How to Avoid Trade Show Marketing Mistakes

Tradeshow marketing has become increasingly popular over the last years. More and more marketers have realized the potential of organizing and participating in a trade show as a way to promote their business. However, it is also very common for exhibitors to implement the wrong strategies that ultimately do not bring the best trade show results. On the contrary, trade show marketing mistakes demonstrate a wrong approach to a trade event.

If you consider the next trade show as a make-or-break for your business and you need to attract the right customers to overpower your competitors and succeed in the competitive world of trade show marketing, there are some important factors that you need to consider.

Here are the most common trade show marketing mistakes you should avoid:

1. Lack of a clear marketing message

In today's highly competitive exhibiting market your goal is to deliver the expected results and achieve great success. To achieve that you need to craft a strategic marketing plan and a tradeshow marketing plan to gain a competitive edge and stand out in the crowd. Both strategic and tradeshow marketing plans include key elements that allow targeting the right customers and achieving increasing market share. More specifically, a tradeshow marketing plan produces measurable outcomes; explains how to target your tradeshow audience; provides budgeting guidance; provides tips on how to select your tradeshow venue and what type of exhibit you need; provides planning timelines to ensure a successfully organized tradeshow. Moreover, a strategic marketing plan allows you to turn your presence in the tradeshow into a unique opportunity to achieve market penetration or market expansion by introducing your products to existing or new markets.

Advertising is also fundamental in a tradeshow event. Creating a winning promotional plan that will cover your promotional efforts pre-show with advertising, at-show with personal sales and post-show with after-sales support is an extremely important factor in your effort to organize a successful tradeshow. Of course, a very important element in the promotional plan is deciding on your promotional budget. How much you should spend, where, when and on what are key questions that you should be able to answer before setting your booth on the tradeshow.

2. Lack of adequate promotional material

Participating in a tradeshow without having adequate information about your product to inform your target audience would be a major mistake. Before getting to your booth you should make sure that you have the entire promotional package with you. This would typically include: brochures; business cards where the customers can easily and accurately read what your business is about and who are you; price lists with information on sizes and dimensions; folders that include price lists and shipping details along with your business card; factsheets with pictures of your products and information on product benefits, quality, nutritional value (if any) etc. Some exhibitors include in their promotional material news releases about their business. If there is a recent development in your venture that customers should know about it, by all means include it in the promotional package.

3. Lack of knowledge about a tradeshow's ROI

If you are not experienced in attending tradeshows, you are less likely to know your tradeshow's return on investment (ROI). This means that you are more likely to invest in an expensive booth without taking into consideration what amount of money you expect in return of this investment. Moreover, you are less likely to be able to compare the success of a particular tradeshow compared to previous ones if you are not familiar with cost per lead calculations. However, all these financial details are highly important so that you can compare to other marketing strategies you have followed in the past and may have not worked toward the best outcome.

4. Lack of knowledge about competition

If you don't know your competitors, you are very likely to fail because by not knowing your market you cannot achieve the competitive edge you are looking for. On the contrary, if you know your competition, you can check on suppliers, see which products offer a competitive advantage and include them in your business plan. By offering diversity and professionalism you are more likely to attract more customers to your booth and make them ask for brochures and professional material instead of seeing them passing by your stand and move to the next exhibitor. By knowing your competitors you know what to offer and how to offer it and you can make sure that the message is being clearly conveyed to your target audience.

In conclusion, tradeshows can be a great sales and marketing tool. However, participating in a tradeshow without knowing why you are there and how to get your message into the minds of your target audience can be a total disaster for your business. To take advantage of tradeshow marketing and achieve great profits, you should make sure to find ground-breaking ways to differentiate your business from your competition.

Sources:

http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol134/exhibit.htm