Trade Shows/Event Exhibitions
Particularly in B2B marketing, events and trade shows are excellent ways of getting face-2-face with your ideal buyers. However, as you stand shoulder-2-shoulder with your competition, how do you differentiate your business from the rest of the pack? That's where Griffin Concepts event services come in.
Griffin Concepts offers a variety of trade show and event marketing services including exhibit design, pre-show, post-show and at-show promotional strategies, campaign-specific collateral design & production, event promotions and list management.
For your next event or trade show exhibition to be a success, break down your marketing activities into pre-show, at-show, and post-show. Once you've got your plan for these three critical phases, there are a few event and trade show do's and don'ts.
Griffin Concept's Event Marketing Services
Pre-Show:
At-Show:
Post-Show:
Our marketing services are comprehensive, but what sets Griffin Concepts apart is how we combine effective strategies with innovative tactics and technology.
Griffin Concept's Top 12 Trade Show Do's and Don'ts
Once you've got your event plan together, there are a few trade show do's and don'ts to consider prior to the trade show.
12. DON'T be afraid to ask questions
A lot of first-time exhibitors are shy about asking the trade show staff questions prior to and during the show. Don't be. They are a wealth of information. It's better to ask them than for you to break a show rule you didn't know existed.
11. DO research
Having the best promotion, the best sales staff, the most attention-grabbing exhibit are meaningless if you're not at the right show. It pays to do your homework and discover which show will most likely get you face-to-face with your ideal buyer for a price you can afford.
10. DON'T pass up attending other shows
It's a great use of your exhibition budget to attend, rather than exhibit at trade shows prior to exhibiting. You're allowed to attend the show as a "non-exhibiting" vendor. That way, you are able to meet and hopefully generate some new leads while assessing whether or not this particular show is right for your industry or offering.
9. DO have a list of measurable goals
Was the show a success or a failure? Setting measurable goals prior to the show will give you a really good idea of how successful the show was or how realistic your goal setting was.
8. DON'T do what everybody else is doing
Exhibition is the best time to se yourself apart from the competition by showing your uniqueness. This is the place for you to let your creativity (more so than your budget) win you business at the show.
7. DO listen more than you speak
They say you should listen 80% of the time and talk only 20% of the time at the show.
The key here is not to "throw up" your value statement onto every passerby. Instead, look at this as a rare opportunity for you to market your business in person. There's plenty of time to shout your value statement in your advertising. Spend the show listening to your prospects. You might be surprised what you hear.
6. DON'T "hang out" at the booth
Eating, drinking, chatting on your cell phone are all fine at your local watering hole, but the trade show is no place for overly-casual behavior. Remember that as you are there to meet your ideal customers in person, they are also there to meet you.
5. DO meet people
Why stay in the exhibit the whole time? We recommend to our clients that they leave one member at the exhibit while another checks out the other exhibitors and to meet people in different areas of the show as well.
4. DON'T depend on remembering everyone you meet
Even if you're a memory savant, don't leave the ultimate success of the show to your randomly firing neurons.
Take notes during interviews, collect business cards like they're an investment and aggregate all that information. It's all you'll have left once they turn off the trade show lights and mail you the bill.
3. DO ask qualifying questions
Qualifying leads as they come by the booth with both allow you to more effectively budget your time as well as identify the hottest prospects for immediate follow up.
2. DON'T forget to promote your exhibition prior to the show
It's not the role of the venue to promote you. The fact that you are there means they've already done what they set out to do; sell exhibit space. It's up to you (and your marketing firm, if you have one) to promote your attendance prior to the show and drive traffic to the booth once you're there.
1. DO follow up
The number one mistake among first-time exhibitors is to take a break after the hectic show is over. I know it's been a bit of an ordeal, but it's the follow up that all that work has lead up to.