Displayit.com's Blog - Trade Show Displays, Booths, & Exhibits

Using the Right Words to Achieve Trade Show Success

"Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace."  ~ Buddha

Never is that quote more true than when you're a customer who's looking for a solution to your problem. Think about the last time you had an urgent problem. When you found yourself desperately sifting through a bunch of hollow messages to find the one that struck a chord with you, the one with the words that let you know that you'd found your solution.

At a trade show, an exhibitor has a very small amount of time to communicate with prospective customers. It's important that the exhibitor chooses the words on her trade show exhibit carefully - to tell buyers that her product or service will bring the buyers the peace they're seeking. And that's why I think this quote illustrates why using the right words is critical in trade show marketing.

 

The Key to Success

Exhibitors who experience repeated trade show success know how to appeal to prospects' emotions, which is a key element of "customer-centric" copy. Choosing the right words for that copy - words that elicit emotional responses from prospective buyers - can have a huge impact on the outcome of an event.

You want to let your prospects know that you understand their frustrations and fears, and you want to let them know that your company is capable of addressing those frustrations and fears head on. When you can create the perception that you're the problem solver, you'll beat the competition every time.

 

Pulling the Trigger

Using "trigger words," (words that compel your prospects to take action) in your message will not only appeal to your customers' emotional needs, the trigger words will also help your message stand out in a sea of hollow words.  

Here are some examples of great trigger words:

• Discover
• Exclusive
• Valuable
• Proven
• Easy
• Thrive
• Brilliant
• Secret
• Hurry
• Painless

 

Use the Right Words for Trade Show Success 

The right trigger words will evoke an emotional response from your target prospects, and that's a great thing! When you're able to connect with your target audience on an emotional level, you'll get great results each and every time. Choose the right words for your trade show message. Use the word(s) that will bring peace to your prospects.  

Do you have a great trigger word? Add on to the list in the comments below. 

4 Huge Errors Exhibitors Make

You've decided to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that trade shows provide. Then the negative feedback starts rolling in: "Trade shows are a waste of time." "We lost thousands of dollars on that show." You start second-guessing whether exhibiting is a good idea after all.

Trade shows are an incredible marketing tool. The keys to success are advanced planning and having the right strategy in place. If you avoid the mistakes that your peers are making on the show floor, you'll prove all the naysayers wrong, and you'll see just how beneficial trade shows can be for your bottom line. 

That said, here are four key mistakes many exhibitors make:

1) Waiting until the last minute to plan. There's an old proverb that says, "He who fails to plan, plans to fail." Never is that adage more true than in the exhibiting world. Ideally, you should begin planning for your event at least a year in advance; four months at the VERY MINIMUM. Boost your trade show ROI by taking advantage of "early bird" discounts and avoiding rush charges.

2) Targeting everyone who attends the event. Believe it or not, not every attendee at an event is a potential customer. Far too many exhibitors waste time talking to people who couldn't care less about what the exhibitor has to offer. Avoid this by identifying your company's ideal prospect, training your booth staff on how to properly qualify those prospects, and honing your marketing strategy to attract those prospects.

3) Too much clutter. On your trade show display, in your booth, everywhere. The most successful exhibitors abide by the "keep it simple" principle. Unclutter your graphics by limiting text. Unclutter your booth space by reducing the amount of sales literature (brochures, fliers, etc.) you bring with you, and by limiting the amount of staffers in your booth.  You want to entice attendees to visit your booth space, not scare them away.       

4) Choosing the wrong exhibiting staff. Make sure that the people who are representing your company are comfortable talking to strangers, and ensure your staffers are well-versed in the product or service that you're showcasing at the event. Nothing turns attendees off like people who appear unfriendly and/or inept.

When you avoid these costly (and oh-so-common) mistakes, you'll be able to tap into the immense marketing power that trade shows have to offer.

Is Your Trade Show Message Too Long-Winded?

What kind of advertising captures your attention these days?

a) Something that's short and concise

b) Long, drawn-out lists, filled with a product's numerous features and benefits

Chances are, you picked choice "a." And if you do any kind of trade show or event marketing, then your sales pitches should resemble choice "a," too. 

Could you describe what your company does in 10 words or less? If you can't, then Susan Friedmann, also known as "The Tradeshow Coach," has a message for you: your sales pitch is too long.     

In her article "Get Your Tradeshow Message Across in 10 Words or Less," Friedmann shares valuable trade show marketing insights, emphasizing the importance of simplicity. She writes, "From my experience...I very, very, very rarely hear a message that I truly understand first time around. Most often I’m bombarded with a string of meaningless industry or product jargon..."

If the above comments are an industry expert's observations, then it's got to be what your target audience is experiencing as well. And she's right: too many companies focus on describing every minute detail of their products or services - at the expense of driving away the very people who could benefit from those products or services!

The core of Friedmann's article focuses on perfecting your company's "elevator speech" - so named because your sales pitch really shouldn't last longer than the length of an elevator ride. The whole point of this kind of sales pitch is to be able to capture the attention of your target audience quickly and effectively. A well-crafted elevator speech should be part every trade show marketer's tool kit; a succinct, targeted message will stand out in a sea of aimless, long-winded sales pitches.      

So, I'll ask you again: would you be able to describe what your company does in 10 words or less? If not, then I encourage you to take a look at Friedmann's article and work through the exercises she provides. It's a very valuable lesson in trade show marketing and an investment that's well worth your time. 

Advanced Trade Show Marketing Tactics

You've got the basics down pat, from identifying your target sales prospect to the design of your trade show exhibit. Now that you're a little more sure of yourself in the trade show world, how can you increase your ROI even more? Where should you be focusing your time and resources?

The Trade Show News Network recently featured an article that's loaded with some good trade show marketing tips. Author Mike Thimmesch outlines 6 ways you can improve your trade show marketing program - from exhibiting in vertical shows to incorporating items like iPad displays into your booth.

Click on the link to learn "Six Advanced Trade Show Strategies and Tactics."      

International Exhibiting 101

In the business world, there's nothing quite as exciting - or as daunting - as the prospect of expansion...the thrill of tapping into new markets and opportunities. If your business marketing ventures will be taking you overseas (or even across the border), in the very near future, then below is a must-read article from EXHIBITOR Magazine.

We've stressed the importance of advanced trade show planning many times; never is this more important than when you're stepping into the international exhibiting arena. Author Brian Todd has all the basics covered, from passports, visas, and international shipping to dealing with time zone differences and prepping your booth staff.

Check out "Four Steps to Foreign Exhibiting" by following the link; it's definitely worth the read.

Trade Show Phrase of the Day: Vertical Show

Happy New Year, everyone! Let's begin 2012 with a trade show phrase that really sums up the trade show industry: "vertical show."

The Convention Industry Council defines a vertical show as "an exhibition at which the products or services being displayed represent one element of an industry or profession."

Vendors and attendees who participate in vertical shows make up what's known as a "vertical market." "And what's that?" you ask. In layman's terms, it means that transactions are driven by consumers with very precise, specialized needs. A few general examples of vertical markets include health care, real estate, transportation, and insurance.

As you know, trade shows are usually geared towards a specific group of consumers in a specific industry. Exhibitors focus their marketing efforts on consumers with highly specialized needs. Hence, trade shows are a terrific example of vertical marketing.

Vertical markets (and, by extension, vertical shows) can be highly competitive, since multiple exhibitors will be competing for the same customers. If you're exhibiting at a vertical show, it can be tough to stand out from the rest of the crowd. In order to set yourself apart from your competition, your trade show exhibit should feature crisp, simple graphics, which tell your prospects - in 3 seconds or less -  how your company's product or service will benefit them.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to cover your exhibit graphics with text. This will only discourage prospects from visiting your booth; they'll become overwhelmed trying to find your message in a sea of text.

So, what should you do? Take a page from successful exhibitors' playbooks: keep it simple. Limit your design to your company logo, a strong tag line, and brand-related imagery. That's it. Save the extended sales pitches for your booth staff; they can take care of pitching your products and services after the prospect has decided to visit your booth.

If a vertical show is on your company's agenda this year, we'd love to help you with your marketing efforts. Feel free to give us a call, or schedule a consultation with one of our experienced exhibit specialists. Here's to marketing success in the new year!

Goodbye, 2011; Hello, 2012!

Wow...I can't believe that this Sunday marks the start of 2012. The end of 2011 and the promise and potential of the year to come. I don't know about you, but 2011 saw a lot of changes for Displayit.

So, what were Displayit's top three highlights in 2011?

1)  Relaunch of displayit.com - cleaner navigation and more organized content

2)  Debut of our brand-new logo - 

     From this:           To this:   

 

3)  New faces - we've added three new staff members to our team, in order to provide you with the service you've come to expect from Displayit. 

We've set some pretty ambitious goals for ourselves in 2012, and we have plenty of exciting things in store for our clients. Here are a couple of our New Year's resolutions:

1)  More trade show marketing support. It's not enough to have a great exhibit. In order to maximize your chances of success (and crush your competition), you must have a comprehensive, well-targeted marketing strategy in place. We want to provide you with support in both areas.  

2)  A more intuitive website. We want to make shopping for a trade show display as stress-free as possible, and we want to help you find the products you need at prices that fit your budget.

How can we help your event marketing program reach its peak next year? I'd love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment below.

From all of us on the Displayit team, Happy New Year, and best wishes for success and prosperity throughout 2012! 

5 Inexpensive Pre-Show Marketing Ideas

One of the secrets for trade show success is to develop and execute a highly-targeted marketing strategy. Pre-show marketing is a key element of a well-designed marketing campaign, and it's essential for improving the traffic that visits your trade show booth during the show. 

If you're a small business owner, you may be thinking, "I'd love to do some pre-show marketing, but I just don't have the resources for an expensive, large-scale advertising campaign." 

No worries! There are several ways that you can spread the word about your presence at a show without spending lots of money. Here are five low-cost, pre-show marketing ideas to get you started. 

1) Update your e-mail signature with your booth location and critical show information. This is absolutely free, and it's a great way to give yourself some exposure while you're communicating with your customers or other business partners.

2) Tap into your social media networks. Share show details with your Facebook fans, Twitter followers, and/or LinkedIn contacts. Let them know where you'll be during the show. Be sure to include information about any show-specific incentives you plan to offer (such as discounts or product samples) to build interest.

3) Put your sales team to work. Have members of your sales force spread the word during sales calls (face-to-face visits and/or over the phone). Sales staff (or anyone in your company who deals with customers, for that matter) can also update their voicemail greetings with your company's show-related information.   

4) Create a sticker or label with critical show information listed on it. It can be a small label, something you can easily purchase at an office supply store. Affix the label to any outbound customer correspondence - invoices, packing lists, you name it! 

5) Prepare a press release. There are numerous websites, such as PR Log and NPR, that will allow you to distribute press releases for free. Again, make sure you include important details such as the show name, the date and time it takes place, and your company's booth number.

Trade shows are an incredibly powerful marketing tool. Make sure you maximize their potential by using pre-show marketing to your advantage. The five ideas above only scratch the surface. Do you have an inexpensive pre-show marketing idea? Leave your feedback in the comments below.  

Trade Show Phrase of the Day: Zero-Based Budgeting

"Zero-based budgeting" involves building an exhibiting budget from scratch, without being able to rely on figures from a previous fiscal or calendar year.

Regardless of whether you're an experienced exhibitor or an exhibiting novice, creating a budget can be a very overwhelming and time-consuming process. Sure, there are things like the cost of your trade show display to consider, but you also have to factor in other expenses, such as marketing, travel, and show-related fees.

So, how do you begin? The best way to begin is to think about your objectives for a particular show. Are you trying to capture new sales leads? Increase awareness of your brand? Gather feedback from your customers? 

Once you've determined your goals for a show, then you'll need to assign values to those goals. To value a goal, you'll want to determine how often a prospect becomes your customer once they reach that goal. Are you confused yet?

Okay, here's an example. Let's say your goal is to capture new sales leads. Your sales team closes 15% of the new sales leads generated from trade shows. If the average profit from each of your customers' transactions is $200, then the value of that goal would be $30 (i.e. 15% of $200).

Now that you've assigned a value to your goal, how do you figure out your budget for that goal? Let's say you're aiming for 300 new sales leads. Take the number of targets (300) and multiply it by the value you've assigned to your goal ($30). This will give you your budget for that goal ($9,000). 

Then, to determine the overall budget for your event, take the budgets you've set for each of your goals, your travel expenses, marketing costs, etc., and add them all up. There you have it!

EXHIBITOR Magazine recently published a great budgeting article, called "How to Calculate Your Costs." This article is a great resource for any exhibitor, loaded with all kinds of budgeting strategies, tips, and cost formulas. Click on the link to view the article. 

Displayit's team of experienced exhibit consultants is also ready to help you be successful at your next event. We'll work with you to find the perfect display that's suited for YOUR budget. Contact us to get started.

Trade Show Booth Etiquette: 5 Ways to Improve Results with Body Language

I'm sure you're already aware that your booth staff will have a tremendous impact on your performance at a particular show. Your booth staff team needs to be well-versed in your company's business in order to answer prospects' questions, offer demos, and pitch your company's products and services to potential customers. But knowledge is only part of the equation. Body language also plays an important role in trade show success.

Think about it from an attendee's perspective: would you rather visit a booth where the staff appears defensive, nervous, or disengaged, or would you rather talk to people who appear friendly, confident, and interested in what you're saying?

With that in mind, here are five ways you can improve your trade show results, just by being aware of your body language.

1) Maintain eye contact. I know this tip seems pretty basic, but you'd be surprised at how many people get caught up in a product demonstration or sales pitch, forgetting to connect with their prospects.

2) Keep your hands out of your pockets. You want to portray confidence, not make it seem like you're insecure. People also tend to slouch when their hands are in their pockets, and slouching is yet another booth etiquette faux pas. 

3) Nod during conversations.  This shows that you're engaged in the discussion and interested in what your customers and prospects have to say.

4) Don't fidget. Fidgeting sends out signals of nervousness, and it can also be distracting to the other people who are involved in your conversation. 

5) Smile. Again, another basic tip, but people forget how important it is to remember to smile. Smiling projects positivity and will put your customers and prospects at ease.

Try implementing some of the tips above at your next event. I guarantee you'll get a more positive response from your booth visitors. Do you have any tips to add to the list? Sound off in the comments below.