After being involved in many trade and consumer shows over the years we are happy to share our Top 10 tips for event marketing success.
Plus we have put together a list of 10 of New Zealand’s biggest & best events to market your products in 2018. Take a look and get planning.
Here are our top 10 tips to ensure event marketing success:
- Determine your goals.
Determine what your marketing goals are and whether Trade or Consumer Shows should be part of your strategy. If it is a yes, it is important to establish some key measureable objectives such as; achieve $ sales, sample 2000 customers, gather 1000 leads, test new flavours. - Research different options.
You want to ensure that the show you attend will attract your target audience, so talk with the people who are putting on the show and find out if it meets your goals. Get some data on numbers attending, who they are, and who else is exhibiting. It is also a good idea to talk to past exhibitors to find out how the show worked, or didn’t work, for them and visit other shows and observe how others do it. - Establish your budget.
Many small business owners have found that participating at trade shows can be expensive. Before you spend any money it pays to do a bit of research as to the likely costs involved, including the booth fee, display materials, marketing literature, promotional items or door prizes, and staffing. If your budget does not allow you to present your business professionally then perhaps Trade Shows are not right for you. However if you are clever you can invest in items for your stand that can be used again and again making the investment more viable. - Plan and organise your booth display and materials.
The booth will probably be your biggest expense, but it is also the most important as it reflects the quality and professionalism of your products and services. There are many companies who can provide all you need to set up a trade show booth so shop around to get a competitive price and something that will make you booth stand out. Just remember to give yourself enough time to pull things together. Think carefully about your goals and design the booth look and feel around this and select the most appropriate sales brochures, competitions, samples, and video, to support them. - Pre-show promotions.
Building pre-show buzz is an important part of marketing your trade show presence. Using tools like social media marketing via your blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social channels is a great way to target people who may be interested in your products. If you are a B2B business invite your current customers and your prospective customers. A great tip is to create a special event at your booth, or the promise of a free gift, or being entered into a contest for a creative prize to motivate people to visit your booth. - Seek media exposure.
Work in advance to organize interviews with key industry editors in order to, not only get your name in print, but also develop an ongoing relationship with important media representatives. You can even make it easy for reporters by delivering your story in advance, along with press releases, media kits, customer testimonials, etc. - Have the right staff.
Having the right people on your booth is crucial as they are representing your business. Help them “tell your story” by briefing them well about what you do, what services you offer, and information on the product or program you’re promoting. Make sure they are smartly dressed and know the rules- it does not look good if staff are on phones, sitting chatting to each other rather than being welcoming to potential new customers. - Capture names, addresses and e-mails.
The easiest way to capture contact information of attendees is by enticing them with a competition or lucky draw. Set up give-a-way and allow attendees to drop their business card in a fish bowl, or fill out a competition template on a computer. - Network your company to other exhibitors.
Go out of your way to initiate relationships with other exhibitors. They may need your products and services or be in a position to refer you to others. Also, you might find a new source of customer leads or potential business partners for your company. Plus it can be fun to meet like-minded business owners. - Follow-up with all of your leads.
Remember that making a trade show experience a success doesn’t end when the trade show is finished; a trade show is a source of leads, not clients. Follow up on all of your leads with phone calls, and put the names on your newsletter, direct mail and/or e-mail list.
So, how successful is your event marketing going to be this year?
We hope these tips help you achieve your goals for the tradeshows and events in your calendar. If you are finding yourself short of time or know-how, do remember the InHouse Marketing crew. As marketers with years of experience across a broad range of marketing events we are on hand to provide any additional management or event coordination support that you may require – just get in touch.
All the best,
Megan, Marise & Jodi – the gals from InHouse Marketing
