The three phases I mentioned previously are the pre-show phase, show-time phase and post-show phase. I’ll touch on what each of these phases entails, and why they are all important.

Pre-Show

The time before the show is about more than sorting the show details, it is prime time to market to show attendees. Some of the pre-show activities that can help lead to success are as follows:

-Develop an email campaign to highlight a show-time promotion.

-Develop a targeted direct mail campaign to engage top clients and prospects.

-Setup meetings and appointments with clients and prospects that will be in attendance.

-For the most important show(s), create a company sponsored event for clients and prospects.

-Develop specific, measurable goals.

The most important part of a trade show is the face time with clients and top prospects. Get them excited about your company and seeing you, prior to the show.

Show-Time

A significant amount of work has been put in to get to this point. Here are a few things that could be beneficial at the show site:

-Discussing goals with booth staff.

-If lead generation is a goal, having a lead retrieval device to capture them.

-Having a theme consistent with your brand, messaging and specific show goals.

-Engaging attendees with relevant promotion.

There are two keys at show-time; creating a positive experience for attendees and making sure each goal is being measured. The first will give you a sense of success at show-time, the second will prove it.

Post-Show

Post-show is all about measurement. What you do with the information you have will determine whether this show was worth it to attend.

-Have a system in place to follow up on leads.

-Have a system in place to measure sales generated from the show.

-Create a survey to measure the memorability of your brand based on trade show experience.

-Generate a thorough, quantitative report of each specific trade show to report to management or keep on file.

I have previously written about trade shows taking time and money. The post-show metrics, evaluations and analysis will determine whether a show deserves either next time around.

These three phases work together, and all are necessary. If you haven’t marketed pre-show, you shouldn’t expect that your target audience will flock to your booth. If the right attendees are flocking to your booth, and there is no show-time measurement or post-show follow up, it could still be a challenge to justify your participation at the show. Make the most of your company’s money and most importantly YOUR time, by working the three phase approach.

The Sessions

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m working towards my CTSM (Certified Trade Show Marketer) certification. So took six courses that were required for this certification while I was at the show. The biggest overall takeaway, which is no surprise, is that measurement and tracking is HUGE for this industry. Read some of the course titles that I took this year (click for more detail):

-Using Target Audience Profiles to Create Memorable Events that Drive Results

-Using Surveys to Measure Your Performance in Trade Shows and Events

-Basic Project Management and Reporting Skills

-The Nuts and Bolts of Budgeting for Results

-Selecting the Right Shows: The Critical Decision

With the large amount of resources companies are dedicating to trade shows, return on investment and return on objectives need to be justified. And though everyone working on these shows feels the pressure to perform, not many take the time to report the outcome of their efforts, good or bad. These courses are great for showing what and how to measure. They also will provide templates to help you get started if you don’t already have your own system. One thing I’ve noticed through observation, is that it does not matter whether the company you work for generates billions of dollars or it is a low revenue start up, every dollar counts and is counted. Those who measure, track and support thoroughly and accurately will shine.

I’m happy to share what I’ve learned or point you in the direction of the experts if you’d like. Of course, the best thing is to start taking these courses (both live and online are offered).

The Trade Show

I noticed a few overlying trends from walking the show this year:

SEG is everywhere – SEG (Silicon-Edge Graphics) are being utilized by just about every exhibit hardware manufacturer. Now pole-pockets and Velcro are being substituted for a strip of silicon stitched around the perimeter of fabric graphics. This silicon edge is pushed into aluminum framing to create a perfectly tensioned fabric graphic. To learn more about SEG and how to use it, please view this PDF What_Is_SEG.

Lighting is key – LED lights offer clean bright light from small bulbs. This has gotten exhibit manufacturers coming out with many back-lit exhibits, as it is simpler to hide the lights in the extrusion and still get a good throw. When executed properly it does make graphics stand out and exhibits overall more attractive to show attendees.

In addition to back-lighting I also saw traditional down-lighting, up-lighting, side-lighting and color changing lights.

Technology is advancing lead retrieval – The iPad has become commonplace now in exhibits. With that, comes many cool ways to incorporate the iPad within an exhibit, and now, new software to help utilize them at shows. There were a number of suppliers showing how to use an iPad to take badge scanning a step further. Things like, immediately uploading the data into a cloud server, sending an email with relevant attachments and taking notes on that attendee to be able to follow up.

The show and sessions were very informative and I would recommend attending next year if your career has you involved in trade show or event management. If you know you will not be able to attend, talk to your exhibit house. I know that our company utilizes this show to be able to bring back information to our clients on leading edge products, and to pass along the beneficial knowledge we gain from the sessions.

For instance, I  typically start my day by hopping on my Galaxy Nexus (get one) and checking email. Then I move to the Pulse app to read news from a variety of sources that I’ve chosen. One source that always intrigues me personally is Mashable, because it keeps me up to date on current technology and how it is being used in business today. By 6AM, I’ve downloaded all kinds of information into my brain and gotten up to speed for the day ahead.

This highly technological society has certainly had an influence on businesses and their marketing as well. Our company has seen an increase in demand for iPad and tablet ready exhibits/displays. This coming after everyone wanted to integrate LCD screens over the past couple of years. Using technology offers companies an easy way to engage and relate with their audience.

Take a trade show exhibit as an example. A company will spend weeks, and sometimes much more, building an interactive campaign to engage their clientele using technology such as interactive websites, social media and email campaigns leading up to their trade show or trade shows. At the trade show, technology is used to broadcast live, via streaming video and social media updates; helping those who cannot attend, or are not at the booth at that specific moment. In the booth, there are monitors with videos, product demos and/or messaging. There are also touch screen tablets to engage the attendee. Sometimes these tablets also serve as a guestbook or lead retrieval system. Booth attendees are using technology too, snapping pictures, making videos and tweeting what they like and dislike.

My clients have been coming to me asking for ideas on how they could add technology, and sharing with me how they are already using it. We’re printing graphics for our clients more and more with social media icons on them. Technology has become an integral part of modern marketing. It continues to be exciting for me to keep up with and be a part of.

In 2012 the question is not how are you going to utilize technology in your company’s marketing, but how have you been using it and what are you going to do to build upon that usage. We’d love to know what cool things your company is doing with technology; so tweet us or let us know on Facebook.