Posts Tagged ‘trade show opportunities’
Written by Ken Newman on 05 March 2010
Supercomm is no more. If you’re curious what that means for the trade show industry, be sure to read Part I on this topic. Today’s subject is the Top 5 Ways Show Sponsors Can Host a Successful Trade Show — and not have it become the next Supercomm or Comdex.
1. Treat your trade show like any other business. To succeed, a trade show needs to be well managed and cost effective. When a trade show goes under, the first assumption seems to be “there goes the industry.” That’s simply not the case. Shows die because they’re poorly organized, poorly promoted and poorly attended. Well-run shows are doing just fine.
In fact, some trade shows are exceptionally well organized. The timing is right. They host a two-hour cocktail reception on the first day so attendees can get a feel for everything without having to rush around. Visitors know they still have three more days to explore, so they can enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and socialize with friends and business associates. The trade show days have reasonable hours and there’s an absolute minimum of conflicting events.
It’s all the little things being done well that make for a successful show. The devil’s in the details, and that’s how many trade shows miss the mark. It’s about the quality of the experience for both the attendee and exhibitor.
2. Keep your exhibitors happy! Don’t schedule a rock-star CEO’s keynote during Prime Exhibit Hours. Exhibitors don’t appreciate sitting around in a ghost town — especially when with a little thought (and better timing) that keynote could infuse the trade show hall with more life and energy. In fact, here’s a radical idea: Why not schedule hours when the exhibit hall is open and NOTHING ELSE is going on: No general sessions. No eating sessions. No keynotes. No salsa lessons. Nada!
Thoughtfully limit the number of announcements that come over the exhibit hall’s PA system. Every announcement interrupts presentations and follow-up conversations, and an interruption by its very definition stops progress. Think about that.
While I’m on the subject, don’t schedule a wonderfully catered luxury luncheon somewhere else! Schedule a wonderfully catered luncheon at the venue and keep the leads inside the trade show hall. Exhibitors are paying a substantial sum for their trade show booths. Their investment needs to be worthwhile.
3. Publicize. A trade show is not a single event; it’s a process. You have to advertise and promote the same way you would launch a new product or garner buzz for a new downtown restaurant. Ask yourself, “What more can I do?” Opening night needs to come together and impress, as if there was a critic scribbling on a notepad somewhere in the room who was going to make or break your whole future with that one review. Make sure there’s ample staffing and ample direction. If you have one bad day, that’s a third of the trade show! Three bad days and it’s lights out.
4. Create the proper infrastructure. The hall needs to be set up in a way that’s easy for people to register, get in and get around. Think about the lines. Think about the traffic flow. And think about how much you enjoyed the last time you couldn’t find your car in a parking garage. A LOT of trade show attendees have this experience trying to find booths at some of the bigger shows. At one of the more popular Las Vegas events last year, I saw countless attendees wandering around clutching maps and looking like kids lost at Disneyland.
5. Make sure there is adequate signage. At a recent trade show in San Francisco, many exhibitors complained that traffic seemed to be a lot lighter even though attendance was actually up. Why? Turns out that a good number of attendees had no idea there were exhibits on the other side of the Hall! This could’ve easily been avoided by using little colored footprint decals on the floor leading the attendees to and from both sides of the event. When in doubt, add more signage, more guides and more information kiosks.
When attendees and exhibitors alike have an easy and enjoyable experience, they’ll come back. Overlook the little things, and you might be the next news headline.
Next week, we’ll return to the usual Q&A format, so click the big “?” in the blog banner and submit your itching trade show question or concern. This blog is for you, and your topic might just be the subject of the next post.
Tags: booth traffic, happy exhibitors, publicity, signage, trade show opportunities
Posted in Trade show news & trends, Trade show presentations | 4 Comments »
Written by Ken Newman on 10 December 2009
We recently participated in a major Chicago trade show that was not very well attended. In the pictures I saw online after the event, most booths looked like carpeted ghost towns. The writer of one story said you could have easily held a sporting event in the aisles. The only picture I saw featuring a massive throng of people happened to be a shot of our booth, during one of our live presentations. People were packing the aisle, and I remember thinking one thing: “WHEW.”
I don’t say this so much to toot the Magnet Productions horn as to illustrate an extremely important point: Having a live presenter made all the difference in our client’s success at this show. In fact, it was the difference between an empty booth and a full space clocking 2,000 leads (out of a trade show attendance of 7,000 total) … and this in a relatively small booth.
There were other live presentations at this show, and those booths had similar experiences. We heard comments like: “I didn’t understand why we needed a live presenter until today.” Another said, “Some people are already packing up, and we’re still packing them in. And this: “It’s not just that we got a ton of really good leads, it’s that everyone in the booth — our entire staff — had a really good time at that show. And that’s a first.”
You can’t predict the size of the crowd in these changing times, but you can protect yourself against a failed trade show experience. Think of it as preventative medicine: Booking a live presenter is like preventative medicine against an empty booth, ensuring good return on your money and good leads from the show.
When the trade show doors open and the first crowd comes through as a mere trickle, you know that you’re going to be in for a long three days — particularly if that trickle is on the morning of Day One! That’s exactly what happened in Chicago, with most of the booths staffed by people ready to pounce on anyone who came near. Pretty intimidating for a trade show attendee.
Instead, at our client’s booth, our live presenter would stop people in the aisles, offering to teach them a mindreading illusion.
“Come look at this! It’s amazing ! I am going to prove to you that we know EXACTLY what you’re thinking. And then, if you hang around, I’ll teach you how I did it.”
And attendees would watch … and then a few people would come by and watch them … and then some people would watch them … and then the presenter would take the stage and deliver our client’s message … to a standing-room-only crowd.
What I think it comes down to is this: Trade shows may be seeing a drop off in the number of attendees. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t exhibit. What it DOES mean, is that when you DO exhibit, make it count! If, for example, you are committed to a show that is only going to be attended by 7,000 people, you’re not going to want to come home with just 50 leads. The best medicine to prevent that is to have something going on in your booth that will make it THE place to be. And that something is a live presenter.
Tags: booth buzz, Booth staff, booth traffic, live presentations, trade show opportunities
Posted in Booth staff, Trade show news & trends, Trade show presentations | 3 Comments »
Written by Ken Newman on 10 November 2009
Hey Newman, I know that Twitter is great for letting people know insignificant details about my life, but what about trade shows? Is it really worth tweeting about THAT? –Richard in Chicago
Let’s talk about utilizing Twitter within the throes of a trade show. Preferably, you’ve spent months really connecting with key people through your Twitter stream, building brand awareness and building your follower count. But that time has passed. The trade show is now. So, what can you do to harness this new cool tool?
→ First off, start promoting the trade show before it happens. A series of 140 character tweets at regular intervals starting a month before the event will build excitement and interest.
→ Don’t interpret 140 characters as a limitation. In the trade show space, it’s something that can easily be used to your advantage by keeping your message short and sweet.
→ Leverage your trade show giveaways by tweeting about new free offerings every hour: “Come by the [company] booth within the next 30 minutes for a free T-shirt and other goodies.”
→ Give regular updates: “Author of important new book on Internet security will be speaking at the [company] booth in 15 minutes and signing copies.”
→ Direct Message followers you know to be at the trade show that you’d love some face time with. Leave them a breadcrumb trail of sorts to finding you.
→ Also use Twitter messages to follow up with people who did stop by the booth to gain some extra traction and clue them in to more information: “Thanks so much for stopping by the booth. Check out http://bit.ly/14jYU0 for more info on our trade show staff training services!”
→ Use hashtags to show up in the trade show stream. That way, those who search directly for feeds relating to the trade show will see your messages: “#INTEROP presentation about to begin! Run to the guy spinning plates and grab a seat.”
→ Lastly, help one another and foster goodwill: I was at the National Association of Broadcasters Show and someone realized he didn’t have the necessary connector to use his wireless headset mic. He tweeted his troubles, and 10 minutes later two people showed up with the connector he needed.
This works! So, go tweet your little trade show heart out.
Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.
Tags: booth buzz, targeted giveaways, trade show opportunities, trade show trends, Twitter
Posted in Lead generation & follow up, Trade show news & trends, Trade shows & social media | 1 Comment »
Written by Ken Newman on 04 August 2009
Hey Newman, how long is too long before following up on trade show leads? Something tells me I’m not going to like the answer. -Robert in Palo Alto
Robert, three-quarters of the leads generated at trade shows are never followed up on … and when they are followed up, it tends to be way too late. So, what does that mean for you? It means don’t bother to spend the money on lead generation if you’re just trying to impress the people in the next booth with a big statistic. Those 2,000 leads you got don’t mean anything if you don’t do something with them.
It’s essential you have a mechanism in place for when you’re receiving the leads, whether that’s using barcode scanners or a little Q&A afterward to ascertain if this lead is something worth pursuing over the next week, two weeks, month or year. You need some way of categorizing your leads as “HOT,” “warm,” “cold” and “dead fish.” (Well, maybe not the last one.)
Take those leads and, for example, send each one a postcard with a funny photograph from your presentation. People aren’t very accustomed to getting real mail anymore, and sometimes that can be far more attention-grabbing than just seeing another e-mail in the inbox. But at least promptly send an e-mail with a memorable photograph in it. Thank that potential customer for coming by the booth. Tell them you really appreciate it—and have that note waiting for them Monday when they get back from the trade show.
First contact should come within days of the trade show’s end. When two or three weeks or God forbid a month goes by without contact, you just end up lumped together with all the other SPAM.
I use a postcard as an example of something that makes people stop and take notice. When I get a postcard I say, “Wow, that’s amazing. I haven’t gotten a postcard in a long time.” It will make me not want to throw it out, particularly if it’s a funny image that makes me laugh. And when it’s flipped over, there’s just a quick note:
“Thank you for stopping by the booth. We’ll get in touch within a week or so to follow up.”
It’s just a warm way to reach out to people. Warm is good. Prompt is even better.
People go to such lengths to get traffic in their booth—renting the leading scanning devices and hiring crowd gatherers … and then it either all sits untouched in a database or collects dust as a stack of business cards or filled-out lead cards. Somehow, nobody does anything with them after putting in all that initial effort. Worse, they’ll group them by territory and send the info out to their sales staff, who expect these to be qualified leads. But after a few phone calls those salespeople realize these were just a bunch of people who stopped by to get a T-shirt. They’ll quickly feel like they’re wasting their time and stop making attempts, which ultimately throws out the good with the bad.
That’s why they need to be categorized as real leads, as opposed to just inflating the body count. Sometimes you’ll know immediately when you have a hot lead. In those cases, there’s no such thing as getting hold of somebody too soon. (Well, let them de-board the plane and get home first.) But there’s nothing better than arriving and finding a note waiting for you.
Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.
Tags: lead follow up, lead generation, qualified leads, trade show opportunities, trade shows
Posted in Booth staff, Lead generation & follow up, Trade show news & trends, Trade show presentations | 7 Comments »
Written by Ken Newman on 14 July 2009
Hey Newman, I saw your Live Presentations post. So what’s the deal with PowerPoint? -Ray in Oakland
Well, Ray … simply put, don’t use PowerPoint. I’ve seen more PowerPoint used badly at trade shows than anywhere else. Even a tight, concise presentation can be sabotaged by poor PowerPoint usage. It’s just not enough to throw up bullet points, text, graphics and beauty shots of the product. That’s exactly what it is: throwup. The audience’s eyes glaze right over—especially if you’re reading from the PowerPoint as if it were a TelePrompTer.
The only time to use PowerPoint is when there is something you have to show that words cannot adequately describe. Use it for counterpoint, irony, humor and surprise. I started off a recent live presentation with a 60-slide PowerPoint presentation. Sixty real, honest-to-goodness slides about the company. But it was a joke. I put those 60-slides on automatic at overdrive PowerPoint speed. The whole thing ran about eight seconds from start to finish, with frenzied music underneath. At the halfway point it stopped and said, “YOU’RE GETTING THIS, RIGHT?” Then it did 30 more slides with an epic music finale and one final slide that said, “ANY QUESTIONS?”
Can you imagine the applause? Can you imagine the additional applause when I told the audience we weren’t going to do anything like that? Ultimately, I did use PowerPoint during the presentation, but only for exquisite images from nature that enhanced the storytelling.
I tell my clients all the time that if you hired a compelling presenter, you want the people looking at that presenter. You want me to make contact with your audience-to look them in the eyes and tell them that company’s story. You don’t want their eyes shifting back and forth between me and the screen because that will dilute the message completely.
PowerPoint is not effective; storytelling is effective. If you use juggling, magic, plate-spinning or humor to tell that story, it’ll trump PowerPoint every time.
Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.
Tags: connection, live presentations, trade show opportunities, trade show trends, trade shows
Posted in Trade show news & trends, Trade show presentations | No Comments »
Written by Ken Newman on 07 July 2009
Hey Newman, in your opinion what are do’s and don’ts of live presentations? -Marcus in San Diego
The death of live presentations is the l…e…n…g…t….h.
Let me say it right now: Your trade show presentation is probably too long. Twenty minutes is too long. Fifteen minutes is too long. Ten minutes is too long. As a general rule, if audience members are looking at their watches, it’s too long.
I’ve participated in hundreds upon hundreds of trade shows, experiencing them both as a presenter and an attendee. In all that time, no one has ever come up to me and said, “That was a really great presentation, but it was a little too short.“ Ever. In 25 years, it’s never happened.
Want to know (as a presenter) how to have your audience utterly thrilled? Tell that crowd there’s only three things you expect them to remember. Describe those three things. Reiterate those three things at the end. That’s it.
Two hours after the live presentation is over, an audience member should be able to tell you precisely what the presentation was about. These folks are completely inundated at a trade show, so if you can get them to remember a phrase or a slogan and up to three basic points, that’s a triumph.
Make Your Live Presentation Twice As Nice
If you want to get the biggest bang for your buck, don’t make me do a 15-minute show. Let me do a seven-minute show twice as many times a day. Let me build a crowd, work that crowd and then do it over again.
It’s About Questions, Not Answers
Ask more questions than you answer. Get them to think about your company in a unique way, inspiring them to follow up with booth staff. It’s not important to explain everything. What’s important is to ignite a desire for that audience member to independently acquire any information not included in the live presentation.
So, to recap:
- “Too many answers” is death.
- PowerPoint as a crutch is death. (We’ll discuss this next time!)
So, stay away from these traps and have a tremendously successful live presentation. If you’ve absorbed this advice and need more guidance on where you go from here, feel free to contact us for a consult.
Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.
Tags: Booth staff, consultations, live presentations, trade show opportunities, trade shows
Posted in Trade show presentations | No Comments »
Written by Ken Newman on 09 June 2009
Hey Newman, do “booth babes” actually make a difference at a trade show, or are they just a financial drain? -Richard in New Jersey
Richard, I have really strong feelings about this topic. First of all, I don’t like that term. I resent references to “booth babes” or “booth bunnies” or “booth bimbos” … really “booth anything” other than booth assistant or booth hostess.
But I do understand where you’re coming from. All too often you have a fashion model just sitting on a high stool with her legs crossed, checking her nails and handing out literature. That is not a particularly valuable investment for a trade show.
But a real booth assistant can be a substantial asset for a relatively small amount of money. I’m talking about a skilled, experienced person who goes out into crowds and asks the right questions and can deliver a killer 30-second pitch on your behalf. I’m talking about someone who knows what to do if an attendee asks, “Is your marketing director here?” … And here’s a hint: It’s doesn’t involve just pointing to the opposite end of the booth.
That person has real value at a trade show for about $400 a day or less. But a lot of people feel “we don’t need that.”
In fact, they do.
Otherwise, they’re not going to have any one person who is dedicated to that “crowd gathering” task. Booth staff should be engaging people at a deeper level and getting involved in potential sales and qualifying leads and showing off technology.
It’s the job of the booth assistant to bring people into striking distance for a trade show presentation or booth demo. That being said, you can’t just go to a modeling agency and select someone 6-feet-tall who looks like Angelina Jolie.
The value is in selecting someone with years of trade show experience who knows how to behave when an attendee brushes them off. You want someone who can smile in the face of trade show adversity. Those are the types of people you look for, and those are the types of people we have worked with at Magnet Productions for at least 10 years. They are real trade show professionals who deserve respect and have an important role in delivering a highly successful trade show that brings in lots of qualified leads.
So, before you dismiss them as mere “eye candy,” consider all there is to be gained from professional booth assistants as part of your trade show presence.
Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.
Tags: affordable options, booth assistants, booth buzz, crowd gathering, trade show opportunities
Posted in Booth staff, Trade show news & trends | 2 Comments »
Written by Ken Newman on 05 May 2009
Hey Newman, the trends don’t look good, man. Are trade shows going the way of the dodo? I think it would be a shame if that’s true. – Jeff in Philly
There’s been some recent doom and gloom about the future of the trade show industry. To Jeff and everyone else with similar concerns, I have a simple message: The trade show is far from dead. People are just spending more selectively.
Face-to-face marketing is not going away. Ever. We have the Internet, but the telephone isn’t going away. For that matter, we have the telephone, but we’re still getting together to talk in person.
Look at the Presidential Inauguration. Was there any particular reason why people had to stand outside in 20-degree temperatures (10-below with the wind chill) for hours and hours to see Mr. Obama be sworn in? The crowds were so deep that many were freezing and three-quarters of a mile away from the stage watching details a JumboTron.
Why didn’t all 2 million of those people just stay and watch in the comfort of their living rooms?
Because we have to be with each other. That is fundamentally who we are, and that’s not going to change. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated our technology gets. We now have “telepresence” where you can be talking to someone halfway around the world, and it’s so real you could seemingly reach out and touch one another.
But it’s not real.
It’s close enough to save a lot of money and reduce a carbon footprint. Companies should absolutely utilize technology to avoid spending money on travel just to have a two-hour meeting only to get on a plane and fly all the way back. There is a host of compelling reasons for that. But people are still going to congregate on the National Mall in D.C., when there’s a defining moment in history.
Social Beings Thrive on Connection
We are social creatures, and we absolutely thrive on connection. So, to think for a minute that the trade show is going to go away … because it’s being supplanted by what? By blogs?
Virtual parties are not replacing dinner parties. We still want the contact.
Yes, industry studies show some real, tangible trade show shrinkage. But that’s more about people wising up and removing redundancy from the system.
The Numbers Are Real, But So Are the People
At CES, there was a reported 25 percent attrition rate this year, which doesn’t surprise me given the economy. But it was still a huge show with people still waiting in cab lines for an hour to get back to their hotels. My clients may have gone from 10 trade shows a year to four trade shows a year. But they were simply being more selective. They picked the four trade shows that made the most sense for them. But that reduction made intelligent marketing all the more important.
Yes, the big, bloated trade shows are disappearing. But we are fundamentally social beings and we like to transact business that way. It’s just about being more intelligent about how we do it. You’re not going to go to every single trade show that has even remotely anything to do with your business and invest in a 50×50 booth with as big a booth staff as possible. That’s going to break you.
It becomes about making cuts with a scalpel instead of a hatchet: Pick the right trade shows. Populate the booth with the right people. Do the right kind of pre-show marketing and the right kind of presentation to guarantee that ROI will be huge. Just be smart about your investment because trade shows are not going anywhere. We’re never going to stop wanting to meet each other.
My philosophy on this matter and my business are inextricably linked. I don’t believe for a minute that this industry is over. If I did, I’d be jumping ship and finding something else. There are plenty of other things that I could do.
We’re always going to want to connect—no matter how sophisticated we get. I really believe that. I’ve been in the trade show business for 25 years. I’ve seen it go through this incredible cycle—the ebb and flow—but when it comes down to it, people want to see one another.
A colleague reminded me recently that there are very few opportunities to get so many potential customers in one place at one time the way you do at a trade show. That person said: “I don’t care what people say about trade shows being less popular than they were. There is still no better way to do this. The right people are at the trade show. You’re not going to get that kind of situation anywhere else.
“What you have to do then is make sure there’s a compelling reason for them to come and visit you. It’s about something going on in the booth. Sure, it’s about having a good story and a good product, but it’s also about getting people to want to visit.”
I couldn’t have said it any better myself.
Do you have an industry-related question you’d like answered on “Hey Newman”? Send him an e-mail and get your inquiry answered on the blog.
Tags: connection, industry studies, social beings, trade show opportunities, trade show trends
Posted in Trade show news & trends | No Comments »
