Traditional marketing has taken quite a hit these days because of the rise of digital marketing. Traditional marketing mainstays like television, radio and billboards have been devalued considerably because of the changes in consumer behavior and attitudes. Meanwhile online marketing strategies including SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing continue to grow in usage and significance. There are however some traditional marketing areas that continue to produce high quality results. One great example is trade shows that remain some of the best marketing opportunities available to companies.
For companies that are in the right industries trade are potent. They offer a range of benefits for companies and allow them to present themselves to an audience that in some cases have paid to meet with them and check out their products and services. If your company attends or is considering attending a trade show, here are some of the best ways to get the most benefits from them.
Buy a Custom Trade Show Booth
The best thing you can do for your company is to invest in a custom trade show display. This is a substantial cost for your company, but the right trade show booths can mean lots of business for your company. You should invest the time and energy to create a display that fully displays your company’s look, feel and intentions and makes everyone aware of your uniqueness and standing. If you have new products or services to display, your trade show display is the perfect environment and you can also use it to show you can stand out from your competitors who will likely also be at the trade show. Since these shows happen only once or twice each year, and the vast majority of the customers and vendors will be there, use this opportunity to really go all out and shine. Best of all, you can break down your display and use it repeatedly.
Make a Plan and Be Prepared
You should do a detailed plan for the trade show beginning with the resources you need allocated for the event. Think through the products and services you want to introduce or display and make sure that they are supported by a beautiful trade show booth and a team that can provide detailed information about them to potential customers. You might find that you need to purchase additional marketing tools in advance like flyers and brochures so give yourself enough time to order these things. You might also need to do some training of your staff to make sure everyone is on message. Do a few run-throughs to make sure that everything is tight and you will have the best performance from your team.
Coordinate Important Company Departments
You should coordinate all of the necessary departments in your company to work together to create a wonderful trade show event. You will need the marketing department to take the lead but they must work closely with sales and any parts of your company that handle distribution. Take meetings and discuss clear objectives and how those objectives are to be met. Have your customers and potential customers contacted through the internet about engaging with you at the trade show so you can plan out your presentation and what you need to bring to be most effective. Coordinating with you internal teams will position you to do the most effective job at the trade show.
Remember that for many this will be the first time they interact with your company. Make sure that everyone in your organization is on their best behavior and your display looks fantastic.