Sales & Marketing Management - May/June 2008 - (Page 36)

THE WAY I SEE IT BY GWEN PARSONS Got trade show troubles? Seven surefire ways to maximize your investment etting the most out of your trade show marketing efforts necessitates making smart decisions from the get-go. In fact, maximizing your ROI entails a combination of planning for cost efficiencies, promoting your presence effectively and following through with the contacts you’ve made. The following seven tips will help to do just that. 1. Set measurable goals. Keep your aims straightforward, measurable and realistic to achieve. Are you seeking to connect with new prospects, existing clients or potential partners? If you want to improve brand awareness, how will you measure it? You may need a follow-up survey to see how many attendees remember your exhibit. 2. Promote your presence. Attendees often plan their visit to a show in advance. Your pre-show marketing should focus on giving visitors a good reason to put GWEN PARSONS IS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF NOMADIC DISPLAY, A PRODUCER AND DESIGNER OF PORTABLE AND MODULAR DISPLAY SOLUTIONS. G 4. Lighten up. When selecting a display property, your company on their must-see list. You’ll get more mileage from an integrated marketing plan that includes pre-, at- and post-show elements. Purchase the preregistered attendee list for promotion, add conference information to your Web site, offer VIP passes to clients and insert reminders in invoices. Product/stage/theater demonstrations are among the highest-ranking factors for influencing attendee memorability. And don’t forget the press release; new products make great news stories. 3. Plan ahead. With some advance legwork, it’s possible to reduce the cost of on-site services. Ship ground rather than air to the advance warehouse rather than direct to show site for a bigger discount on drayage. Place your service orders early to receive early-bird discounts off standard show rates. And try to schedule your set-up labor for hours that will be billed at straight time. 36 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT MAY/JUNE 2008 think lightweight to save on shipping and drayage costs. Hybrid displays that fuse lightweight components such as pop-ups, laminated panels, extrusions, tension fabric and graphics deliver dynamic presentations at a fraction of the weight of traditional custom-built exhibits. Consolidate shipments to optimize dimensional weight. Lastly, send literature to prospects post-event. 5. Attract more visitors. Within three seconds, visitors decide whether or not they will stop at your booth. Design a display that clearly and immediately communicates what your company has to offer and what it can do for the customer. A general rule is to ensure that at least 60% of the floor space and at least 60% of the frontage is open. Fill the height limit at the center of your space to maximize your presence. Keep key messaging above the four-foot height on the back wall. 6. Train your staff. Even seasoned staffers should know the show objectives, key messaging points and lead system protocol for the show. Visitors should be greeted by an enthusiastic rep who can leverage the exhibit. 7. Follow up. Research indicates that 90% of business gained from leads comes from post-show follow-up, yet 70% to 80% of leads are not pursued. Ask your sales team what key data they need captured from prospects as they will be motivated to follow-up on pre-qualified opportunities. Establish accountability for lead handling prior to the show. Appoint an individual to be responsible for capturing and processing leads. Consider categorizing or ranking them. Disperse leads quickly and make contact within one week. lead calculator Utilize this basic formula to estimate the number of leads generated at a show: I First, estimate the number of leads per hour your staff can realistically generate. I Next, multiply leads per hour by the number of hours in the event, then multiply by the number of booth staff. I Finally, multiply the daily target by the number of event days to estimate an overall lead target. www.salesandmarketing.com www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - May/June 2008

Sales & Marketing Management - May/June 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Brian Tracy University Smart Sales Sales Strategy Smart Marketing Marketing Strategy Smart Management Management Strategy The Minister of Culture Become a Value Merchant Incentives/Motivation Streamlining Business Travel Book Excerpt The Way I See It

Sales & Marketing Management - May/June 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.