sales resulting from contact at the show. Without that data you can't calculate ROI and that's the entire point to this rather long and loquacious article. What helpful tips can you add?