The Dr. Seuss Approach to Trade Show Success! (Part 1)

This article was written by Kat Murphy, Channel Marketing Program Manager at eCoast.

The Great American writer, Maya Angelou, once said, “People may forget what you said, they may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”; and Dr. Seuss once said “I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I am”, and yet both quotes are likely to illicit a provocative response. The first for its ability to cause pause and consideration, the second for its silly, nonsensical, joyful simplicity. Both are likely to leave you “feeling” something – and neither did anything more than simply exist for you to take in and make your own. Knowing you never get a second chance to make a good first impression takes a back seat to knowing you are remembered most strongly for the feelings that impression left on the recipient (like when your teenage daughter brings home her first upperclassman boyfriend and you greet him at the door with your chainsaw and proceed to start it up, just for good measure). In the world of business events – this is perhaps the most critical step to success.

In the case of business impressions, there are many opportunities to make strong and effective ones (minus the chainsaw), from the customer service you provide, to the sales appointments you go on, and everything in between. One of the places where you have the opportunity to make a very strong first impression is at a trade show.

In today’s recovering economy you may question whether or not now is the right time to spend on a trade show (which is a bit like determining whether it’s also the “right” time to buy a car, a house, your cryogenics chamber or a ticket on the space shuttle trips planned to colonize the moon); and while shows like this can be an extremely effective promotional and sales tool for your business, they can also be a waste of valuable resources if you don’t approach them in the right way. This is especially true for smaller business and Value Added Resellers who are facing the obstacle of making themselves stand out against larger companies and a myriad of VAR’s potentially offering the same manufacturers products and/or services.

None of us want to flush money and time down the drain, (unless of course you are a plumber, and then you are probably an expert at it); yet so many companies do exactly that by going into a trade show unprepared assuming that just “being there” is enough. On the contrary, the time you take to prepare, the look and feel of your booth, as well as any accompanying presentations, the professionalism of your staff, and the follow up after the show will have a dramatic effect on the impression you leave, and garner you the best possible return on your investment.

Here are some tips to get the most out of your trade show investment:

A. Go for the “WOW”factor!

Clean, neat, organized displays are certainly important, but what will get you noticed is doing something above and beyond the ordinary. Whether attending a small event with 50 exhibitors or a massive national show with hundreds of businesses, you need to find creative ways to catch attention regardless of the location and size of your space. This could be anything and everything you can imagine! In the trade show world, even with a limited budget, the sky is the limit when it comes to using your imagination to inspire your booth staff, excite prospective customers and garner interest from peers in your industry.

Remember at a trade show or other event, what you are selling is not really products and services, so much as it is YOU. What do you want to say about WHO your company is, WHAT you stand for, HOW you stand up in the market? A creative approach to selling yourself, be it with a colorful display, a unique giveaway, an entertaining live presentation (perhaps a business related parody of a recent blockbuster movie, a hit band, a reality show or some other “now” genre ); costumed characters (yes, even the quintessential, scantily clad “booth babe” still brings ‘em in) or a combination of all of the above is guaranteed to drive traffic to your booth – which then begs the question, “now what”?

It’s time to follow up with a POW! Stay tuned for next week’s article: The Dr. Seuss Approach to Trade Show Success Part 2 and discover how to follow up your WOW with two more essential steps to trade show success.

Tagged as: marketing