7 Ways to Win the Trade Show Game

7 Waysto Win theTrade Show GameTips to Score Points, Win Customers, and Be Awesome

Define your strategy for getting to the next level

Earn points by playing to win

Understand your arsenal and bring the right equipment

Know the rules

The game begins when you start playing

The game doesn’t stop when the whistle blows

Refine your strategy to advance to the next level

Trade shows won’t help you achieve all your marketing and business objectives. But they’re an important milestone to getting there. A win on the trade show floor can reverberate throughout all your marketing efforts.

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Here are seven tips to help your brand score points, win customers and be awesome:

WHAT’S INSIDE

Trish CostelloCreative Director & Strategist

Establish objectives for the show that ladder up to your big marketing and business objectives. Decide how many points you need to earn to win.

What do I mean by points? Points are significant markers that show you’re achieving your objectives: New or renewed relationships, trials, demos conducted, qualified leads, business deals, press, word-of-mouth… things that move the needle for your brand.

WARNING: Don’t count fluff points; they don’t matter, and actually detract from a winning strategy. Case in point: High attendance and millions of leads don’t matter if none of those people are your actual buyers or targets.

/37 Ways to Win the Trade Show Game

Define Your Strategy for Getting tothe Next Level

#1


Earn Pointsby Playingto Win

The best brands realize that trade shows are powerful experiences where key stakeholder audiences come face-to-face with your brand. To turn that stakeholder into a fan, a customer, an advocate, a buyer, your presence should be a true brand experience—one that’s not just authentic to who you are, but awesome.

What counts as “awesome”? Does that even mean anything? Admittedly, it can be an over-used term (just listen in on any conversation with anyone in the US under the age of 70). In daily life, it means the things that bring surprise or delight—that stand out from all the sameness, that bring a smile to our faces. It’s no different in the tradeshow world. Aim for surprise and delight. Stand out. Be brave, and take creative risks (as long as they’re relevant to your brand and audience).

#2

To craft that winning experience, bring only the best tools that will help you earn points and help you achieve your show-specific-objectives.

These include:

• News: something fresh and exciting to share with the audience. It can be about the brand, a new product, a new campaign. Or it can be a fresh POV on the industry. Whatever it is, make sure it’s new, and make sure it’s compelling.

• Staff: in our increasingly digital world, people still make all the difference. Don’t bring the regional sales staff because it’s cheaper. Bring your stars, your best staff, because you’ll realize a better return on investing in their presence.


Understand YourArsenal and Bringthe Right Equipment

#3


• Content: your messages, your point-of-view, your talking points, your demos, your presentations… All should be updated (duh), crisp, clear, and consistent.

• Property and space: sometimes you can’t control exactly where you end up… but you can control how you show up. Create an environment that stimulates connections and supports the brand messages.

• Channels: your people and your booth are not the only elements you can utilize to create your experience. Stakeholders, both present and not in attendance, can be engaged online through press, email, blog posts and brand-fueled updates. You worked hard to build compelling content for the exhibit space—leverage it to engage audiences elsewhere.

Understand Your Arsenaland Bring the Right Equipment(continued)


#4Know the Rules

Set yourself up for success by understanding what you can and can’t do before you start designing your experience. Even the most veteran exhibitors can get dinged by a height restriction or fire code.

But beyond physical regulations, understand outreach guidelines, sponsorship options, load-in dates, and discount deadlines. Look out for opportunities that will give you an edge. Then, seize them.

Give yourself extra time by starting early and connecting with the right people before the show. Preempt success by stimulating interest before the show. Then, deliver that “awesome” experience at the show.


#5The GameBegins When You Start Playing

Do not think of trade shows as a moment in time. Mentioned above, these are milestones… relationship watersheds. The goodness comes from extending the trade show experience.

Curate the most compelling content from the show and publish it for all. Build deeper relationships with the audiences you met on site by continuing the conversation. Follow up with leads. Whatever you do, don’t stop just because the show’s over!


#6The GameDoesn’t StopWhen theWhistle Blows


#7 Refine your strategy to advance tothe next level

...once you’ve won this one.

Contact: Jim CavanaughE: [email protected]: +1 609 223 4388

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About Jack MortonWe’re an award-winning brand experience agency that turns brands into verbs and transforms customer experience into a competitive asset.

We make brilliant things happen for our clients. We do that by bringing together brave, creative, collaborative people who are true believers in the power of experience to transform brands and businesses.

We’re experts in brand experience strategy and activation. Our clients look to us to define and understand how their brands should behave in the marketplace, and create experiences that bring their brands to life. Our portfolio of award-winning work spans 75 years and clients like GM, Subway, Samsung and Verizon in areas like event marketing, trade shows, sponsorship, employee engagement, shopper and retail, sales enablement and training, digital and social.

Our team of 750 works together all around the world. We’re also part of one of the world’s leading marketing holding companies, Interpublic (NYSE: IPG), and experienced collaborators with a global network of best-in-class partners.

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7 Ways to Win the Trade Show Game