Trade show Marketing Trends to Get More Leads
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
For many companies, the jury is out on whether attending a trade show will have a positive return on a usually substantial investment. It’s because companies struggle with how to maximize the investment. Here are a few ways to ensure your next trade show is a success. The show starts now. While you’re making connections, don’t forget to let current customers know you’ll be there. It’s great customer service to have them see you in person if they normally work with you over the phone. People see with their hands. Send your best to the bigs. Give it away. The show’s over. Go home—and follow up.
You’ve decided to go to the show, so get started now by letting people know you’re going to be there. You have three seconds to get people’s attention at a trade show, so you’ll need to give them a reason to stop. Oftentimes shows will give you a list of planned attendees. Use this list to send a direct mail piece that entices prospects to stop by. There’s also a trend to utilize social media to create buzz around your booth.
You can stand there and talk about how great your product is, or you can let prospects see for themselves why your product is awesome. That’s the biggest advantage of attending a trade show. Remember that nearly everyone is caring an iPad or smartphone, so you may want to incorporate that technology into your trades how plan. QR codes are a great way for your prospects to interact with you after they’ve left the booth.
Baseball players have spring training to prepare for their season and you should do the same for your trade show. People don’t do business with companies they do business with people. Your personnel at the show are the face of your company. Those that you send better know your company, products and the goals you have for the tradeshow.
At trade shows, it’s still all about the giveaway. Recent trends recommend that you consider a promotional item indicative of the region where the show is held for greater impact. Regardless of what you decide, make sure that your giveaway is something people will want to use so your brand stays with them for as long as possible. Also, consider an item that reflects the personality of your company.
Most companies exhale a sigh of relief after the show and go home to business as usual. That’s the biggest mistake you can make. Before you go to the show, make a follow up plan to contact all of the hot leads you will meet. This will give you the greatest advantage over 80% of the other exhibitors.
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It’s Time to Measure Marketing Success
Friday, August 26, 2011
What Goals Were Set? Direct Mail and E-mail Marketing Social Media Outdoor
Before launching any marketing campaign, it’s critical that you establish what you want to accomplish with each marketing tactic. The obvious and acceptable answer would be to increase sales, but maybe you want to increase awareness or get more qualified leads on your mailing list. Whatever the goal, make sure it’s easy to get measurable data for you and your staff. If you forgot to do this for the first half of the year, do it now. Here are some ways to evaluate the success of your marketing campaigns.
There are several ways to measure the return on your direct mail or e-mail marketing campaigns. The most important aspect is to have a clear and specific call to action consistent with your marketing goal. You can add promotional codes and unique phone numbers, or require people to show the direct mail piece in order to get the offer. Know that not all customers will take you up on the specific offer, but they may contact you as a direct result of the mailing. So you may want to compare sales from a similar time period when direct mail wasn’t in use.
Measuring social media success can be a challenge; but if you know your goal you’re ahead of most of the competition. First, know the purpose of your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages. If you’re trying to increase the number of people following you, or using social media purely for customer service, then generate activity that reflects that goal. If you’re trying to increase sales, determine unique and personable ways to deliver special offers and contests that will get people to act. Be careful of being too “salesy” as that could annoy people and scare them away.
Marketing tools like signs, billboards and vehicle wraps may be more difficult to measure success because they’re often brand awareness tools. That doesn’t mean they’re not critical to your success. The key is to keep outdoor simple, because people are often passing by in a moving vehicle. Make sure you display your phone number or website address so people can follow up when it’s convenient for them. The good news is that most of these marketing tools are long-term investments.
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