Marketing Virgin

As budgets are cut, expect to see a decline in tradeshow attendance. Despite the fact that exhibit costs are up across the board, lead count will decline. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, attendance was down 23%. Naturally show management will say that the “right” people are attending - in other words, the motivated buyers. Make sure to be strategic about the events you choose to participate in this year.

Call it what you want…swag, tchotchkes, giveaways…it all means the same thing. Junk! Brian Boyko wrote a funny blog post about it on www.networkperformancedaily.com titled “Swagflation.” Click here to access the article.

We just completed our first annual customer Symposium in Germany last Friday. The event was a huge success and we’ll repeat our efforts next year. I learned a few tricks in the process…
1. When presenting to an international audience, speak at a 5th grade level and at about 70% of your usual speed.
2. If you distribute a survey that has a rating scale, keep the following in mind:
-United States: 1 is the worst, 10 is the best.
-Europe: 1 is the best, 10 is the worst.
3. Package your event as “educational”. Companies in Europe tend to put heavy emphasis on continuous improvement.
4. Travel budgets are tight - make sure you go to the highest concentration of customers, or choose a city that is easily accessible by air and rail.
5. Dinner often doesn’t begin until after 8PM. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re exhibiting at a show and you plan on hosting a party for your customers/prospects, make sure to read the show contract. Event management requires your party/breakfast/dinner to be outside of show hours, and it can’t conflict with show after-parties either. Doing so can result in serious fines. I heard about one tradeshow that stated vendors could not host any separate events within 20 miles of the convention center. Ouch!

Read the rest of this entry »

A co-worker (and friend) of mine, Cathryn, attended a luncheon presented by the Austin Technology Council titled “The Do’s and Don’ts of Tradeshow Marketing”. She wrote a quick summary so I decided to post it below…

·        Everyone recommended purchasing the attendee list.  These are people that you KNOW will be there and you can start building rapport and making contact.

·        Keep your eye on industry-related magazines and publications before tradeshows and consider sending an email blast to their readership list

·        Consider sponsoring an item or service that the event does not have in place that will set you apart from everyone else.  (EX:  some shows do not offer WiFi so consider bringing in this service and then using that to negotiate pricing of exhibit or something else in your favor)

·        The mindset of an event attendee is “Don’t sell me, teach me.”  Exhibitors should ensure booth staff focuses on this concept rather than just giving a blanket sales pitch. 

·        3 dominating questions that leads/prospects have that influences interest in company—and ultimately purchases. 

o   1)  What have you done in the past? 

o   2)   Is anyone willing to talk about you (a case study is good example)? 

o   3)   What are you doing in the future?  

·        Know your shows!  www.tsnn.com   (a resourceful tradeshow directory)

A few tips, from my experience…

1. Use an off-site AV rental company and make them bid for a job. Don’t accept the first offer, they have bargaining power.
2. Rent basic carpet. If you’re in a basic 10×10, you can afford to scrap the prestige carpet. The standard cut carpet will cost you 100%-150% less.
3. If you can’t afford giveaways for everyone, raffle off one good prize like a Wii or iPhone.
4. Place your literature on CD’s. For about $1, you can place all of your literature on one disc. Printed materials are expensive and 80% of it is left behind in hotel rooms.
5. If you must ship to the show, ship in advance to the warehouse, not to the convention center. The best possible option is to ship to your hotel room and carry your boxes onto the show floor.

Genius!

That’s all I have to say about the Nike Human Race 10k, taking place August 31st. Is has all the makings of a great program. Nike hand-selected 25 cities world-wide based on their geographical locations, landmarks and their unique race courses. In Austin, Texas, Nike is preparing runners for the race six weeks in advance. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, runners can meet with instructors and test out Nike products while they run three or five mile courses. I went with a group of friends and we had a great time. On August 31st, Lance Armstrong will be running in Austin for his foundation (the race benefits one of three charities), and Ben Harper will play a free show afterwards. Anyone who runs is encouraged to visit nikeplus.com to track their progress and network online with other runners.

Why this event is so great…
1. It’s built heavily on word-of-mouth marketing
2. The online community they are creating is a fantastic way to collect data on their top customers
3. Each person who runs in the race, or participates in the training has to give Nike their information - including home and email address information. What a great way to build a prospect list!
4. It benefits three great charities - Lance Armstrong Foundation, Ninemillion.org, and WWF.

                    
Right brain, Left brain; Boxers, Briefs; Playstation, Wii

I discovered a cool product from a local company while attending the InnoTech eMarketing Summit a while ago.
Mikons are little stickers that you can design yourself (www.mikons.com). They are meant to be used as a networking tool. You know the boring badges you’re given at every event, tradeshow, etc? Once you place these stickers, or Mikons, on your badge you instantly become unique.
We used Mikons at our Symposium in April and they were a hit.
Mark Smith, the founder, showed me their new beta site that makes creating these little masterpieces even easier. Check it out at www.mikonmixers.com.

NetQoS Symposium Mikons

(No, that is not my hairy hand.)

I wrote an article for theb2blead.com titled “Top 10 Ways to get Booth Traffic at a Tradeshow.” Check it out by clicking here.