Comments from K2 Global Communications

 It’s not just a matter of sending your sales team.

You’ve determined your trade show marketing goals, partnered with an experienced PR team, contracted with an exhibit designer, set up your logistics, and picked your giveaways.

Now, it's time for one of the most crucial, yet overlooked, trade show prep tasks: training staff to work your booth. You need sufficient booth staff who can handle crowds, restock giveaways, walk around, attend meetings, and talk to media and customers.

You need people who are knowledgeable, efficient, motivated, and at ease outside their comfort zone, all while working seamlessly as a team.

We've been supporting clients at trade shows since DRUPA in 2004 and our first RSA in 2008 and MWC in 2009. That’s all after my many years as a trade show exhibition manager.

Here's how K2 can provide you with the critical assistance you need for a successful trade show:

• Trade show evaluation: Some industries have more than 20 conferences from which to choose. We can help you decide which events will give you the most ROI, from the major show that you need to "be seen" at to the smaller events that directly reach your targeted audiences. 

• Speaking opportunity application process: We work with your team to brainstorm and write a compelling application that will get you in front of the conference decision-makers.

Don’t underestimate the power of the free offer

Okay. Before you sniff at that premise and protest how downscale that sounds compared to other “more serious” strategies for increasing traffic to your trade show booth, hear me out.

Of course, you should

• Do pre-show outreach to and make appointments with both regular contacts and registered show attendees.

• Bond with clients and future customers by hosting events or speaking on a panel.

• Create a warm, inviting environment in your booth where visitors can find calm and relaxation amidst trade show chaos manned by a well-trained staff who can expertly and unobtrusively engage visitors to find out if they’re potential customers.

• Use eye-catching and benefit-oriented signage to attract qualified prospects.
  
  But see, there’s just something about the word free that gets people to come in. As you know, when people see their colleagues congregating, they’re bound to wonder what the buzz is all about and follow suit. Here are some ideas for free stuff, and not necessarily useless knickknacks, that can create buzz and drive more traffic to your booth:
  
  Free gift just for stopping by:  This could give show visitors a solid reason for showing up, absent a new product or new product feature from your company. The right gift can promote your product, engage prospects, and create better recall. It could be a price discount, a free book, or other special gift that will attract someone in your target audience. Forget random items. Attract people to your booth via giveaways that will deliver quality leads.
  
  Free sample: What better selling tool than to give customers a taste of your product or service? Moreover, people love to hang around booths with free samples. Selling a technology or service? Give booth visitors one month’s free use of the tool in exchange for customer information. Selling a consumer product? Sample-size freebies are always a hit. In the hospitality business? A 10-minute neck massage right there and then! You get the picture…
  
  Free workspace: For those with big exhibit spaces only. Trade show guests will always need (very) short-term office spaces to catch up with work or phone calls or to simply take a break. Offer them desk space, some comfy chairs, and outlets and they’ll really appreciate it.
  
  Free WiFi: Visitors will flock to your booth if they know they can get wireless access. Not all trade show venues offer free WiFi; providing prospects with the password in exchange for their contact info is a win-win bargain. Bonus points to exhibitors who can tie the freebie to their solution.
  
  Free charging station: An entire day spent at a trade show means that attendees will likely need to charge their phones. Provide walking around-chargers or extra outlets in your booth and a place to put the devices on as they recharge, and you’ll be drawing visitors like flies. You’ll also earn their thanks and, who knows, you may even get inquiries about your solutions.
  
  Free food:  Who can turn down free coffee, juice, donuts, or cookies? It’s a great way to stave off hunger between booth visits when lunch or dinner is hours away. Moreover, recipients of these free goodies would likely politely listen to a short product pitch in exchange and maybe even ask a question or two. The important thing is, you got them into your booth and gave them a chance to look around and survey your offerings. Don't put the food on the front tables so they can furtively "grab and run." Put the food in the middle of the booth so they are serious about walking in.

Getting ready for a trade show can be overwhelming, even for those of us who are regular exhibitors. Early in my career, I was at a show every fifth week, which made life quite busy. To make it simple for all of us, here's a quick and easy calendar of activities you need to keep in mind.

One year in advance
Most importantly, make sure the budget will be there. If you don't know if you'll actually attend, at least make sure you register for the call for papers or apply to speak. That way, you'll be able to make your mark without having to pay thousands for a booth.

If you are attending, sign your contracts and secure your booth space before all the good spots are taken. The back corner isn't necessarily a bad place if it's near the bathrooms and the food court since it’s all about foot traffic.

Based on the size of the show, consider booking your hotel space now. Check into the cancellation policy. If it's flexible, you may want to book more than you think you'll need just in case your team or business has grown by the time the show rolls around.

Once upon a time, I covered trade shows as a market analyst for a major consumer publication.  Shortly thereafter I flipped to the other side of the desk and ended up with a press conference on one side of the Consumer Electronics Show and a photo shoot clear across the exhibition hall.  Let’s just say that roller skates were very much on my mind by the time I finished my dash back and forth across the crowded exhibit halls.

I empathize with journalists who have been given the immense task of covering trade shows, scouting for new trends, and trying to maintain relationships with industry leaders. That is why when I have a client exhibiting, I try to be a resource to media covering the show by helping them identify my clients’ product introductions long before the show, setting up interviews or, better still, pre-show interviews to save journalist’s precious time and not contribute to their jet-lagged exhaustion.

Here are some pointers for being a resource to media at your next trade show:

Whether your story is truly newsworthy and worthy of press coverage isn’t just your call.

The past decade has seen a clear trend toward attenuated press releases. Gone are the days of public relations people writing long screeds, with endless quotes and reams of data. This was partially an outgrowth of the use of email, social media, and chat as the preferred forms of communication between the public relations community and the press (which, for our purposes, includes bloggers and analysts). Furthermore, as fewer and fewer journalists are covering ever-increasing news volumes, their email boxes, texts chains, and chat messages are exploding. 

Press releases, though, are still important, perhaps even more important than ever; as AI is perpetually hungry, and your press releases can feed the beast. Tailoring press releases to make AI happy has added in some new requirements.  

This basically comes down to an exercise in empathy.

Put yourselves in a journalist’s place. Your email box is flooded. You’ve got the pressures of staying abreast of key players in your markets while having to absorb the importance of new products and companies.

Most importantly, you’ve got deadlines.

These days, you can DIY a lot of things, but PR isn’t necessarily one of them.

You want to get your message out there and generate buzz around your brand or product, but you DON’T want to deal with the costs associated with hiring a PR professional. These days when social media and AI are king, you figure you might as well do it yourself. After all, it just seems faster, cheaper, and more effective to put out the word via LinkedIn. 

So, you are getting ready to hire your PR team. (We're hoping it's us, of course.) No matter what, here are some tips that will help maximize the relationship.