Yesterday we finished up exhibiting at Pictage PartnerCon L.A. What a terrific experience. We were pulling double duty because in addition to exhibiting, we were filming new product commercials, tips, and a PartnerCon L.A. recap. It was a packed two days.
I want to share with you some trade show tips I’ve picked up in my years of marketing experience, and how I used these effectively at our PartnerCon table. Those of you who plan to showcase your own products and services at trade shows may find some of this useful.
- Planning is essential. I can’t express enough the importance of planning. From booth/table design, marketing materials, travel arrangements, etc. Create a master check list and use it.
- Timing and schedules. I strongly suggest creating a schedule and timeline. This may go out months before the actual show. If you’re having printed materials, build into your timeline lead time for design, printing, and shipping. If you wait too long, you risk having to pay exorbitant shipping charges to get your collateral to the show on time. Same for booking flights and hotels. The best rates are booked far in advance.
Location, Location, Location. The location of your booth or table will have a significant impact on the effectiveness. For PartnerCon, the tables were along the perimeter of a huge ballroom. We chose a location right at the the first corner of the room you come to right after entering the room. That means, as attendees walked down the aisle, one of the first things they saw was a large HD TV monitor. Also, we were right next to the world famous Foto Cabina picture booth, rented by Kevin Swan and gang from Kiss Me Photo Albums. This was a very popular location. As folks stood in waiting to have fun in the photo booth, they were entertained by our looping demo of photography videos.- Show Deals. Everybody loves a deal. Offer some kind of show special that is available for customers who book you or buy a product while there. We already had a great deal on our photography promos, but we also added free custom DVD design and production for anyone who booked at the show. A $400 savings. It works! Give ‘em a deal. (Note: now and then you’ll get a few people who call up the next day asking for the same deal. If they were at the show and you met them, give it to them. Don’t be stickler. The idea is to get people to act. However, if they call a week later, fuhgetaboutit.)
- Freebies. Everybody also loves free stuff. No matter how simple. Liana Lehman’s Banana’s Business Boot Camp for photographers were passing out yellow dog tags. The Kiss Me Photo Books gang passed out their “Kiss Me” caps. We passed out a very cool DVD that had a collection of the work we’ve done in the pro photographer community (email me if you’d like a copy. There’s a lot of fun and cool stuff on there). Whatever you can do, even if it’s just stickers, do it. If it’s something they can wear, even better.
I hope you’ll find this little tips helpful. Let us know in the comments if they did. For those of you we met at PartnerCon, thanks for coming by to say hi. Hope too see you again soon.
Photos by Loren Scott Photography.
