The primary goals of exhibiting at a trade show revolve around sales, branding (ie deferred sales) and partnership (ie sales channel, product development). Exhibitions also offer strong potential for press relations since you'll typically have news and reporters/bloggers will attend. Keep your goal firmly in mind when developing your trade show presence. It's amazing how many companies get distracted with the trade show hoopla and miss the objective of being there. Here are a few tips:
The booth experience - your booth is a physical manifestation of your brand and allows your target audience to experience it. What do you want to communicate? If it's innovation, then have some new experiences for people to enjoy. For instance, at CES 2010 Kodak had a huge table of Microsoft Surfaces containing information about their products with which the audience could interact. It didn't matter that this wasn't the best way to view the technical specifications of their latest digital camera, the experience simply oozed innovation and left the impression of a company trying to do things differently. It was engaging and gave the booth traffic an experience, not a show room.
The hook - why will people come onto your booth? This has nothing to do with size or the fact you've paid extra for a sign with your logo hanging from the ceiling. What will you give in exchange for people's attention? So this might be the chance to try an new eReader, play a 3D game, get their photo taken with a celebrity look-a-like. You need a hook and ideally it should tie into you key sales message. So yes, you'll get traffic with a pneumatic bikini-babe but they might not be your target audience nor remember your product. Try a bit harder to give people something they haven't seen before.
The giveaway - the hook can be a giveaway. This works well if part of your product range is relatively cheap and so easy for you to distribute eg iPhone cases. If you have a razor/razor blades proposition even better since you're seeding future sales, rather than just introducing the brand. In general though, most people don't want to carry crapola around a show floor, so pens, candy, stress balls etc aren't much of a draw.
The location - it matters where your booth is, probably more than its size. If your sector has an area on the show floor, you want to be with your peers. This is because relevant traffic will congregate there and be able to compare your range with competitors. If you are an emerging brand, think carefully before plunking yourself down next to the titans. It can make you look smaller if your product range is more limited, even though you invest in a huge booth. That said, emerging brand Sensio, invested in a large booth at CES to showcase its amazing 3D technology which brought the company right alongside large competitors with an arguably better product. However, if all you can afford is a small booth on the periphery of the smallest hall, then think about a different presence - perhaps a hotel suite or evening event might work harder.
The message - make it clear what you do. Don't assume people know your company or its range. Emerging brands especially need to be clear in the booth backdrop to say what the company is offering. This should be an elegant tag line, and not a 10-word technical product description. Many companies post complex product schematics on 'helpful' boards which can only be read up close and only make sense once explained by a booth staffer. Perhaps this would be a better handout, rather than taking valuable wall space. Get people onto your booth, then sell to them.
The staff - booth traffic peaks and troughs. You want to staff for the peaks, then in the slow time send out the extras to walk the show floor for partnering work. Too few staff and you'll let leads walk off the booth unapproached; too many and they'll talk to each other and look bored. It's off-putting for the audience to see booth staff just talking among themselves, sipping coffee and ignoring the audience. Equally, attracting people to the book by aggressively trying to sign them up to a competition can make the brand look desperate. Let the products and the booth do the work, and then close people as they come in.
The dress code - try to avoid the khaki pants/branded polo shirt for guys. Nothing says 'tech company sales person' more than that. For instance, Casio had long sleeved, extra long gray tops with large black belts for its female staff at CES which made them look more approachable, a bit more stylish and comfortable. They all looked the same, so it was obvious they worked at the company, but avoided the traditional tech uniform.
The sell - do ask for attendees' card information. If you have a good hook, it's a quid pro quo to get the card swipe in return. Informally from CES, I'd say less than 10% of the booths were proactive in swiping delegate cards, even though they had taken the time to talk through the products. Again, these are leads which are just walking off the booth. At the same time, your booth is not a store, so don't lay it out like one. We're not there to purchase your widget but to experience it, so we don't need every product on display, just the key ones you want us to remember.
The follow up - prepare this in advance of the show, so you can mail it out promptly. Include links to further information and try to push the recipients along the sales funnel. It's likely the leads will be unqualified so cater for people at each stage with a mix of educational and sales-oriented messages. For people ready to purchase, make sure you provide a link to your store/sales team.
The details - as a final point, make sure you get all the details right. This means being ready when the show floor opens (at CES about 5% were still putting their booth together), spelling the signage correctly (see right), having a food policy on booth (ie don't), looking for trip hazards, checking all the demos work regularly (we break stuff) etc.
Trade show attendance may have decreased over the last few years, but done correctly at the right venue, a strong presence can help achieve your goals and provide a focal point for your marketing program.
