We'll tell you!

Because we manufacture and print custom trade show displays here at 12-Point SignWorks, we think about expos, fairs, and anything ending in "con" all the time. We realize that there's a lot more that goes into making a great trade show experience than just your booth (although it is important)! Here are some tips to help you get the best return on investment (ROI) on your trade show experiences.

It doesn't matter if it's a huge tech show like South by Southwest Interactive, or a geek niche show like Comic Con, vendors always need to prepare well for a show. Photo credit to Woolenium via Flickr.

Before the Show:

1. Pick the Right Show: There are literally thousands of trade shows that happen annually in the United States. Do some research and find out which shows to hit and which ones to skip for your industry and objective.

2. Research Exhibition Handbooks: Find out what you can about the event itself before you go so you will be well prepared. In addition to reading any provided literature, reaching out to event coordinators via LinkedIn or other social media platforms before you attend can go a long way in networking and relationship building.

3. Make One or Two Main Goals: This is an important one! What's the reason you're even paying to attend this show? It can't just be "because we go every year" or "because our main competitors are going." Trade shows are a goldmine of opportunities for marketing. Some common goals are:

Increasing brand awareness

Recruiting new talent

Obtaining new clients

Courting investors

Team building/education of employees

4. Create a Pitch: Come up with an opening statement based on your trade show objective and practice it with every person who will be staffing your booth. Having a friendly, but uniform, pitch will help drive your goals and increase efficiency.

5. Create a Budget: The cost of booth space at an event like this generally takes up 1/3 to 2/3 of your total budget. If you can barely afford to "rent" the booth space for the conference, then it might not be worth it for your staff to attend as vendors because you won't be able to afford staffing, travel, and giveaways: all of which are necessary.

During the Show:

1. Be Different: Of course, everyone knows it's better to stand out when surrounded by potential clients and direct competitors! Brainstorm and plan beforehand on creative ways to be different. For instance, Fusion-io IT company brought a mechanical bull made to look like a hard-drive to the Interop show in Las Vegas. They were claiming that people should "toss their drives" like the Fusion-io bull was going to toss them. It created a ton of buzz for the company online and brought people to their booth in droves to try their hand at a high-tech rodeo.

2. Have Branded Giveaways: People enjoy getting free stuff, that's a given. But when you are handing out candy or having a raffle for a free iPad, you're doing more than making people's day. You're creating an obligation in them for reciprocity. We're psychologically programmed to be nice, so when someone does something for us or gives us something, we're naturally inclined to feel the need to reciprocate. So, by giving someone a mini Snickers out of a bowl you are really saying "great, I gave you something, now listen to my spiel!" 

Don't just give anything away, though. Make sure it's something that will help people remember who you are. At a large trade show, attendees will be approached by hundreds of people and be surrounded by thousands. If you are just handing out cookies, it will be hard for people to remember where it came from after they've snacked on it. Put your logo (or better yet, contact information) on everything you give out!

3. Be friendly: This may seem obvious but a lot of people forget to do this (or they get cranky after standing at a booth for hours). Like giving things away, being friendly can make an enormous difference on whether or not people feel like they want to approach your booth. Smile, don't sit behind a table, and offer something to people passing by. People feel the same need for reciprocity if you say something to them just like when you hand them a giveaway. If you try to engage with someone and they say that they're not interested, it's extremely important to remain friendly. Say something like, "Okay, enjoy the rest of the convention!" Leave them thinking your company image is a positive one, even if they're not interested at that time.

4. Schedule Your Time: Two words: potty breaks. Create a schedule for your staff manning the booth so everyone will have break time to eat, relax, and enjoy the convention themselves. You should never leave your booth totally un-staffed, so make sure there's always at least one person educated on your pitch and mission working. Scheduling your time also allows you to get the most out of the show you possibly can in the most efficient way.

Photo by Adam Kinney via Flickr

After the Trade Show:

1. Follow Up: This is EXTREMELY important! What's the point of getting information from all of those potential leads if you're not going to use it? Plan and make time to contact and thank every interested lead for speaking to you during the show. Remind them of who you are and what you talked about if you can. If you think you'll have trouble remembering, there are some tips you can try.

• One booth employee for instance, could take a picture of the lead saying "I'm terrible with names, but I'm great with faces so I know I'll remember you if I take a picture." Sounds weird, but it's been done!

• If that's too uncomfortable for you, that's okay! Because thanks to the wonder that is The Internet you can stalk people on their social networks. When you get their card or email, ask them if they're on Facebook or Twitter and mark if they are. Seeing their profiles will help jog your memory about what you spoke about.

• You can also (discretely) take notes right after you meet with one of your leads. Apps like Evernote allow you to quickly jot down notes about your conversation and even add pictures or video to your notes (of their business card, perhaps) to give you a quick reminder.

2. Measure Your Results: If your goal was recruiting, how many applicants did you get? If it was to get leads, how many emails? By taking a look at your metrics you can see the cost per acquisition (or cost per desired "result") you spent on your trade show. This will help you plan for the next one, or to see if it would be worth it to go to one again at all. 

Hopefully these tips will be helpful to you in the upcoming trade show season! Which ones are you planning on going to this year? Leave your answers in the comments below!

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