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[T1212]Trade Shows 2009 Usa

by Andy Black, And

The use of promotional give-aways are an essential part of putting on a successful stand at trade shows and exhibitions. There are thousands of items available, so choosing the correct ones for your show are vital. For example, look at your target audience and analyse them. What age group are they? Is the majority male or female? Are these people businessmen / woman, general public, students, or even children? So get your target audience into perspective.

Getting a product which is practical in size is also important. If you are a small company and are fitting your stand and literature in your car, there is no point trying to transport 250 budget umbrellas. Make sure that the product(s) you choose are manageable and transportable.

Remember, promotional gifts are one of the key factors that attract people to your stand in the first place. No matter what services your business offers, when there are 50 exhibitors, and one of them is handing out little gadgets and give-aways, you can be assured they will attract the most to their stand, and if that is the case, then the give-aways have done half their job. Once you get them to your stand, that is when you do your thing, and market your business.

It is always good to try and find something a little different to give away. Lets face it, when people think about promotional gifts, they automatically think, pens, coasters, mugs, mousemats.... and so on. These are still the most popular items because they are useful. We sell more pens than any other products and there are thousands of them available as they are useful and still an excellent general give-away. However, there is a difference between a general give-away and a trade show give-away. The trade show give-away needs to attract, then carry your company logo and message throughout it's lifetime. There is a huge range of products available so don't limit yourself to the basics, look at something people are not likely to throw away, with either a novelty factor, useful factor, or even better, both. Think of what you would like if you were a visitor! Getting it right can make a big difference to your business.

Attending a trade show can seem like Christmas ? all those wonderful booths and exhibitors giving away free goodies. Attendees flit from booth to booth and pass on hints of who's giving away the good loot. In all the hustle, bustle and excitement, it's easy to be overlooked by the crowd in favor of a flashier, cooler or louder exhibitor. How do you get potential customers to stop by your booth ? and stay long enough to become a customer?

The answer lies in choosing the right promotional items and gifts and tying them into your overall theme. According to one trade show publication, people attending a trade show are 52% more likely to stop by your exhibit if you have an appealing promotional gift to give them. Keeping that in mind, how should you go about choosing great promotional gifts AND using them to their best effects?

Here are some key questions that will help you to choose effective promotional items for your trade show exhibits.

1.What gifts will fit your company or image?
Pens, key rings and little trinkets are a glut on the market at trade shows. Besides being ?what everyone else has?, they seldom have anything to do with your business. Choose items that complement your main business ? USB flash drives for a software company, for instance.

2.Can you imprint your contact info on them?
Since one of the major reasons for your promotional giveaway is to encourage your potential customers to contact you, imprinted items are a great choice. Depending on the items that you choose, you may decide to make your imprint discreet, or very very visible.

3.Would you like to get one for free?
If it's not something that appeals to you personally, how can you expect it to appeal to others? When you're shopping for promotional gifts start with an open mind, and narrow the field by the ?wow? factor. If you see something that you'd LOVE to get, add it to your list of possibilities. Later, you can winnow out the items that are too expensive or don't otherwise suit.

One important thing to keep in mind when designing your trade show strategy is the perceived value of your promo items. People respond best to promotional gifts that they feel are valuable to have and to give. One way to impress people with the value of your promotional gift is to choose an expensive item, but it's not the only, or even the best way. What's far more important is your gift-giving approach.

1.DON'T just lay your promotional items out on a table for anyone to take as they pass. Not only does it deprive you of the chance to make a personal contact or sales pitch, it devalues the promotional item itself. How important is it if you don't have to do anything to get it?
2.DO design your exhibit to highlight your best promotional items to attract attention. Create an attractive display on your table. If the item is one that's an attention getter, detail one of your booth sitters to wander around the exhibit area using the item and directing people back to your booth.
3.DO consider first impressions. Station someone near the entrance to the trade show with an armload of attention-getting carry bags with your logo. Hand them to everyone who enters for a highly visible advertisement for your booth. Be sure that your booth also displays the same logo or colors so that it can be found easily.
4.DO consider having drawings and raffles for higher value promotional items. These little ?event within an event? can raise excitement and bring people back to your booth multiple times over the course of a day.

Article Source : New York Fashion Shows

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Both Andy Black & Gareth Parkin are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Andy Black has sinced written about articles on various topics from Hair Care, Trade Shows and Business Promotion. . Andy Black's top article generates over 590 views. to your Favourites.

Gareth Parkin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Promotional Advertising, Promotional Advertising and Web Development. Gareth Parkin is the co-founder of Ideasbynet, the UK's leading online and. Gareth Parkin's top article generates over 450000 views. to your Favourites.