Trade Show Scheduling

Using Video at Trade Shows

More and more companies are catching their trade show experience on video – either to use in web advertising, on their blogs, or in their sales materials. There are some technical things to think about if you want to employ this trade show strategy, but there are also so many applications for this plan that you may not even realize it.
Before you get to the trade show, make sure your booth will be equipped with the proper power cords, power strips, and tripods – anything you might need to make sure the footage you shoot is as professional-looking as possible.

Once you are there, set your video camera up in a convenient location where it is easy to turn on at a moment’s notice. A good plan is to have a staff member walk the show with one camera, while you keep another camera in the booth. If you plan to put together a promotional video or ad, the footage from the show itself will come in handy to show the scope of the event. You don’t want that time, however to make you miss an opportunity to get valuable footage of what goes on in your booth.

If you’re demonstrating products in your booth, get a mid-day, polished demonstration on camera. This will come in handy on your website, on YouTube, or if you happen to sell a product that would benefit from a how-to video.

You can also use the video camera to record testimonials of your existing customers who visit your booth. Think about it. They are surrounded by your signage and logo, your corporate colors, and your people, and they are saying great things about your company. It doesn’t get any better than that!

You can also take advantage of having a video camera in your booth to get footage of a visiting celebrity or leader of industry. If you know someone like this will be making the rounds at the trade show, prepare a few questions in case you get the chance to interview them.

Your marketing department will thank you if you return from a trade show with some footage they can work with to further promote your brand and to attract more online prospects. Never underestimate the power of YouTube.

Effective Trade Show Marketing on a Budget

Budgets are under a great deal of pressure; there is restricted money available for campaigns but at the same time, there is an even greater need to do more with less. How do you maintain and improve on your marketing effectiveness when clients are harder to sell into and when you have half the budget you had last year?

That’s an acid test situation!

An initial broad approach is to revisit your planning and research. The more you invest in planning, the better the potential outcome for the budget. Focus on shows and activities which have generated positive ROI based on past experience. Cut out the extraneous, optional extras you can do without and identify just what the mission critical aspects of the campaign really are.

This may mean cutting out poorly performing trade shows you traditionally attend; it may mean you try new tactics and strategies and move into new areas to exhibit. By now, you should understand you are going to be moving well out of your comfort zone, but therein lies the real point; with a tight budget you have no choice but to get creative.

You have restricted options for cutting costs with trade show management. The way trade shows are contracted for means there is a substantial lead-in period – it is not unusual for a trade show to be booked up a year in advance. You can cut costs by sharing the space you have booked with someone else who is looking to exhibit, and you can cut out the optional extras that you don’t really need. Again, this comes back to taking a cold hard look at what you really need to get the job done.

Ultimately though, exhibiting is not about spending money; trade shows are money spinners and should be viewed as profit generating centers. Focusing on Return on Investment (ROI) will maintain your profitable momentum and ensure you retain a strong focus on the bottom line – this is not an exercise in customer relations but a strategy to deliver substantial, bottom line performance to the company profit and loss account.

Trade Show Strategies- Planning for Success or Failure?

Trade show strategies and campaigns start off with a planning phase. This is crucial as if you fail to adequately plan properly, what you are really doing is organizing yourself for a big failure. Planning is where you scope out your project, look at the resources you will need and whether you can devote them to the trade show campaign and also look at what the results are you are seeking to achieve.
Always plan as early as you can in the trade show cycle – in fact, you can never start planning early enough.

Step One: Set Objectives and Goals

What are you trying to do here? Are you simply looking to create sales contacts or are you looking for new ideas yourself? Do you have a product or service you want to launch on the world? Not every trade show is a simple selling event; indeed, most trade show generated sales are made not at the event itself but within 3 to 6 months of the show itself.
Think about why you are doing this?

Step Two: Quantify Your Goals

Make sales and if so, how many? Meet new prospects, how many and what do you consider to be a qualified lead? Are you simply looking for trade and market exposure? How will you measure that?
Be specific – you want x number of sales worth y amount of $$$s, for instance.
Whatever you are attempting to do, now is the time to set it out and ensure everyone in your team understands what the overall goals are.

Step Three: Create a Checklist

You have a lot to do – source a trade show display, research the event itself, pre-show marketing, staff training, organize the follow up and much more.
Get organized and create a checklist and make sure you and the managing team maintain and update it.
Step Four: Assign Team Roles and Responsibilities
If you are a one-man band, this is pretty simple, but if you have several members involved, it is vital that everyone knows and understands what their role is and what they are responsible for.

Step Five: Create a Timechart and Set Deadlines

Pretty straight forward, but this is now your master plan to coordinate all the activities and everyone involved.

Step Six: Pre-show Marketing and Promotion

Promotion starts before the show – contact customer and prospect lists with information about the event and that you are exhibiting. INCLUDE WHERE YOU WILL BE ON THE TRADE SHOW FLOOR!

Step Seven: The Trade Show

Good luck!