PPB May 2015

Be The Expert

Your Clients Crave

OURTH IN A FIVE

PART SERIES

52 •

PPB

• MAY 2015

GROW

“Many years ago I

created a puzzle set

of logoed pushpins.

The overall puzzle

formed the logo of

the show. Then I

mailed one piece to

targeted guests, invit-

ing them to get the

entire limited-edition

set. Of course, the

mailed piece had the

show dates on it, so

when they used it in

their cubicles, it was a

constant reminder.

And the entire set is

a functioning set of

pushpins.

It was a great

show-traffic tool, and

we won an award

that year for best

trade-show traffic

builder.”

THE

RIGHT FIT

Supplier

HARVEY

MACKLER, MAS,

at supplier

Gempire/GWI,

shares a successful

trade-show idea

also using puzzle

pieces:

What Goes Into An Effective Trade Show

Exhibit?

The goals and plans for the exhibit should be

carefully developed and then communicated to

those staffing the booth and those responsible for

show follow-up.

Trade-show marketing should focus on two or

three key ideas or messages. Graphics, pre-show

promotion, literature, giveaways and advertising

should all be integrated to communicate these

clear messages. Suggest your client complete the

branding through the use of color-coordinated

apparel for those working the show.

Recommend that your client touch all five senses

to attract their best prospects. The exhibit itself

should encourage people to not only see what’s

new, but to touch, feel, hear and taste. Review

their booth plan and make recommendations of

how they can make it more interactive and engag-

ing. Promotional food such as logoed cookies,

logo-imprinted wrapped candies and mints in dec-

orated tins can add several sensory touch points.

Brainstorm promotional products that the

client’s trade-show prospects will find clever,

amusing and want to display, talk about or even

brag about during and after the show. Help your

client’s exhibit go viral by thinking creatively and

finding products that are truly buzzworthy. From

a practical standpoint, you might also suggest a

journal with an insert page that contains all of the

pertinent information about the show, the logis-

tics, the company’s key communication mes-

sages, the objectives and recommendations for

success.

Promoting Your Client’s Trade Show Presence

Research indicates that three-quarters of show

attendees know what exhibits they want to see

before they even get to the show, so pre-show

promotion is another important service you can

provide your customers.

Recommend a creative direct mail piece your

clients can send to pre-registered attendees and to

key prospects and customers. The mailer should

reinforce the theme and main message points and

the chosen colors, and include the booth number

and contact information. A very effective tactic is

to send a Match and Win offer. In this promotion,

the show attendee brings the mailer to the show to

receive a gift and get a chance to win a higher-

value prize. Another effective promotion to guaran-

tee booth visits is called Complete a Set. You

select a high-end item such as an expensive pack-

aged writing instrument, pair of gloves or pair of

sandals and mail the pen package or single glove

or sandal. The show attendee then brings the item

to your client’s booth to complete the set.

A month or two before the show, your client

should personally call and set up meetings with

key customers and prospects. Key buyers’ sched-

ules fill up quickly, so it’s important to get on their

calendar. It’s also important to reconfirm the meet-

ings a week or so before the show.

It’s important that your clients focus on quality

conversations with key prospects and top cus-

tomers. For this reason, make sure that you’ve sug-

gested a couple different levels of gifts for

prospects who spend time at the booth.

Personalization is a great way to make their key buy-

ers feel special. The promotional products industry

is full of incredibly fun, valuable and highly coveted

items that become even more special when they

include the name of the prospect or customer. The

personalized item will never go to waste, either. If

the intended recipient does not come to the booth,

the salesperson has the perfect reason to call him or

her immediately after the show.

Post-Show Promotion

Your ability to solve problems doesn’t stop with

the show. Research from CEIR shows 80 percent of

show leads aren’t followed up. The best way for

you to help your customers solve this problem is to

help them plan a follow-up strategy at the begin-

ning of the planning process.

Follow-up should be priority; this is where the

return on investment comes from. Lead follow-up

should take precedence over nearly everything

else. Too often, catching up on what was missed

while they were out of the office puts the critical

follow-up on hold until the leads turn cold. Here’s

how you can help with that.

• Create a post-show mailing before the show. It

should relate to the theme and messaging used

in the pre-show mailing and in the booth, and

ideally it should be a promotional product or

contain one.

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