Marketing Tips

Listed below are the archived "Cool Tips of the Week", which is a bi-weekly email sent by Steve Miller to IMTS Exhibitors with helpful hits on making the best of your IMTS Experience. Steve Miller is the President of The Adventure, the author of HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF TRADE SHOWS and the keynote speaker at the IMTS 2008 Exhibitor's Workshop.

If you are an IMTS 2008 Exhibitor and want to be added to this email list please send an email to jaybar@amtonline.org.

Planning

Planning
Would you like to save money at the next show? Read and follow the guidelines in your E-Kit. This may sound like really basic Trade Show 101, but it's amazing how many exhibitors don't. Yet by missing deadlines for ordering services, like electricity, carpet, show labor, etc., you could be paying as much as 20% MORE for those services! Determine what services you'll need and then order them well in advance. You'll not only save money, but a lot of potential hassle on show site.

Planning
What's going on around your booth during the show? Do you know? Is there a major exhibitor who plans to have loud, live stage presentations? Or will the exhibit across the aisle be just a big, blank wall? What about a big-name celebrity who attracts all the attention and eyeballs AWAY from your exhibit? Check the floor plan and ask show management who will be around you. Then contact those companies to find out their plans. You can save some big headaches.

Planning
A great tip from "Exhibitor" magazine! You can shop around for better shipping rates by going to the National Transportation Exchange http://www.nte.net, a neutral marketplace for B-to-B ground transportation. You can get a real-time quote by entering basic shipping information. The NTE service lets you instantly price compare different carriers.

Planning
When developing your trade show marketing plans, focus your communications (Preshow, booth signage, trade ads, etc.) around your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Your USP is that unique advantage that distinguishes your business and your products from your competition. Most companies don't do a good job of articulating their USP at trade shows (or through any other marketing tools, for that matter). Yet without it, your prospects and customers don't know what makes you different from all the other options available. Ask yourself these questions: What are 3 specific reasons your best customers would say are why they do business with you? and What are the 3 most important results your customer seeks from buying your product or service?

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