Big, Fat, Ugly, Sacred Cows of Trade Show Marketing #1

What is it with trade show participants? Why does someone who has exhibited at ONE trade show, or has designed a couple of ten-foot exhibits feel that he/she now is an EXPERT at trade show marketing?

Here's my beef. Marketing, in and of itself, is a complicated combination of art and science. It is really hard to do good, let alone great, marketing. Heck, some of the best minds in the business have a hard enough time just defining marketing and its role in customer creation and maintenance. Seth Godin posted this in his blog this week:

Notable

I got a note from a friend about a co-worker that brilliantly summed up the chasm facing marketers today:

I believe she is good at the standard but limited in considering the notable.

Frankly, it's hard to be notable. Marketing's scope is so broad, most experts specialize in a subcategory - ex: direct marketing, on-line marketing, marketing with AdSense, trade advertising, telemarketing, postcard marketing, PR, and yes, blog marketing. Every one of these is a viable tool when used correctly.

Trade show marketing, on the other hand, is more complicated (not to say any marketing subcategory is easy!). The truth is, if you do trade show marketing correctly, you will most likely use several different subcategories in your plan. You might use personal letters. You might use postcards, voicemail, and faxes (a great tool BTW). You might use podcasting or newsletters.

But in addition to doing all that, you also design your booth, ship everything, set up travel & hotel, register for show badges, hire labor, move-in/move-out, produce a cocktail party,  compile a database of prospects... and on and on. When done correctly, trade shows are hard work! Believe you me, learning how to do trade shows effectively and profitably doesn't happen overnight.

The point of my rant has to do with all the same-old bad "how-to-do-its" getting posted and printed from these so-called "experts." Unfortunately, many of these tips have been bandied about for so long, they've become accepted as standard. I think it's time somebody started shooting down these big, fat, ugly sacred cows of the trade show world. And I guess that somebody would be me.

So let's talk about one sacred cow as it was posted in a recent article. I won't identify the author because I don't want this to turn into name-calling or anything personal. I could pick out any number of articles with the same message. I'm just shooting cows. The particular cow I'm aiming at today is:

Give freebies. Give people a reason to come by your booth. Most businesses give away pens, magnets, key chains, and other small items decorated with the company logo and phone number. Go a step further—bring food (even if your business isn’t food-related), give gift certificates and coupons, hold raffles for a valuable product or service you offer, give demonstrations, or bring a PowerPoint presentation.

Give freebies. Give away pens, magnets, etc.. Bring food. Give gift certificates.

These are what's known as "traffic builders." That's all they are - traffic builders. Now if you define success as "lots and lots of bodies in my booth," then by all means give away stuff that packs 'em in.

But is it Marketing and is it notable? My definition of marketing is delivering the exact right product to the exact right target market using the exact right media at the exact right time.

Using traffic builders, as espoused by so many industry "experts," is very different from attracting the exact right targets to my booth. Using freebies and food will most certainly bring in traffic, but equating "traffic in my booth" with "prospects" is simply wrong. The term for all that traffic is "suspects," not prospects. We suspect there might be prospects in that pile of traffic.

And there's the rub. It can be argued that prospects are somewhere in that pile. But so what? How do we cull them out? Do we have enough staffers in our booth to talk with every single person attracted by the freebies and food... have a long enough discussion to determine if they're qualified or not... reject those who aren't... and only spend quality time with quality prospects? Do we have the ability to scan hundreds of suspects and then follow-up after the show and THEN cull out the prospects? Most exhibitors (and I do mean MOST) have neither the time nor manpower.

I, for one, am only interested in attracting the exact right target market to my booth from the beginning. Giveaways and food attract everybody - other exhibitors, non-qualified attendees, spouses, students, union workers, bus drivers, temps on break... anybody who can fog a mirror. I am not interested in everybody. I am only interested in the exact right targets coming into my booth.

This means my booth design, layout, signage, graphics, pre-show communications, advertising, and promotions are designed to only talk to those who fit the profile of my exact right target market. By focusing on these people my booth isn't packed with traffic (synonym for "everybody"). This then gives my staffers the ability to have more quality conversations instead of spending valuable time giving away stuff.

Yes, my way is harder. Giving away stuff and attracting lots of traffic gives the appearance of success, and it's also a lot easier. That's why it's the standard. But if you want the biggest bang for your trade show marketing dollar, you don't take the easy way out. And don't you want to be notable?

(Oh, BTW, you might also notice that an awful lot of those articles encouraging freebies and food are written by people who SELL freebies and food.)

Notable

I got a note from a friend about a co-worker that brilliantly summed up the chasm facing marketers today:

I believe she is good at the standard but limited in considering the notable.

Comments

[Deb Holton]

Yes -- it's wrong to give away something in your exhibit that appeals to everyone. But let's not shoot the whole herd...what about giving away something that only appeals to your prospects? A limited time demo or a free technical evaluation, depending on the product or service you're marketing -- this could be effective.

[Steve Miller]

I was hoping someone would bring this point up! I'm sure you could say I'm being unfair. Sort of like saying all blonds are dumb.

First, I'm talking about the articles and "experts" that don't mention using these techniques as you suggest. I firmly believe the vast majority of such advice is given strictly to help build traffic. I hate that word and I'll shoot THAT herd.

Second, using these techniques as you suggest are not traffic builders. They are incentives used as rewards for your targeted market. I can support that.