Pre-show Promotion in the Age of Technology
Motivating exhibitors to promote their presence at a trade show has always been a challenge. Some find the benefits of pre-show promotion irresistible while others simply give it lip-service and do not pursue the opportunity. But today, when an astonishing 76% of visitors attend a show or conference with a pre-determined agenda, ignoring the power of a pre-show promotion campaign leaves one’s exhibit plan in peril.
In the past, an exhibitor chose to publicize their attendance at a show or event from a variety of options that included personal invitations, faxes, public relations campaigns, postcards, advertisements, and telemarketing. While there is still a strong argument for the continual use of some of these tools, technology has given us more options. Let’s look at three:
Websites
Everyone has a website: your company, show management, suppliers, and the media. A considerable effort has been invested into attracting traffic to these sites.
On your site, you can create a special banner for your home page promoting your participation in a show. On show management’s site, you often have the ability to include a listing about your company with a link to your site. Your suppliers or the media may have opportunities for you to post information with links on their respective sites.
But simply placing a banner or advertisement with no incentive is missing the point. Your audience needs to be excited. Your web presence needs to appeal to a much deeper need which will motivate them to action. This can be accomplished when you include such things as contests, draws, special events at your booth, and guest appearances by senior executives, well-known industry leaders, or product experts.
Use your web promotion to schedule appointments during show hours. This can be accomplished by having people register on-line for a personal product demonstration or chance to meet one-on-one with a member of your sales team.
Videos
Creating a video is relatively easy these days. All that is required is an inexpensive digital video camera. You do not have to hire a director and film crew if your budget is small – you can do it yourself. The first challenge is to make it interesting for the viewer. It can take the form of interviews with some of your executives or product development people, or even happy customers in story form that is no more than two to three minutes in length.
Your video should be clear and focused on the message you are trying to convey. If you are finding it difficult to condense your story into a small segment, then consider a series of videos. This will be very applicable to those exhibitors who have more than one product or message. Then once their video is up and posted, tell everyone about it. You can broadcast the information on your web site, YouTube, through social media, and even by word of mouth.
Then monitor it closely and don’t be discouraged if you don’t get thousands of hits. Most videos get viewer hits in the hundreds and that is reasonable. Realistically, you are attempting to attract a focused group of people rather than a large, unfocused audience.
If one video doesn't attract the necessary audience or if you want to change the message, then create another version Consider taking your camera to the show and recording booth activities or customer interviews during the show.
Here are a few videos created specifically to promote the company’s presence at a trade show to give you some idea what they look like. You can find lots more if you Google “Trade show pre-promotion videos.”
Social media
Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook...where to start can be a real challenge. The beginning point is knowing which social media are most often used by your customers. A bit of research by either asking your customers or becoming aware of the requests coming in from customers to "friend" them should reveal a pattern or preference. Once you have decided on one social media tool, you now have two options: Build your own network or tap into existing groups. Let's look at both:
a. Build your own group
It will take some time to build an audience of “fans,” “followers,” or “friends,” but it is worth the effort. You can set up a blog using a tool like wordpress.com. Then begin filling your blog with timely, relevant, and interesting information.
Avoid the direct sales pitch and look for information that your customers will find helpful. Set up a regular schedule for new blogs and adhere to it religiously. You don’t want to post something and not add new content for weeks or months; then, as each blog is posted, you can post a teaser using other social media tools encouraging your customers to join the discussion. Let your customers know about the trade shows you are attending on your blog and then, at the show, you can stay in touch with your followers with show updates and videos.
b. Tap into existing groups
You will undoubtedly be asked to join existing groups. Rather than accepting every invitation you receive, be selective and choose those that are most focused on the issues about which you have something to say. Once you are part of a discussion group, you will receive lots of information as various people add content. Dedicate a time each day (15 to 20 minutes) where you scroll through the various sites and look for places where you can add to the discussion. This helps build your credibility and the awareness of your level of expertise.
About the Author
Barry Siskind is an internationally recognized show specialist and the author of Powerful Exhibit Marketing. He can be reached at barry@siskindtraining.com or 800-358-6079.