Tips for Being a Vendor at SES San Jose
by SEO Expert on 07/14/09 at 4:57 pm
Skyline Exhibits recently shared these great tips via email. Considering many of us will be at Search Engine Strategies (San Jose or elsewhere) this year, I thought I’d share.
What do you need to succeed at trade shows? If you can check these 16 points off your list, you’re well on your way:
- Align your trade show goals with your overall marketing and company goals.
- Create goals that are specific, measurable, and timely.
- Pay early to avoid rush charges and (surprisingly high) late fees.
- Booth space rental is about one-third your budget, for the rest invest more in areas that give you the best R.O.I.
- Pick shows with an audience that best matches your target market, i.e.: SES, SMX, AFS, and ad-tech.
- Go back to the highest R.O.I. shows from previous years.
- Design your exhibit to boldly and clearly communicate who you are, what you sell, and why your prospects should buy from you.
- Design your exhibit to support your booth staffers as a workspace…and work to keep your ongoing expenses down.
- Reach out to attendees before the show, via phone, email, mail, ads, and the web.
- Offer attendees something of value (information, presentations, demonstration, show specials, giveaways) in exchange for a visit.
- Select motivated, friendly, knowledgeable booth staffers.
- Train your staffers to handle the steps to shorter trade show interactions: engage, present, qualify, and close.
- Capture at-show, on paper or electronically, the prospect info your sales team needs after the show — and then give it to them after the show.
- Before the show even starts, prepare a person, materials, and a database to fulfill your leads…and an all-out effort ready to follow up leads after the show.
- Plan ahead to give yourself more time to adapt to problems, especially for international shows.
- Take a binder with all your contracts and contacts with you to the show, including graphic art files on a thumb drive if your display gets lost.
I found more trade show tips on their website: SkylineTradeShowTips.com. If you’re planning on having a presence at Search Engine Strategies, SMX East or any other trade show this year, definitely make yourself a checklist from these tips.
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