Marketing Tips

Pre Show Marketing - If you Send It, will they come? Part I

By: Steve Miller, President, The Adventure

This may not be a revelation for you, but pre-show promotion can determine your success or failure at trade shows. The primary reason behind this assertion is also the most obvious; if your target customers don't know you're going to be at the show, how can they be expected to look for your booth? Do you really believe that you can just rent space, put your exhibit up, and wait for the crowds?

I had the opportunity to facilitate a panel discussion with major buyers of six different industries. Some of the remarks made by buyers just didn't jive with conventional exhibiting wisdom. And one of the areas they had strong opinions on was pre-show promotional tactics by exhibitors. On average, they said they received invitations from less than 5% of the total number of exhibitors from any one show. In fact, the MOST number of actual pre-show contacts any of these buyers received was 40.

Where do you think your odds are better of getting noticed? As one of the 40 or so pre-show invitations they receive before the National Widget Expo? Or as one of the hundreds of exhibitors they are walking by during the show?

Each of the panelists said that, if the information sent is pertinent to their area of responsibility, the odds are very good you will get on their agenda. The apparent conclusion to all this is if you send it, they will come. Let's look at the top three pre-show marketing methods:

PERSONAL PROSPECTING - At the top of the list and by far the most effective way to reach potential attendees is through what I call, "Personal Prospecting." When asked, every one of the panelists we talked with agreed that a simple letter, personally addressed to them (not "Dear National Widget Expo Attendee"), and with their name spelled correctly would get their best attention. Additionally, they asked that the letter provide them with a compelling reason to visit. What they meant was that your product or service does, in fact, fall under their area of responsibility. And if it's something they already buy from somebody else, what makes your product better? By personalizing your letter both with their name and a legitimate business reason, you'll increase your odds of getting a visit.

TELEMARKETING - Telemarketing is the next best thing to personal invitations. If you currently use telemarketing in your marketing mix, then it will be easy to implement it in your pre-show marketing plan. Simply compile a list of your target market and have your telemarketing staff phone for appointments six weeks prior to the show's opening. If you don't have a telemarketing staff, that's okay. You want to be pragmatic anyway. You're not going to be able to have quality meetings with a thousand people at the show, so it's not like you need to set that many appointments. Pick out your top 50 customers and prospects and have your salespeople or exhibit staff give them a call. Remember, though, you need to have a good reason for these people to visit. They will not allow you to waste their valuable show time.

DIRECT MAIL - Next to personal invitations and telemarketing, direct mail is the best way to reach potential attendees. In fact, studies have found that simple postcards are a great way to get attendees attention. One of the biggest problems regarding direct mail is just getting the recipient to OPEN your mailing. We're all conditioned to go blind when we get a mailing that appears to be a solicitation. A postcard is easy because we'll always turn it over to read the back. You can print a short invitation with your company name, exhibit space number, and what you'll be featuring at the National Widget Expo. In fact, because postcards are so cheap to produce and mail, you can put together a wave-mail campaign of two or three pieces. Start by sending the first out about a month before the show and the rest about a week apart.

» Visit Steve Miller's web site - www.theadventure.com

» Pre-Show Marketing: If You Send It, Will They Come? Part II

Go to Marketing Tips main page.