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RISING WOMEN EXPERT
ADVICE...
How do we get a measurable return on our tradeshow marketing?
Exhibiting at a tradeshow is an important element within a strong marketing
campaign for most businesses. While advertising in print, radio and/or
television is an effective way of reaching the masses, a tradeshow on the
other hand brings the masses to you.
When it comes to tradeshow marketing it is important to understand that you
cannot judge the results of the show during the show itself, unless of
course you are selling tangible product. Whether you are building visibility
or selling goods for that matter, the true success of your efforts will be
generated after the show, immediately and in the months to come. This is why
it is particularly important to have a solid print, TV or radio (or
combination there of) marketing campaign in place after the show that
continues to target the same audience and remind them of who you are. This
is where your “branding” and “top-of-mind” efforts shine the most.
During the tradeshow it is important to implement an effective strategy for
collecting the names and contact information from the visitors to your
booth. This database is what is going to make or break the time and money
you invested. The hardest task is creating a system that generates
“qualified” leads. Simply offering a “free draw” where anyone can enter will
surely reward you with a quantity of contacts, but at the end of the day who
has the time to contact each and every lead after the show, and how many of
those leads are just general guests looking to win a prize? To save you the
grief, I suggest that you target your lead generating system. For instance,
we used to offer a draw for a free advertising package. The entry form asked
for contact details and other questions such as “Are you interested in
advertising information?” and “Do you only want to be contacted if you won?”
Yes, we got loads of entries however we found that a large percentage only
checked off the boxes at random and were not serious at all about having us
contact them after the show.
What we have found to be far more effective is displaying an entry box with
a sign that clearly states: “Interested in Advertising Information? Drop
your business card or fill in an ballot.” By clearly focusing on what the
desired end result of our entry box was (new clients), we manage to target
only those who are genuinely interested. Our end result is now more sales
because during the show we are actually meeting those who drop their names
in the box, so after the show the relationship is already built.
Written by Illiki Rai, owner of Rising Women magazine. For more tradeshow marketing advice, email your questions to
media@risingwomen.com |
