Making Tradeshow Marketing Work for You

[LadyGardenSnake]

Internext is upon us and my clients, as well as so many others I know, are scrambling to figure out how they can best represent themselves and their companies. We?re spending hours looking at giveaways, analyzing our booth locations, trying to find a party to sponsor and struggling to come up with that ?new idea? that will catch everyone?s attention an make us the talk of the show.

In the past month, I?ve been answering a lot of questions about tradeshows and how to make the most of them. Here I address the most frequently asked questions: What should I give away? Should I have a booth? Are party sponsorships really worth it? And most importantly, how do I track my results?

The most important thing to remember about tradeshows is that you get out of it what you put into it, and I don?t just mean money. We know the audience we are trying to reach will be there and that?s half the battle. Now it?s up to us to figure out how to make our mark and reap the benefits. With some advanced planning and a little savvy marketing, tradeshows can be a gold mine for exhibitors and attendees.

What Should I Give Away?

We?re a little spoiled with tchotchkes in this industry. At every show, I hear attendees complaining about something: not enough free stuff, too many of one thing, they?re not high quality enough, etc. Yet, they?ve got their show bag overflowing every day.

The fact is that the audience we are trying to reach at these shows expect free stuff, and they will take a handful of whatever you are giving. The trick is making sure that what you give away doesn?t end up in a box somewhere, or worse, in the trash. I know that every one of us has picked up a giveaway or 10 in our time, so think about the items that have made it to your ?keepable? list. Look on your desk. What company is still advertising to you, day after day, year after year? What t-shirt did you pick up that has made it into your regular clothing cycle? What cool gizmo did you pick up at some point that actually made you want to take the trouble to type in the URL and see what they were all about?

The point is, don?t pick a promo item lightly. Put some thought into it and justify your reasoning. Everyone benefits by marketers coming up with promo gifts that are actually useable.

Should I have a booth?

Booths are like your own little storefront in a Webmaster mall. It?s a great place to set up shop, talk with your clients and attract new ones. It?s good for branding and adding credibility to your organization. If you?re a new program or offer a new product, it?s an excellent way to get your name out there and interact with your market.

If you?re an industry leader, your clients expect you to be there and available to meet them in person and talk to them. Any time a major company doesn?t have a booth at Internext the rumors start flying. In a way, you?re forced to do it because the market demands it. But that?s not such a bad thing. Use it to your advantage.

There are two major drawbacks to having a booth: the cost of the space (the booth itself, giveaways, etc.) and having the staff to operate it for three days. If you plan your strategy out well, you can make it worth the effort.

Are Party Sponsorships Worth It?

There are many opportunities to further brand yourself at tradeshows via the use of parties. Let?s face it, this crowd likes free drinks, and the alcohol will flow from morning to morning. For the budget minded, you can usually find opportunities where you can team up with other sponsors for a main event. Additionally, you can host your own smaller parties, dinners, happy hours, etc. to a select clientele. If you want to go all out, you can host your own main event and keep all of the advertising and branding to yourself. Be prepared for a hefty bill, though. These webmasters can drink. Whatever you decided on, just make sure you make the most of it. Attend your own parties. Mingle with the guests. Give stuff away, and hand out business cards and flyers. In most cases, you?re paying for more than just the right to have a banner up in the bar. My most successful sponsorships have been when I have worked closely with the organizers to maximize the opportunities before me.

How Do I Track my Results?

This is probably the question I get most frequently. People lay out all this cash for a tradeshow and have no concrete proof that any of it did any good. You?ll never be able to track the exact amount you?ve made from a tradeshow because there are just too many factors that are untrackable, such as the process of simply branding and increasing awareness of your company in the marketplace.

My advice is to make the most out of what you can track. Have a drawing at your booth so you can collect business cards. Make people actually talk business with you before you give them that 5th t-shirt they want so badly. Set up specific meetings in advance where you can walk away with a closed deal or up-sell an existing client. Make notes on the back of the business cards you collect so you?ll know what to follow up on. Even if you meet people you already know, try and expand that relationship while you?re there.

Every little piece will add up and when you get back to the office to map out exactly what you accomplished at the show, and track the results of your follow-ups. A tradeshow contact can pay off even a year down the road, if you stay on top of things. For example, I met Harlan from PrideBucks a year ago at Internext, and 9 months later he became a client. Tradeshow results are trackable, if you put in a little extra effort.