Bradley H. Smith >

Don't assume the power cable to the LCD projector is in the bag.

< sigh > 

My unsophisticated and uncomplicated guide to when to use GIF vs. JPG images in web communications.

Use GIF images for graphics, JPG for photos. That's it..

 

Graphics include illustrations, most icons and screen shots, etc. 

Photos: including this shot of the cup of coffee grounds I got while driving. A better photo would be of me trying to wipe grounds OFF my tongue with copier paper... at 65mph. 

Be mindful of #1 intangible of B2B tradeshows, (It is not leads.)

It’s is reaffirmation of your current clients’ buying decision - the intangible impression your company makes AS THEY PASS BY. Smart people want to work with smart companies. 

 

Clients may not have a reason or time to stop to talk, but your brand needs to...

Smartphones are really your biggest competitor at tradeshows.

Rather than going into the exhibit hall, most business people hop onto their phones when the conference educational sessions break. If you're waiting for people to stroll down the aisle "shopping," you will be very, very disappointed. 

So… don't blame the show organization if exhibit traffic is slow - their role is to get attendees to conference... not to your booth. That's your marketing department's role. What have they done PRE-SHOW to entice prospects? That is essential.

 

Give attendees a BUSINESS reason to visit you. 

 

I have an easy to manage tradeshow booth staffing system: 1.) when the attendees are on the floor... 2.) so are you.

Most industry niche tradeshows are "all or nothing" traffic events - meaning all the attendees (clients and prospects) are in the sessions at the same time. The exhibit hall is dead. That is the time for your sales people to make and take calls - out of the booth.

When the sessions are in recess - and traffic is directed to the exhibit hall - ALL HANDS ON DECK. Period. 

Sending people to a tradeshow is expensive. To that, if you have to create a complex "booth staffing schedule” you have brought too many people to the event.

 

Sorry sales, but when you are sitting you are not approachable. No chairs. 

 

Fishbowls are for fish. Not for business cards in your tradeshow booth.

Fishbowl business card drops only produce non-leads and wasted time.

If a tradeshow attendee is not interested enough in your company or solutions to have a conversation with you, don't reward them with an opportunity to win a prize just for "walking by." They have done NOTHING to deserve it.

Most conference hosts supply the names anyhow. 

 

Rules can set your marketing creative free even if you are forced to stay within the box…or the pocket.

The RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) is one of the world’s largest conferences – in excess of 60,000 attendees. The largest brands (GE, Siemens Phillips) exhibit there, each spending over a million dollars.

To prevent the exhibit hall from becoming an obscene brothel of tchotchkes, exhibitors are only allowed to hand out 8.5” x 11" brochures or “promotional items that can fit in a shirt pocket.”

How does a small digital medical x-ray brand launch a new product, generate visibility and demonstrate their company’s marketing savvy ALL within a shirt pocket?

 

This successful campaign (including direct mail, dealer sales training, etc.) went “analog viral…” AKA: hundreds of my "X-ray glasses" made their way to bars, dance floors and nightclubs throughout Chicago. 

Combine and conquer! (ask smaller brands to join forces for a larger trade show outreach)

Conference attendees are BOMBARDED with pre-show messages. Team up with other brands to create a combined, larger promotional presence and less overall junk mail distractions for recipients.

 

Not only did I get the association itself to contribute THEIR brand, the partners each donated two iPads each. VEEEEEERY simple to execute. No cash changed hands. This card was hardcopy mailed twice and placed in the conference bag (with the actual button).

A "decisive no" is as important as a "yes."

When speaking with sales, marketers and business partners... allowing them to move on to real opportunities is far more professional than giving them false hope (or inflated pipeline expectations). It save EVERYONE time.

My shpeal to dinner-time telemarketers is ALWAYS "No thank you but good luck with your calls." I am VERY polite, but I do interrupt them during their first sentence and hang up on them. 

 

 

Make a simple "Trade Show" tool box. Bring it to every show, regardless of show scale.

It does not need to be large. 

1. Black duct (gaffers) tape
2. Double-sided carpet-tape (you can sometimes “borrow”  this from the folks laying the carpet when they go to lunch)
3. Velcro strips
4. Utility knilfe with plenty of blades (give a blade to other exhibitors when they ask to borrow your knife. And they will.)
5. Band-Aids
6. Advil and Tylenol ( for hangovers)
7. Two rolls of clear packing tape
8. A pack of cheap pens
9. Two or three thick Sharpies
10. Scissors
11. A tape measure
12. Cable/cord wraps or twisties
13. And badges as I posted here