Trade Shows - Are They Worth the Investment?
(Part One)
By John Gumas
Trade shows can be expensive. But are they worth the investment of your company's money and your staff's time? Depending on your specific business and marketing tactics, we find that trade shows can be a very powerful marketing tool, if executed correctly. Trade shows are a great way to renew relationships with existing or old customers, make an immediate impression on many potential customers in a relatively short period of time and establish direct contact with people important to your business. Trade shows bring an entire industry together to showcase the latest and greatest, as well as the tried and true. With speaking programs, exhibit booths, parties and more, they offer endless ways to connect with the movers and shakers in the home building industry. For your new business efforts, gaining new contacts can be another important benefit. Trade shows bring together large numbers of potential customers and allow you to expose your products and services to them. In effect, a trade show allows you to speak to many months' worth of customers in just a few days. In so many ways, trade shows can be a powerful component of your company's marketing activities. Properly executed, they will produce huge returns in exposure, branding, education and sales. The return on investment that you can expect from your trade show activities is typically correlated to the amount of effort and strategic planning you put into them. So what should you do to maximize your trade show opportunities? Here are some strategies that have helped many of our clients generate huge returns:
1. Develop a pre-show plan
This may be the most critical aspect of successful trade show marketing. Before you attend a trade show, develop an outline of what you want to accomplish. Why are you attending and what type of results do you hope to achieve? Sales? Product education? Product demonstration? Company exposure?
2. Target prospects early on
If your objective is to meet with potential customers, consider creating a list in advance of these target prospects. Before the show begins, send a personalized letter to each asking for an appointment. Another approach is to simply use the letter to tell them what you can do for them and to give them an incentive to come by your booth to meet you. The objective is to get on your prospects' radar screens before the trade show begins, so that you can productively spend your time at the show speaking to those individuals who can generate the most business for you.
3. Practice before you go
Before you go to the trade show, take your show staff aside and practice. Practice where everyone will be and what they will say to a potential prospect. What's their opening line? What materials will they hand out? What will they do if the prospect is interested? How will they gather prospect information for follow-up? Remember, you have just a couple of days to get a year's worth of work done. Things will be happening fast and furiously, so make sure that everyone understands their role ahead of time.
Keep in mind that in addition to new business outreach, trade shows can offer much in professional development and provide an understanding of your industry that you just can't get elsewhere. Oftentimes, editors of key industry publications are there making new connections for advertising and editorial space. A trade show can be the spark that ignites your efforts for the next year, so it's best to use your time wisely. Next month, we'll look at more ways to maximize your trade show experience - before, during and after.
April 2007 Builder Architect Edition Issue
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