2016 Volume 1, Number 1

In This Issue

How large an expense

are tradeshows?

Why do some

businesses succeed

with their tradeshow

efforts, and some

never seem to get

results?

Product Links

Tradeshow Displays

Hot Sales!

K&B Digital Best Buy

Connect with me!

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Phone: 309.697-5833

www.arts-ads.com

aremsik@gmail.com

This FREE report may save you THOUSANDS! With marketing budgets constantly being scrutinized, the importance of maximizing the

return on your trade show investment is more important than ever.

TRADE SHOW EXPENSE is the #2 advertising expense for many companies, so it

is vital to know how to get the biggest bang for your exhibiting buck.

As with any marketing program, the success of your trade show exhibit rests on how

well it is planned and carried out. Working without a plan is like driving without

directions or a map, and expecting to ‘arrive’ in the right place; conversely, if you have

the most accurate directions, you will never arrive unless you begin the journey….

According to a former President of the International Association of Exhibitions and

Events (IAEE) based in Dallas, “A major reason exhibitors fail is that they are

inadequately prepared.” He advises, “There is an absolute need to do pre-show, onsite,

and follow-up promotion”. If you haven’t done those things, or are not sure what they

are – don’t worry, you are not alone!

These components are not magic -- it’s what you do. Those who do it right, get good

results; those who don’t, get poor results. That’s not to say you can’t get lucky, but why

rely on luck when you can do it right?”

Tradeshowinstitute.com estimates the cost-per-square-foot of tradeshow exhibits at $22.32 per SF, and the TOTAL cost of a tradeshow exhibit to be 3 times the booth cost. The example they show, is a $3000 booth space, costing an estimated $9000 total. Why does it cost so much?

Trade show expenses may include: display design & purchase, graphics design, flooring,

AV & furniture; Services-Material Handling, Electrical, IP Access, Lead Retrieval, Cleaning

& Plants, Travel Expense & Personnel to staff the booth, and Giveaways.

These are items easily identified &budgeted; In most cases, the benefits of participating

in trade shows and the direct contact with potential customers far outweighs the cost.

The industry average to purchase individual portable trade show displays is $100-$150

per square foot for larger displays. For example, 10x10 displays would cost between

$20,000 and $30,000. Renting an exhibit costs about 35% of purchase cost.

Your event budget will vary, but according to EXHIBITOR Magazine, here’s how the

average trade show budget breaks down:

• Space = 33%

• Trade Show Booths & Graphics (construction/refurbishment) = 18%*

• Travel & Expenses = 18%

• Show Services (electricity, cleaning, drayage, I&D) = 12%

• Shipping = 9%

• Promotion = 8%

• Miscellaneous = 2%

If you don’t have a budget to begin with, you can estimate the budget-needed for your

event, by multiplying the cost of your space by three.

For example, the average floor space costs $22 per square foot. So, for a 10x10 floor

space rental expect to pay around $2200. The budget for that event would be $6,600.

(If you think that is expensive, the cost of a large 20’ x 20’ exhibit would be $26,400!

The figures above are estimates.

It should be noted, show cost estimates only figure the display cost per show, not the

total investment to purchase displays and graphics.

When you purchase a display, it is assumed you plan to use it multiple times to get the

most out of your investment; to determine the display cost per show, you’ll need to

estimate how many years you will use the display and how many shows you will attend

each year.

The average lifetime of a display is 5 years; the average lifetime of graphics is 1 year.

Needs vary depending on how many shows you plan to attend.

The more shows you go to, the more use you get from the display, but the sooner you

may need to purchase new trade show booths.

One must also allow for updating graphics when new products, services, campaigns or

personnel are to be advertised.

So much for the OBVIOUS costs of exhibiting at a trade

show; What about Hidden Costs?

The details associated with planning, executing, participating and following up from a

trade show add up quickly.

Don’t forget to consider these items:

• Set up and Tear Down. When exhibiting in an unfamiliar venue there may be

unexpected costs for labor. Many major exhibit halls across the United States require

displays to arrive well ahead of time, and charge for storing, moving, setup, tear-down,

and shipping your display. Some halls require use of their labor, and specific union crafts

to do certain jobs. While their laborer may assemble your display, you may have to pay

an electrician to hook up and plug in the lights. Be sure to check to avoid surprises!

• Shipping and storage: If your event is on a weekend, there may be additional shipping

costs involved. Planning ahead will save $$$.

• Sales Literature. Providing product information to trade show attendees is critical and

expected. The costs of development, printing & shipping literature sheets can add up

quickly. Technology now offers the ability to save expense by utilizing a flash drive, trade

show app or Interactive Technology which displays and emails info to prospects &

customers.

Getting information about your trade show leads is essential to effective follow-up for

greater sales results. Your booth representatives have the important responsibility of

collecting, recording and qualifying trade show leads from visitors who come by your

exhibit; your sales force also has the subsequent task of following up with these visitors

after the show. If either group isn’t clear on how to best proceed, valuable leads can fall

through the cracks.

To help ensure success, follow the steps below. These secrets have been gathered from

the results and experiences of dozens of trade shows, and combined with the exhibition

industry’s best practices and procedures; these steps will give your organization the

tools and tactics you need to make the most out of your trade show leads.

To your success!

Art Remsik B2B Marketing Consultant. Providing marketing, business development & public relations professionals with expert promotional advice since 2002. Phone: 309-697-5833

Fax: 309-222-8275

E-mail: aremsik@gmail.com

1. Establish Realistic & Quantifiable Goals

Make sure that the shows you choose have an appropriate audience and

number of attendees. Develop a show qualification formula that evaluates key

factors, such as number of attendees and number of exhibitors. At least two

months prior to the show, make sure to identify goals by determining what

measurable things you would like to accomplish like number of leads,

conversations, and defined projects each sales person will capture at the

show. This will determine how your overall show strategy will help you to

meet your goals.

2. Define Incredible

Only 1% of exhibitors understand their target audience and have a show plan

aimed to promote products and services that engage and attract their core

buyer. Your tradeshow presentation must be simple and define who you are,

what you do, and how you do it in a quick and easy way that invites visitors

to learn more about you. The key is to define the type of prospects you are

looking to attract, and then use a creative hook that engages them in a

business conversation.

3. Pre-show Promotions

With a hall often overflowing with fascinating products and services combined

with time constraints, people need an incentive to come and visit your booth.

The Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA) reports that 80% of attendees

preplan who they will visit at the show, but only 20% of exhibitors do any sort

of pre-show promotion.

92% of trade show visitors at national and/or regional shows have not been

contacted by an exhibitor.

Obtaining a list of prior year show attendees and sending a pre-show mailer

will increase the chance attendees will stop by your booth by 23%.

In addition, the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) reports

that including a promotional product with a pre-show mailing or an offer of a

promotional product increases the likelihood of an attendee stopping by a

tradeshow booth by 41%.

Whatever promotional vehicles you use, make sure that you give visitors a

reason to come and visit you.

4. Offer Valuable Business-Related Incentives

The purpose of a giveaway is to be remembered. You want people to

remember you after the show is over. Giveaways are a powerful way to show

your gratitude for visitors spending time at your booth. You want something

that will help distinguish you from the crowd, but remember: sometimes the

best giveaways cost the least, such as free reports or consultation services in

areas of your company’s expertise.

Typically, free reports, discounts on services, or incentives for product

purchasing will not create a buzz at your booth; however, when they’re tied to

a promotional product that creatively engages the customer into a

conversation; you are one step closer to visitor qualification.

The secret is that your tradeshow giveaway is for everyone that spends time

learning more about your business, but your business offer will only be acted

on by your true prospects.

5. Qualify Visitors to Your Trade Show Display

Your products and services are not for everyone, and that’s okay. You will find

visitors more interested in your giveaway then your company. That’s why it’s

critical to have a tactical and professional plan to attend to every kind of

visitor that stops to by your booth. Welcoming an attendee into your booth by

thanking them for visiting you is a great first step. This usually gets them to

identify themselves and state why they have stopped.

Remember that almost everyone is tuned into the radio station WIIFM (What’s

In It For Me), which will work to your advantage if you let it. If you can get

your prospect to do 80% of the talking, you will be tracking towards a

valuable business conversation.

While one of your objectives is to start business conversations, remember that

ideally you don’t want to spend more than three to four minutes with any

visitor at the risk of losing another opportunity.

Work with your sales team to know when to say, “I think we should exchange

cards and set-up an appointment to talk further about this.”

6. Sell Solutions Instead Of Products

With a hall overflowing with fascinating products and services combined with

time constraints, people need something new, exciting, or different.

First and foremost, their primary interest is in what’s new!

They are eager to learn about the latest technologies, new applications, or

anything that will help save them time and/or money. Even if you don’t have

a new product or service to introduce, think about a new angle from which to

promote your offerings.

Let’s face it: there are probably several competitors selling the same products

as you at the show.

If all you are doing is selling the same product in the same fashion, it’s going

to come down to price, and that’s not going to be a rewarding sales

experience for you or your industry!

7. Institute A Lead Tracking Process

There are many electronic lead scanning systems available today which will

allow you to scan attendees’ badges, which then provide you with attendee

contact information.

You can even add comments fields for catalog requests, special notes, or

designate a follow-up classification and an assigned sales person.

While these electronic systems are helpful, unfortunately, they are sometimes

only as valuable as the data input on the attendee badge. While I do not have

personal experience with these systems as an exhibitor, I am told that as

many as 30% or more of scanned badges may have incomplete or inaccurate

data transmitted.

I recommend backing up every electronic scan with a business card.

It may be helpful to bring a separate college ring binder with a stapler for all

real business conversations that require immediate action.

A combination of electronic scanners, business cards, and notebooks has

proven to be a very effective way to guarantee that you maximize the return

on every tradeshow lead received. While it will take a little effort to establish

this system, once it is in place, it will serve you every show, every time which

will save you a great deal of time, while enhancing efficiency.

8. Stream Line Your Post Show Follow-up

Astonishingly, 80% of all leads are not even followed up on by sales people!

The key to your trade show success is wrapped up in the lead management

process.

Plan for follow-up before the show. Show leads often take second place to

other activities that occur after being out of the office for several days.

The longer leads are left unattended, the colder and more mediocre they

become.

It is to your advantage to develop an organized, systematic approach to

follow-up.

One easy system is segregating your lead population into three categories:

hot, warm, and cold. Here’s an example:

Hot leads receive a phone call within one week.

Warm leads receive a personal email in one week and one follow-up

phone call within two weeks.

Cold leads get added to your email or catalog distribution list.

9. Sales Team Incentives

The longer you wait to call or contact a strong prospect who visited your

booth, the less likely he or she will be to buy.

Always make phone or written contact within 1 week of the trade show to

make the most of your window of opportunity.

Set timelines for follow-up, use a computerized database for tracking, and

make sales representatives accountable for leads given them.

Maximize results by running a sales contest; assign points based on post show

contacts returned in one week, appointments set in the second week,

presentations made in the third week, and every close within the first month.

10. Post Show Evaluation

Don’t underestimate the importance of a post-show evaluation.

This is where you test the reality of the quantifiable goals you set several

months ago and give some thoughts to what you might do differently next

year.

What was your return on investment, return on objective, or return on

relationship?

How many prospects did you attract?

How about average visitors per hour?

Did you find any new referrals, new opportunities for PR, speaking

engagements, learning activities, or networking events—the most effective

ways to command market-share?

Don’t forget to include show-related events that have a multiplying effect on

your ROI.

BONUS! Tip 11. Consult An Expert!

Trial and error in the tradeshow arena can be a costly experiment!

Consult a trusted advisor and someone who has tradeshow experience before

investing your marketing dollars.

A good first step is to sit down with a promotional products consultant,

marketing agency, and/or sales coach. These consultants should help you

define goals, make a time-line, and establish a baseline budget needed to

accomplish those goals.

To your success!

Art Remsik, B2B Marketing Consultant.

Providing marketing, business development & public relations

professionals with expert promotional advice since 2002.

Phone: 309-697-5833

E-mail: aremsik@gmail.com

Web: www.Arts-Ads.com

In promotional business 13+years Ranked in the Top 5% of K&B’s network of 2,500 dealers Instead of a Mission Statement, I give you my promise:

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