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TIPS FOR THE SMALL BOOTH AND LOW BUDGET TRADE SHOW

How can you make the most of a low budget trade show?

1.MICRO-MARKETING

This is one of my favorite forms of marketing. When I go to a show, I'm not looking for 1000 customers. In most situations, what most of my trade show customers and I are both seeking is about 100 really great customers.

Do you know who your top 100 prospects are? Send them (up to 300) a direct mail piece prior to the show. A targeted pre-show promotion is key to ensuring your best prospects visit your booth. Over and over again this form of marketing has performed extremely well. My cost per piece has been as high as $10 per person including art, photography, copy, printing and mailing, however, it ALWAYS has paid off exponentially for me.

If you are only sending one piece, 2 weeks before the show works well (first class postage). It should give a reason why to visit your booth and what to expect. After the show, the same group should get another piece, with similar message. This 3 step process- mail- booth visit-mail ensures that you are delivering a singular message that is sure to be remembered and greases the way for immediate and future sales.

2. Great Graphics & Design for multiple shows
There are two types of small booths I really dislike. Those with hanging, drooping vinyl banners send a message to me- I can't afford to really be here; my company doesn't stand behind their products; we're sloppy with customer care. Those with nice booths but I can't figure out what they do because their company is stuck on buzzwords and lingo that means nothing to me.

A rule of thumb is to send ONE SUCCINT MESSAGE, especially for an unrecognized company or product. I personally like the full booth that has company branding and mission style message: " our widgets have lasted 5X longer than any other brand for over 50 years". This should have an accompanying banner stand with a custom show message. For example, if one show I want to attract photography buyers and one show I want to attract trade show booth graphics buyers, I might have "Schantz Inc. delivers all your trade show marketing needs in just days!" on the main booth. Then for the banner stand "Photography in our studio or on location" with photos of work for one show and "Eye-popping graphic design" with project images at the other show.

Let the picture tell the story. Reuse the big graphics show after show- but ALWAYS spend a little more to create a custom target message. It really pays off!

This also leads into the idea of ---the right booth. If you switch from 10 ft to 20 ft booths, then get a modular system such as offered by Expand. You can change the configuration from straight line to L and even add shelving. A curved 10' booth really never belongs in anything but a 10 ft booth. But with the right system, you can create a wave and extend your 10ft pop-up booth into a 20 foot booth.

3. Do It Yourself — or Find a Way to Do It Cheaper
Plants ($75), chairs ($150) & carpet ($150+) are the 3 items that to bring in when on a really scrimpy budget for a local trade show.

4., Traffic stoppers
What are you going to do to bring the people in a) that matter and b) get them to stick around long enough to talk to them? Part of this is answered in the above. Take a look at the duo display. Did you know we can print and mount any design to a hard backer, custom cut out a form and then hang it on the duo?

It's a great way to show off a new product that might be really small, and blow it up giant size to attract attention.