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[C509]Cheap Trade Show Display

by Dick Wheeler, Dic

If you are a company looking to make a splash at a trade show, listen to the words of Woody Allen who said that 80% of success is just showing up. Same applies to trade shows. If you want a major presence at a trade show, your company needs to show up on the trade show floor with a trade show exhibit. Otherwise, you will be conspicuously absent from the trade show arena.

A case in point --at the CES show in Las Vegas in January, according to Forbes.com, Research in Motion had very little presence in Vegas, despite the fact that it seemed as if every one of the 140,000 people at the trade show had one of its products. By not exhibiting with a trade show booth, RIM made it difficult to believe its recent insistence that it was going after the consumer market with its BlackBerry Pearl.

Instead, it appeared that RIM had given up on the race to get smart phones into the hands of ordinary consumers. The message that RIM had the premiere business phone, however, could have been reinforced to their core customers at their trade show display. But, since there was no RIM trade show exhibit, the message went unheard.

The next lesson is to just do something! Or as Nike is famous for its slogan -- Just do it.

What Kodak did at the CES trade show was to exhibit a soon- to- be released solution to digital photos that are most likely just collecting dust on your PC's hard drive. Their answer is to have the EasyShare Digital Picture Frames play a slideshow of favorite photos and video clips. Music can be incorporated into the slideshow. Models were shown in 8? and 10? digital frames and they offer integrated Wi-Fi for streaming videos, photos, music from your PC to another room. The product is due out by March 2007.

Another lesson is to aggressively market your company's splashy news.

Think big. Heavily market your news. The legendary Steve Jobs kicked off his company's Macworld Conference and Expo 2007 with not only a rousing keynote address from San Francisco's Moscone West, but he also has his self-promoting keynote speech on Apple's website for anyone to hear at any time. It is video on demand, and everyone can hear the Pied Piper talk about his company's extremely successful products and Apple's creativity 24/7. Jobs magically and romantically talks about the latest developments and hottest products in the Mac industry.

It helps if you are a master of marketing. There is no shame in self-promoting your company and your new products. With little modesty, one week before Macworld, Apple changed the front of its company website to an eye-catching Apple logo with the promise: "The first 30 years was just the beginning. Welcome to 2007."

Remember, in order to have a successful trade show experience, follow the lessons of trade show marksmanship. They are: be seen, be active, and be heard. These lessons apply wherever you have a trade show exhibit?whether it is at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, the Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the Santa Clara Convention Center or the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

Trade shows provide an incredible marketing opportunity. Where else can you gather an entire arena or convention center full of people interested in what you do? For a modest investment, you can position yourself to rack up loads of leads. Why then do so many trade show exhibitors fail? Most often the reason lies in their lack of planning and creativity. To help you overcome the challenges that plague far too many exhibitors, here are five tips designed to boost your success rate.

Escape the Ordinary

When you're in an environment full of competitors, differentiation becomes key. You have to make it easy for customers to choose you over everyone else in the room. That means you'll want to stand out visually (to attract passersby) and also to make it immediately apparent why you are better or different than other options the customer has.

Bright colors, large posters, unusually shaped desks and tables, special effects such as lighting, large displays including inflatable mascots or product replicas, and other options capture attention. Having a sheet or brochure handy that outlines your unique selling points will keep visitors in your booth longer.

Have a Plan

If you walk into a trade show blindly, you'll most likely be met with confusion. Think through the steps involved and develop a plan of action before you arrive at the show. For instance, where will visitors approach your booth from? Do you have a corner location? Are you on an aisle? Do you need to have multiple displays to grab their attention from different angles?

Why will they want to stop at your booth? Do you have something visually attractive or unique (as discussed above)? Have they been invited to come to your booth?

Once they stop, what will your process be? Do you have a way of qualifying leads quickly? Can you immediately assess what step in the buying process they're in? Do you have preprinted materials to give them that are specific to their needs?

What will they leave with that will keep your company in their memory?

Pre-Promote Your Booth

As mentioned above, you might want to send a pre-promotional mailing or emailing that invites leads to your booth. Give them the date, time, location and your booth number. Let them know in advance that you'll be giving something away that is of interest to them -- then name the item.

Another way to take pre-promotion one step further is to include a lapel pin on your mailing card. Inform your leads that, if they visit your booth while wearing their lapel pin, they'll get something special other attendees won't get. Maybe you could enter their names into a drawing. Perhaps you could offer them discount coupons for your products or services. These techniques work extremely well because people love to be part of an exclusive crowd.

Make Memories

When visitors leave, you want them to remember who you are and what you do. This also can be accomplished with lapel pins or other promotional items such as buttons, ink pens, etc. If you skipped the pre-promotion, you might want to use lapel pins or the other items as your takeaway/giveaway.

Follow Up!

Within 24 to 48 hours of the show's conclusion, you need to follow up with the leads you collected. Just like bread, leads go stale if not attended to quickly.

With a bit of planning and forethought, you can make your next trade show the most successful one yet!

Article Source : Trade Show Exhibit

About Author

Both Dick Wheeler & Caryn Smith 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.

Dick Wheeler has sinced written about articles on various topics from Trade Show Exhibit, Trade Shows and Trade Show Exhibit. Dick Wheeler is President of Professional Exhibits & Graphics, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with showroom in Sacramento. Firm is full-service premiere trade show exhibit, graphics and management services company.. Dick Wheeler's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.

Caryn Smith has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing, Trade Show Exhibit and Franchise. Caryn Smith is Manager of Lapel Pins R Us. When you need affordable, memorable employee rewards with a high perceived value, lapel pins are an excellent option. Visit