Whether you're marketing a product or service, trade shows can be one of the most effective ways to get your name or corporate brand out to your respective audience. From career fairs to industry associations, business promotions to product marketing, trade shows allow vendors to actively promote their wares or services to an attendance-based audience. However, effectively promoting your individual booth at these events can be the different between high return on investment and a waste of time and money.
Increasing Trade Show Traffic
From an effective pre-event marketing campaign to an unforgettable promotional product at your booth, there are a variety of ways you can increase the flow of attendee traffic to your booth at a trade show.
In terms of pre-event marketing, sending out free admission vouchers to a qualified list of prospective customers can be highly effective, according to TradeShowMarketing.com. What's more, when invited to these events, attendees typically bring additional visitors with them, thereby increasing the total draw.
Once attendees are inside the event, prize drawings are an effective means to gain visitors to individual booths. Not only does this require visitors to come up to your booth, but it also gives them corporate branding material (the prize) to walk away with. This is highly effective in creating internal buzz about your booth at the event, not only in terms of other attendees wondering where someone found such a cool piece of marketing collateral, but also because prize drawings attract a crowd in and of themselves.
Along the promotional products line, finding something that's new and deviates from the average "stress ball with corporate logo" booth giveaway can be highly effective. Innovative products include pedometers, flash drives, flashlights, handkerchiefs, karabiner clips and others--the main point being to find something other vendors will not be using as a giveaway.
Total traffic to your booth, however, doesn't only have to do with prize giveaways and promotional products. According to a recent Fast Company blog, sponsoring a game show or entertainment for attendees who've been looking at relatively very similar booths and promotional products from hundreds of vendors all day long can be a refreshing and captivating break from the norm. At the same time, this then becomes a captive audience for your product or service.
Tags: your booth, highly effective, promotional products, pre-event marketing, prize drawings, product service, these events