Egan’s Entries on Exhibits & Events
No, this blog isn’t about prison labor. It’s about the chain you’re working with on the trade show floor, and how that’s affecting the ROI from your exhibiting efforts. This chain is known as the “Chain of Conversion,” and it relates to the steps involved in turning a stranger into a returning customer, and how what you do before, during and after a trade show can make that happen.
First, let’s look at each separate link in this chain:
Link #1:
A stranger has to convert into a lead by being exposed to your message for the first time.
Link #2:
A lead has to convert into a prospect by liking what you’re selling.
Link #3:
A prospect has to convert into a customer by buying your product or service.
Link #4:
A customer has to convert into a returning customer by turning that initial single purchase into an ongoing buying relationship.
Most exhibitors try to forge that first link on the trade show floor, when show visitors first encounter your exhibit. But there’s no reason it has to start there. In fact, you stand a much better chance of building a more effective chain of conversion if it doesn’t start there!
This is where pre-show marketing can do so much to help you turn strangers into leads, and leads into prospects, and prospects into customers much more quickly.
So how do you do pre-show marketing? In today’s environment, much of it can be done online, through:
• Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube
Are you making the most of your involvement in these online forums? Does your Facebook page promote your participation in upcoming shows? Are you tweeting about what your company will be unveiling at the show? Have you reached out to industry leaders, thought leaders, reviewers, developers and others through LinkedIn groups? Have you created your own YouTube channel, with product demos, how-tos, and even light-hearted content about your product or service? If not, your competitors probably have. Don’t let them get it all to themselves.
• Your company’s own website
Does your company’s site have a link to a “See Us At These Shows” page (or at least “Latest News”)? If not, this is the perfect time to create it. Promote your presence at these shows with information about what you’ll be exhibiting, where you’ll be on the show floor, and whether your company’s executives or staffers will be part of any workshops, seminars or keynotes.
• Blogging:
This can be a great place to talk up your presence at key shows in your industry. Tell readers what they can expect to see, who they can expect to meet (can you arrange for one of your executives to be on hand at a specific time during the show for the purpose of talking directly with prospects and customers?), and how to find you on the show floor. Also, consider live blogging during the show, letting the tech-savvy check out your latest news from their portable devices, or let those who aren’t at the show know what they’re missing.
Offline pre-show promotion can also be extremely effective. Consider a direct mail campaign (snail mail—not email). Rather than sending a postcard or letter, send a gift. What that gift might be all depends on the size of a potential sale (the value of a prospective customer) to the exhibitor. Better yet, send one part of a two-part premium, with instructions to pick up the other half when they visit your exhibit.
I’ve seen companies use many different things for this approach: One company mailed a package of logo-imprinted golf tees, and offered a set of golf balls to go with them, in their exhibit. Another company sent a left-hand garden glove with their pre-show mailer, inviting recipients to pick up its right-hand match at the show. A client of mine mailed a Mini-Mag flashlight belt loop holster (with their logo) as the first part, with the flashlight (also featuring their logo) available for pick-up at the show.
These are all excellent ways of increasing your odds of getting strangers to become leads. The cost of the premium all depends on a potential customer’s value to your company. If you’re selling widgets, you might get away with something on the order of the garden gloves. If your product costs tens of thousands of dollars, you might spring for iPods (or even iPads) and their cases, instead of flashlights.
If strangers have been exposed to your company and its product or service prior to the show—and you’ve extended an invitation for them to visit your exhibit (with or without the premium item)—you’re well on your way to turning those strangers into prospects before they even enter the convention center. You can already start turning them from leads into prospects right there in your exhibit.
Next time, we’ll tackle the second of the four “Chain of Conversion” links: turning leads into prospects by persuading them to like what you have to sell. You might think that’s the easy part—but you might not think that way after reading the next column. Let’s meet here again in two weeks.
Dave Egan is head writer at Writers Direct Group, a full-service outsource writing resource for live trade show presentations, event theming, product demos, website content and other written- or spoken-word business communications. Contact him at Dave@WritersDirectGroup.com or 877-7GET-WDG [877-743-8934].
