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Determine Objectives & Set Goals Exhibit Staff Pre-Show Preparation and Training Premiums and Promotional Give-aways Follow-up on Leads & Evaluate Results Marketing Ideas to Help Increase Booth Traffic. . . Before, During & After the Show Top 15 Questions of New Exhibitors
Determine Objectives & Set Goals When you know what you want to accomplish while exhibiting at a show, it will in turn help to plan every other aspect – your theme, booth display, graphics, product displays, premiums and literature. The goals you set should complement your marketing objectives and assist in achieving them. The following ten points will remind you of some goal setting basics: Consider what end results you want to achieve:
The SMART goal setting formula helps you to remember the individual components. Goals must be: Specific (in language stating the quality and quantity of desired results) Measurable Attainable Realistic Time Framed (set a deadline)
Exhibit Staff Pre-Show Preparation and Training Enormous amounts of time, energy and money are put into organizing trade show participation. Unfortunately, booth staff - the very people chosen to represent the entire image of the organization - are often just told to show up and are left to fend for themselves. The booth staff should be considered your organizations ambassadors and should be properly prepared beforehand about what to expect. Exhibit staff training is essential to portray a unified and professional image. Make sure that your staff knows what is being presented, are familiar with the equipment, and know how to conduct the assigned demonstrations. Make sure booth personnel have sufficient business cards. It’s amazing how many business cards you can hand out during the course of the trade show – make sure your team is adequately prepared. A complete booth schedule will cover every moment from show arrival to departure. Include who will be staffing the booth, technical support and assorted responsibilities. Also, schedule booth personnel to oversee booth installation and dismantling.
Premiums and Promotional Give-aways These can be a great form of free publicity. T-shirts, hats and tote bags can become walking billboards for your company or product. Get some qualifying information from the visitor before handing over an expensive gift though and avoid leaving them out for passers by. Perhaps qualify visitors who bring your pre-show mailer in exchange for a gift. Avoid handing our expensive literature. Consider having an inexpensive piece to give away and then send or email information to qualified leads.
Follow-up on Leads & Evaluate Results Show leads often take second place to other management obligations that occur from being out of the office for several days. The longer it takes to follow-up show leads, the colder they become. Show performance and any type of return on your investment become difficult, if not impossible to measure. Before the show, establish how leads will be handled and set timelines for follow-up. Invest time immediately after each show to evaluate your performance and discuss what improvements need to take place for future shows. When evaluating your performance, ask yourself the following questions:
Marketing Ideas to Help Increase Booth Traffic. . . Before, During & After the Show Advertising
Direct Mail
Sales
Internet
E-mail used wisely is an important part of an exhibitor’s pre-show promotion but beware mass emails that might appear as spam. Hospitality Invite your best customers and/or prospects to an invitation only reception following the day’s events or to a breakfast prior to show opening. During the Show
After the Show Be sure to send out information to interest prospects immediately! Some companies prepare and mail materials each night after the show; others do it as soon as they return.
♦ Read the Exhibitor Service Kit – it is your complete reference guide to every aspect of the show and is key to saving money. The kit includes information on move-in and move-out hours, show hours, show colors, contractor information, service order forms and shipping and freight services. Remember, the prices for show services requested on-site are higher than the prices available in advance, so signing up early will always give you a significant savings. ♦ To minimize installation and dismantling labor costs, number your crates according to content, attach a diagram with instructions for exhibit setup and include electrical requirements and repackaging instructions. Be sure to send copies of shipping information with your set up people. ♦ Keep accurate records of the weight of your shipments. Your charges are based on these figures. ♦ Keep track of the number of laborers used and how many hours each day are spent loading and unloading. Whenever possible, schedule labor during straight time and avoid overtime hours as much as possible. ♦ Instead of shipping in several small boxes, consolidate everything into one large box. To save money, send one shipment to the warehouse (or show site) instead of several small ones. ♦ Do not list contents on outside of boxes (e.g., Box 1 - Personal Computer). Use coded labels instead. ♦ Please keep in mind that your materials should be properly insured from the time they leave your office until return from the exhibition. Contact your insurance agent for arrangement of a ‘rider’ to your existing policy. ♦ Be sure to obtain a bill of lading from your carrier. The bill of lading is a document that indicates the number pieces and a description of the pieces included in your shipment (i.e., 2 cartons, 3 crates, 1 skid, etc.). It also includes the addresses of where the shipment originated as well as the destination. Once the carrier has reached its destination (general service contractor’s warehouse or direct to the Convention Center), the number count and types of pieces in your shipment will be verified to make sure that all your pieces have arrived. ♦ Use combination locks instead of keys. If a key should become lost, on-site locksmiths are expensive. ♦ Take only enough literature to distribute to qualified leads. This saves on drayage and production costs. Ship literature with the rest of the exhibit for a one-time drayage charge. ♦ Try refurbishing an old exhibit before investing money in a new one; consider renting rather than buying an exhibit if doing less than three shows a year. Lightweight durable exhibits save on shipping, drayage and labor charges. ♦ Buy your own plants to decorate the display (silk plants are more durable). ♦ Provide camera-ready artwork to save on production costs and proofread your copy to avoid change charges. Take your own photos and have a photolab enlarge and mount them on durable plastic or foam board. Design and produce your graphics ahead of time to avoid rush charges. ♦ Don’t print your booth number on any literature until the number is definite. ♦ Order enough premiums for several shows and save on quantity discounts. ♦ Bring copies of all your order forms and confirmation numbers, plus the people you spoke to and their on-site phone numbers.
Top 15 Questions of New Exhibitors What is material handling? Material handling (also know as drayage) includes the unloading of your exhibit materials (freight) from your designated carrier or company truck, storage of up to 30 days in advance at the warehouse address, delivery to your booth, the handling of empty containers to and from storage and the removal of material from your booth for reloading onto your designated carrier after the event. Material handling does not include the costs to transport your material to and from the show. You have two options for shipping – either to the warehouse in advance or directly to the show site. How do I estimate my material handling charge? Your charges are based on the weight of your shipments not on the distance of your booth space to the loading dock. You need to calculate your shipments weight before you can calculate the charges. The shipment rate will be rounded to the next 100 pounds. Each 100 pounds is considered one “cwt” (one hundred weight). Do I need insurance? All exhibitors are required to obtain adequate insurance coverage for property loss or damage and liability for personal injury. This can be done by adding riders to your existing policies. When shipping booth materials, be sure they are insured from the time they leave your business until they are returned after the show. What can exhibitors do without union personnel? Exhibitors can unload their own vehicle (in an area to be specified by Vista) for the unloading of privately owned vehicles provided their vehicle is no larger than a van; they can provide their own dollies or hand trucks; and that they utilize no motorized lift equipment, flatbeds or convertible carts. Exhibitors can hand carry exhibit materials through public doorways, provided they do not utilize material handling equipment other than personal luggage carriers. Exhibitors may set up their own display in 10’x10’ and 10’x20’ booths as long as the installation can be accomplished by full-time company employees. Exhibitors may set-up and handle their own products including the installation, interconnection, calibration and operation of equipment. How do I submit a third party contractor? Vista Convention Services is the official general service contractor for the trade expo. All other contractors are called exhibitor appointed contractors (EAC). If you decide to use an EAC, it is your responsibility to ensure your EAC provides a certificate of insurance to show management and Vista Convention Services at least 30 days prior to move-in. How do I capture my sales leads? All attendees will have a magnetic ExpoCard with all of their registration information encoded. In order to retrieve this information, you will need to rent a lead-retrieval card reader from Experient. Lead retrieval readers can be ordered in advance and picked up onsite at the Lead Retrieval counter near the Vista Convention Services Desk in the rear of the trade show. How do I register for badges for our booth personnel? To pre-register, please submit the Exhibitor Badge Registration Form (available in your Exhibitor Service Kit) by mail or fax (or register online using your secure log-in password). Every person working at your booth must be registered for the convention and wearing a badge in order to enter the exhibit hall, all of the non-ticketed education sessions, the Grand Assembly Keynote Session, the Opening Reception at Caesars Atlantic City and other events at the Atlantic City Convention Center. On-site registration will be available at the Exhibitor Registration Desk located on Level 2 of the Convention Center during move-in and show days. How do I make hotel reservations? AmeriRoom is the firm handling hotel reservations for the Triple Play REALTOR® Convention. In order to reserve hotel rooms in casinos and hotels close by the Convention Center, individuals must first be pre-registered for the convention. Please submit the Exhibitor Badge Registration Form available in your Exhibitor Service Kit as soon as possible for processing. After processing, you will receive a convention registration confirmation PIN# and hotel information. Each individual will need a confirmed PIN# in order to reserve a hotel room in Atlantic City. What time can exhibitors get onto the trade expo floor on show days? Exhibitors may access the show floor one hour prior to the official opening time of the trade expo. What do I do when I first arrive at the show for set-up? First, check in at the Exhibitor Registration Desk to pick up your badge and to make sure that all of your booth staff are registered in the registration system. It is important to have your badge on you at all times because you will need it to access the show floor at all times. Once you have picked up your badge and have found your booth, take notice of important places on the show floor so that you know where to go if you need any services (Vista Convention Services, electrical, phone/internet, lead retrieval, etc.) As with all other times during the show, it is important that you are aware of your personal items during set-up. Security is on duty on a 24-hour basis from move-in thru move-out. However, the Convention Center is a public building where thousands of people will be passing through every day. DO NOT leave purses, wallets, coats, laptops, PDAs, MP3 players, DVD players, or any other valuable items unattended. It is very important that you keep the aisles clear during all times of the show, including move-in and move-out. These aisles need to be clear for contractors still delivering items to booths and for fire hazard reasons. If a security guard or Floor Manager asks you to clear your items out of aisle, please do so. How many promotional items/give-aways and company literature should I bring to the show? We expect close to 10,000 attendees at Triple Play 2008. Get some qualifying information from the visitor before handing over an expensive gift though and avoid leaving them out for passers by. Consider having an inexpensive piece of company literature to give away to all and only send expensive pieces to qualified leads. How do we announce prize give-aways? There is a Prizes & Announcements Booth located across from booth # 200. Please fill out a prize announcement form for each prize and our announcer will broadcast it on the public address system. Is there an extra charge to attend the education sessions, keynote or Icebreaker? No. Exhibitor badges allow you to enter any of the education sessions (except those where an additional pre-registration fee was required), the Grand Assembly keynote session and the opening night Icebreaker Reception at Caesars Atlantic City. You will need your badge to access all these events. Someone from my company is interested in presenting an education session. How do I submit the information? To be considered as a speaker/presenter at this event, please submit the ‘Call for Presentations’ application. The application and instructions are available on the Triple Play website. Is there an on-site business center? Yes. The UPS Business Center is located in the Convention Center on the ground floor lobby. Hours are Monday thru Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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