Beyond the Booth

With the advent of spring, trade shows begin to blossom. Research suggests that tradeshows are where today's businesses invest much of their marketing budgets. According to EXPO Magazine, in 2005 revenue expenditures from booth sales will increase 27%! As these shows and conferences continue to grow in space and numbers, the challenge for businesses becomes how to maximize these shows to secure the greatest return on investment both in dollars and time.

Define the Goal - Successful trade show marketing begins by first defining the desired end results to be achieved from attendance at the show. This goal should be written using the S.M.A.R.T. criteria ?Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistically Set High and Time Driven. Sometimes, several desired results are defined such as: identifying potential competitors; identifying potential customers; determining if this is a trade show where my company should exhibit next year; learn what the competition is saying about our product(s), etc. Through these written goals, then decisions can be made as to the number of people to send and what type of people should the company send e.g. engineers, sales, marketing, etc. Without identifying the initial goals, companies will receive costly unexpected and unanticipated outcomes.

Ready, Set, Stop! - Goals are set, but there is still more planning before you walk through the exhibit hall doors. Do you know what you wish to learn from each exhibitor? The goal is maybe to identify the competition, but how you operationalize that goal is different for the company's engineer vs. the company's salesperson.

Communication: The Key - Given that tradeshows are the "Mecca" for communication both verbally and non-verbally, the key is to be able to deliver in less than 15 seconds what you or your company does. If your "tag line" is delivered in an engaging manner, your visitor will ask a second question allowing for a dialogue to begin.

Communication extends beyond your "tag line." Calendars need to be blocked out to return all those promised telephone calls and send out any promised information. Follow-up communication planning is critical to achieving your goals. Creating a post-event mailing piece such as a thank you note and having them available upon your return will enhance goal achievement.

The Engagement ? The Spot Light Is On - The doors open and all eyes are on you and your booth especially if you secured a high traffic booth. You are the consummate professional with the proper tools (business cards, pen, highlighter, Palm, exhibit hall map), professional appearance and your warm, energetic and engaging smile. Now is the time for all that planning to pay.

During breaks, you may wish to use the time to walk the exhibit hall to make necessary, legible notes regarding booths, products, etc. Look to those exhibits that seem to draw attendees to them. In case you see old friends, acknowledge them, but don't linger as this keeps you from achieving your goals. At all times, keep your goal in mind so that you maximize your personal resources of time and energy. Before the event closes, check with registration to secure any available statistics such as a count of the number of attendees as well as information on next year's event.

What's Next - When the doors close and the tradeshow is over, what's next? The answer is simple ? FOLLOW-UP! Executing follow-up is probably where many businesses fail to leverage their limited resources and secure a positive return on investment.

After the event, you begin to build your nurture marketing for each prospect to create "Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA© www.toma.com). In today's hectic business world, research suggests that you need to touch your prospect 13 times. Your follow-up efforts from phone calls to mailing literature are the second "touch." Each 21 to 30 days, you again need to touch your prospect with a postcard, fax, email, newsletter or article. Your consistency during this process is what wins the race and turns those high cost trade show dollars into real sales and increased profits.

Keeping track of all sales from each trade show allows you to better determine what to budget for next year. Sometimes this data takes over a year to generate especially if your sales cycle is 6 months or longer. Reserving your space for the same conference for a second time may be based on an overall impression from the first event, but by the third time, you should know if the conference or tradeshow is a worthwhile investment.

Tradeshows can be enhance your profitability or turn into another drain on your marekting budget. However, through proper planning and follow-up, you, too, can go beyond the booth.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S. President of ADVANCED SYSTEMS, is the Process Specialist. With over 25 years of business and education experience, she builds peace and abundance by connecting the 3P's of Passion, Purpose and Performance through process improvement. Her ROI driven process solutions affect sustainable change in 4 key areas: financials, leadership, relationships and growth & innovation with a variety of industries. She aligns the strategies, systems and people to develop loyal internal customers that lead to external customers. As co-author of M.A.G.I.C.A.L. Potential:Living an Amazing Life Beyond Purpose to Achievement due for June 2005 release, Leanne speaks nationally to a variety of audiences. Please call Leanne a call at 219.759.5601 or email leanne@processspecialist.com if you are seeking amazing results.

Copyright 2005 - Leanne Hoagland-Smith, http://www.processspecialist.com

Permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way (grammatical corrections accepted).

---

Online Advertising Versus Traditional Media Advertising

Before I compare today's online advertising with traditional media advertising... Read More

People Do Business with People They Like

People do business... Read More

The Advantage to Buying Promotional Products Online

Buying your promotional products and corporate apparel online provides five... Read More

My Product is Obviously Better ? Why isn?t it Selling?

The movie, "Field of Dreams" opens with a farmer standing... Read More

Whats In It For Me?

Sometimes, one of the most difficult things to teach beginning... Read More

How Would You Handle This?

We have been talking about choosing groups to participate in... Read More

Promote your Business and Products through Submitting Articles to Top Web Sites

Articles submitted to online publishers bring your site new visitors... Read More

Ten Deadly Proposal Preparation Pitfalls

Let's face it, the name "proposal" is a great misnomer,... Read More

Successful Marketing Through Seminars

One of the best ways for potential clients to find... Read More

Hispanic Market Reality and Purchasing Power

How many Hispanic people live in the US currently. Well... Read More

What Are People Buying Online?

Benefits, that's what!Whether you're selling in print or in person,... Read More

Maximizing Your Yellow Page Investment

Yellow Page users are the hottest of all prospects ?... Read More

The Dare-To-Be-Different In Marketing Checklist

There is a big payoff in being different. When you... Read More

Practical Advice to Generate Successful Campaigns Using Merged Lists

You could end up with poor results when designing a... Read More

8 Secrets to Marketing Success

The profits of a business are totally dependent on marketing.... Read More

What The Heck Is An Eponym, And What Does It Mean For Your Brand?

Today I've decided to share with you a new word... Read More

Deciphering Marketing Lingo: Whats the Difference between a USP, Single Message and a Tagline?

Maybe you've heard these different marketing terms, maybe you haven't.... Read More

Web Site Marketing: 10 Little Known Upsell Strategies That Will Magnify Your Profits

What is Upselling?It means pre-selling any additional features of your... Read More

Put Your Marketing To The So What? Test

Want to get Better at your Marketing today?For many service... Read More

Have You Captured Me Today?

There are many Web sites I visit every day and... Read More

Sell Your Name, Not Your Product

Do you know what the majority of people sell? I... Read More

Free or Not Free ? That is the Question

You may be in business for yourself or as a... Read More

Selling To Your Affiliates

While success with any internet marketing program falls on the... Read More

Should You Clap For Your Customers?

Does it make sense to clap for your customers? It... Read More

Maslows Marketing Filter

One of the basics of all marketing and advertising training... Read More

Professional Marketing

Have you looked for marketing advice on the internet recently?... Read More

Help! What Happened?

Let's be honest, when you're writing sales material for a... Read More

Market Yourself as the Expert

As a small business how do you compete with the... Read More

The 5 Minute Marketing Plan

If I were to ask you right now, what marketing... Read More

Beware: Marketing Sinkholes Ahead!

Life provides your business with enough opportunities for failure. Don't... Read More

The Marshall Plan -- Or, Customer Aftercare: How To Spend Less & Sell More

My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is... Read More

Marketing on a Budget

A successful marketing plan doesn't have to include an athletic... Read More

Your Headlines Are Key To Your Success Or Failure. Do You Know What To Write?

Most professional copywriters would say that headlines account for 80%... Read More