A trade show is similar to a formal dance, or perhaps, a prom, where everyone is dressed in business casual, rather than a tuxedo or long dress.
Everyone there wants to be noticed and to be liked. But, some get lots of attention, while others will know the pain of being a "wallflower."
Like the Prom, trade shows are expensive. So how can we ensure your popularity, and reduce the chance of being left waiting while others are dancing?
The answer is the
meticulously prepare
“snail mail”
e-mail
Planning will include past performance reviews, goal setting and how you can create prospect interest, before the show.
Debrief your team on the last trade show effort. What went well? What was a waste? How can those positive activities be maximized, and the non-productive efforts eliminated?
What is your goal for the show? You need to be specific. "Get more customers" won't do it. How many new hot leads do you plan to have by the end of the show? Ten? Fifteen? More? Write it down, and share that goal with your team.
Specifically, which companies do you wish you could convert to hot leads? What's been the obstacle in the past?
From past observations, what have you noticed that seems to work for other companies?
Once you have the answers to these questions you'll be ahead of the game.
This is the perfect place to use my "B2B Creative Brief." By using this marketing tool, you'll be able to target your objectives in a way you've never done before.
The "B2B Creative Brief" is the foundation for building your plan to be the company waltzing with prospects at the Trade Show Prom.
In fact, the Creative Brief is guaranteed to dramatically improve any marketing endeavor.
Some items you'll want to plan in advance are:
- Who you want to visit your booth
- How you will motivate them to come
- What pre-show literature to send by direct mail
- Products you want to showcase
- Literature you'll give away at the show;
- Direct-mail marketing
- E-mail marketing
- How to qualify new leads
- How to follow up hot and warm leads
After your planning is done, you can implement your next phase.
With 700 to 1500 exhibitors at a trade show, attendees must be choosy about their dance partners. You want to be on their “dance card”, so make it easy for them to find you.
Use direct mail to tell your prospects where you'll be. Although e-mail is popular today and has powerful uses, snail mail has big impact. If you rely on e-mail only, you are missing a valuable opportunity to impress your prospects.
Remember to include your attendees, too. If they haven't already converted to loyal customers, this is your opportunity to romance them again.
Invite the CEO's of your selected prospects to visit your booth. You might mention a special new product you will be showcasing, and how it would specifically benefit their product or be useful in their manufacturing process.
This can be in the form of a business letter, or even a more formal invitation. Remember the concept of the trade show being like a Prom. There's nothing more flattering than a personal invitation.
Then it’s time to send e-mail. There are a lot of things you can do with e-mails before the show. Contacts you make pre-show will heighten your prospect's desire to meet with you.
Your e-mail blast could say, “Dear Joe, We just wanted to let you know our booth number is ___. We'll be in the second aisle about half way down. Our new product, _______, will be on display, and we’d like to give you samples.”
Keep your e-mail short. An e-postcard would work well.
Debrief your team from the last event, and use the Creative Brief to target your goals. Send direct mail and e-mail to flirt with your prospects before the big dance.
© Copyright 2008 Pam Magnuson Copywriting
The game’s afoot…who will be the lucky one to have a full dance card, at the Trade Show Prom?
Those who know how to attract a partner will be busy entertaining visitors, chatting up their stuff, and wowing the crowd. The busy ones will have attracted visitors to their booths, with great incentives and rewards. How do you give a prospect something to look forward to, when he visits your booth?
You do it by motivating them to put your booth on their “must see” list. When you combine all your marketing tools into a single, themed focus for your booth, you create an irresistible attraction.
Start with your theme for the show. It could be a sport, such as football, or fishing. It could be a game, or a maze. If the show itself has a theme, try to tie your theme in with the show’s. This will improve your prospect’s focus on your presentation, and help embed your company’s name in his mind.
Then, use related graphics and language on all your trade show materials and communications. (Use it consistently with both pre-show, and show time materials.)
Let’s say you decide on a Fishing theme: “Fishing for Gold!” The activity at your booth could be for visitors to “fish” for a gold coin in the bottom of a container. The bottom, filled with fake “gold” coins, (like those foil-wrapped chocolate ones,) could also contain a few “special coins” redeemable for the Grand Prize: a real gold coin. What a treasure for the lucky few!
Your copy materials would carry out the fishing theme by saying, “You don’t need to fish around anymore when looking for top quality parts.” Or, “When you hook up with our packaging options, you’ll know you’ve finally caught the big one!”
If you’re a minerals company, you could use, “Mining for Gold!” rather than ‘fishing.’ Then you’d say in your copy, “You know you’ve hit the Mother Lode when you use our high quality minerals.”
The idea, here, is the same as creating a “brand.” You want quick, easy, memorable images for your prospects to ponder, as they wander the trade show floors, looking for someone to help them. Use this theme to build interest and curiosity.
Once you have a theme, find give-away items that work with the theme. Think outside the box of pens, calendars and key chains, for an incentive to visitors. Make sure that what you choose has inherent value, on its own, and is useful or sensible, in some way. The greater the perceived “value” of your give-away gift, the more people you’ll drive to your booth. You’ll discover the rewards of doing something different. Your company will be remembered and talked about, for a long time after the show is over.
© Copyright 2008 Pam Magnuson Copywriting
When autumn comes, it brings the time of harvest. Golden leaves, crisp days, rain and snow in the forecast. It's now time to harvest the crop you've tended so carefully. In our business, that means FOLLOW UP.
Follow up is the harvesting of the prospects you gleaned from this year's Trade Show. If the sales team doesn't follow up on this ripe crop, your company would have saved a lot of money by simply staying home.
You made excellent contacts at the trade show. What's going to happen, now? How will you nurture those companies, follow up with them, and convince them you really are the one they need?
Look at your own behavior. Who do you buy electronics from, and why? Do you like their salesman? Is their service dependable? Analyze what it is you like about the barber you go to, why you buy your groceries at one particular store, the reason you chose your dry cleaner. When you do this, you'll be much closer to understanding the motivations of your prospects.
What does your grocery store have to do with selling your products and services? EVERYTHING! You go to that particular store for several unspoken reasons. Some are emotional, such as the cashier who remembers your name. Other reasons are rational: the prices are good, the quality of their meats is great, and it's near your home.
Perhaps there is a store you're willing to travel to, across town, for shopping. A clothing store, or a sporting goods store. They offer something that resonates with you, emotionally. Define that elusive quality and you'll be well on your way to understanding WHY follow up on trade show leads is so important.
Map out your follow-up campaign as carefully as you do any marketing campaign. Studies have shown that it takes five to seven contacts before a prospect will even remember your name. That means you'll be planning on at least five contacts, with each prospect, in order to cement your relationship, or woo him away from the competition.
When you sell the benefits of doing business with you, he'll be far more likely to 'bite,' than if you just highlighted the features of your company. He already knows the features. Your fabrics are cotton, come from India and Brazil, and are a high thread-count. So what? He also knows five other companies who will say the same thing. What will he get by 'dancing' with you?
What benefits does your company offer, that make YOU unique? Highlight these benefits to your prospect, as many times as necessary, to make a lasting and powerful impression.
Yes, the excitement and glow of the trade show (any networking event) has faded. You're back at your desk in the same old rut. But, this time, you can make it more rewarding than ever before. All you need is a little patience and persistence.
We can learn many lessons from nature. One of the most important lessons is the example of patience and persistence. The humble dandelion is the perfect example. Mow the lawn on Saturday, and by Wednesday, the plant has re-grown and is blooming brightly and cheerfully. Its persistence makes it one of the most successful plants in the botanical world. Researching, designing, building, manufacturing: all these are done one relentless step at a time.
Time spent nurturing prospects are a necessary step in the selling process, just like watering the yard, on a regular schedule. With patience, persistence and care, you'll have a lush, healthy crop every time.
© Copyright 2008 Pam Magnuson Copywriting
|
