Offer Value, Not Gimmicks

Photo: © Depositphotos.com/PixelsAway

It’s a sad fact of our modern culture that many things with little to no value receive a high percentage of attention, particularly in the popular media.

But just because reality TV and do-nothing celebrities take over our national spotlight, that’s no reason to let gimmicks take over your exhibit marketing plan. Here are four areas of caution for exhibitors:

  1. Designing a display for shock value alone that makes no sense and doesn’t connect with your audience is a recipe for frustration. I’ve seen so many examples of this! For example, there was the giant brain spinning on a pole high above a booth … and no, this was not at a medical show! Attendees stood in the aisles puzzled, but not enticed to enter the booth. It’s far better to have a display that is authentic to your brand and makes people want to learn more about what you offer.[bctt tweet=”Designing a display for shock value that makes no sense & doesn’t connect w/ your audience is a recipe for frustration.” username=”ImageSpecialist”]
  2. Creating a booth attraction that draws huge crowds but doesn’t have anything to do with your message or brand, will leave you exhausted with few leads. So many times, I’ve seen this happen with some high-profile celebrity in the booth, signing autographs or doing photo opps, but that’s the only reason people are in the booth. There’s no conversation happening between attendees and booth staffers, and once someone gets what they came for (autograph), they’re gone. The staff goes home with little, if any, new business. Instead, create an attraction that reflects what you can do for attendees. I remember a fun activity at EXHIBITOR one year where Mayflower had a scale model of one of their trucks and let attendees try to fill it with all kinds of various-sized crates. This not only kept people in the booth for an extended time, but also allowed staffers plenty of opportunity to have conversations while they worked together to solve the puzzle.[bctt tweet=”Creating a booth attraction that draws huge crowds but doesn’t have anything to do w/ your msg or brand, will leave you exhausted with few leads.” username=”ImageSpecialist”]
  3. Giving away cheap tchotchkes creates exactly that impression – cheap and careless. Instead, give a memorable gift that makes sense for both your brand and your audience. But that doesn’t mean it has to be expensive to be considered valuable. Some of the most valuable items (and therefore most like to be kept) include tools that help your attendees with their daily life or job. That could be a pocket guide or slide chart that helps them calculate calories burned (for a health/medical show), or select the right motor oil (for automotive).[bctt tweet=”Giving away cheap tchotchkes at trade shows creates exactly that impression – cheap & careless! Instead give a memorable gift.” username=”ImageSpecialist”]
  4. Doing a drawing for some kind of expensive “wow” prize draws lots of freebie-seekers vs actual leads. I think often exhibitors believe they need something exciting to draw people in, but the truth is that giving away something from your own list of products or services (or something closely related) will actually gain far more qualified leads. And isn’t that what you’d prefer over hundreds of cards that will just be thrown out later because they’re not interested? (And who wants to be the one to do all those follow-up calls … I think not!)[bctt tweet=”Doing a drawing for some kind of expensive “wow” prize draws lots of freebie-seekers vs actual leads.” username=”ImageSpecialist”]

So before your next show, lose the gimmicks and discover ways to deliver greater value for attendees.

What are you doing to offer value? Please leave your comments below.

And because I want to add value for you, my reader, I’ve created a survey to find out more about your biggest challenge or frustration. So if you’re an exhibitor, here’s a link to your survey. And here’s the one for show organizers.

© 2017 Marlys K. Arnold  (from the September 2017 TradeShowTips Online. To receive tips like this in your inbox every month, please take a moment to fill out this request.)

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