Effective Promotion
• First, FOCUS all promotion efforts on your target market and your show objectives. Don’t fall into the trap of just getting a full list of registrants and sending blanket invitations. And don’t do something at the show that will attract everybody. You don’t want everybody in your booth, you want the right people in your booth.
• Be CREATIVE. You can be innovative without spending a lot of money. Look for ways to make it fun, different, and exciting.
• Try very hard to PERSONALIZE each mailing. Avoid using mailing labels and bulk mail stamps. Even if you get labels from the show management, take the time to retype the names on the envelopes. It makes a huge difference in whether or not your target even opens and reads it.
• It’s always better to plan for FREQUENT preshow contacts, rather than depend on a one-shot promotion. If a prospect receives a personal letter, a fax, and a postcard over a period of 3 or 4 weeks before the show, they’re much more likely to remember you and stop by.
• Give them a compelling REASON to visit you. Do you have a show special they can take advantage of? Do you have a new promotional product line or service? Make sure you say that in your promotions. The top complaint from attendees regarding promotions is the fact very few actually give a good reason to visit.
• And make darn sure you send any preshow promotions out EARLY enough. It is truly distressing to hear over and over again from attendees about this. It’s far too common for an attendee to return from a trade show and find several invitations waiting in the pile of mail that arrived while they were AT THE SHOW! Send everything to ARRIVE at least ten days in advance. What a waste of promotional dollars when a preshow communication doesn’t get there before the show.
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