To master the deadline-driven world of trade shows depends on great planning.
Yet all too often, important marketing planning gets overshadowed by urgent logistics planning. Because of the flood of deadlines, we get more distracted by the “what to do” rather than the “why to do” it.
Yet it’s just as essential to plan marketing activities, too. Things such as your goals for the show, your marketing messages for your graphics and staffers, and creating a promotional campaign that will get more of the right people to your trade show booth.
Here are some ideas for your plan, either for a single show or for your entire program. Marketing and logistics steps are mixed together, as you need to do both to truly succeed.
7 months out:
- Review Past Objectives: Evaluate your previous year’s shows to see how many leads converted to sales, and your marketing return on investment. If you set different objectives, measure return on those objectives.
- Set New Objectives: Set your top 2 or 3 objectives for your next year’s trade show program.
6 months out:
- Set Budget: At best, adjust your budget based on what worked last year, your current financial state, objectives, and opportunities. However, your budget is likely what you are told you can spend. You also may need to tap into your company’s capital budget if you are buying a major new exhibit this year.
- Select Shows and Booth Spaces: Evaluate your show schedule to determine which shows have the best match with your target market for the best value, and pick the spaces you will take in those shows (if you have not already reserved space).
- Evaluate Exhibit: Review your current trade show exhibit inventory: If it still will help you achieve your new marketing objectives, keep it. If not, start researching new exhibit builders. For a larger custom trade show exhibit, start 12 or more months out. For a small inline display, start 4-6 months out. For banner stands, start 2-3 months before the show.
- Invite Exhibit Builders: If building a new trade show booth, set appointments to meet with 3 exhibit builders, and give them access to your key marketing decision-makers. For larger custom exhibits, form a steering committee with clearly defined responsibilities per team member.
5 months out:
- Choose Your Exhibit Builder: Award the new build, and then continue to quickly and thoughtfully respond to their questions and requests for graphics art to ensure timely completion of your new exhibit. If you are buying a smaller booth or a portable display, you can wait until two-to-three months before the show.
4 months out:
- Research Technology: Consider how you can integrate technology into your exhibit to help get more attention, tell your story, and facilitate better conversations between attendees and booth staffers. For a more detailed and nuanced custom interactive, allow more time upfront for creating content outlines, gathering digital assets, recurring progress meetings, and beta testing.
- Review the “Show Book” – the book or webpage from the show with all the forms for ordering services. Find the forms for services you need, and create a master list of all the deadlines to order and still get the discount rates. Start earlier if the show provides it earlier.
3 months out:
- Create Promotions: Brainstorm ideas for pre-show and at-show promotions that will help bring in a greater number of qualified leads into your booth, plus help your booth staffers to engage attendees. Even better, plan your promotions at the same time you are designing your new trade show exhibit, so the booth is designed around your activities.
- Pick Booth Staffers: Review last year’s qualified lead counts by booth staffer to identify the staffers you want at your upcoming shows. Contact their managers to ask if they can attend. Ask your best booth staffers who else they would recommend.
Two months out:
- Choose Staffers: Finalize your booth staff choices.
- Arrange Travel: Book hotels and flights for booth staffers before rates go up. You’ll save a lot of money by doing this earlier.
- Order Services: Order any show services you need according to your list from the show book. Don’t forget to pay attention to any discount deadlines.
- Order Promotions: Select and order any promotional items you will be mailing pre-show. Some can take only a few days, some can take over a month, depending where they are made and imprinted.
- Order Uniforms: If you are providing shirts, pants, and more for your booth staffers to wear, order them now.
One month out:
- Send Promotions: Send the first wave of your pre-show promotion campaign.
- Train staffers, Part 1: Set up first booth staffing meeting, to train them on your main client profiles and your products.
- Order More Services: Order any final show services you need from the show book.
- Order At-Show Promos: Select and order any promotional items you will be giving away at the show, and have them shipped to the show (with a sample overnighted to you).
- Ship Exhibit: Ship your new exhibit to the advanced warehouse, getting it out the door soon enough to save on shipping.
Two weeks out:
- Train Staffers, Part 2: Hold your second booth staffing meeting, to review the booth staffing process and info about your new exhibit, your promotions, technology in the booth, the convention city, and the show hall.
- Send More Promos: Send the second wave of your pre-show promotion campaign (if by snail mail, mail first class rather than by standard/bulk rate, or they may arrive after the show!).
- Ship Staffer Supplies: Ship a tub with all the supplies you’ll need in your booth for staffers, such as pens, clipboards, staplers, staples, water bottles, USB drives, snacks, mints, and wipes.
One week out:
- Prepare Lead Fulfillment: Create and gather your post-show lead fulfillment packets, and assign the team that will process the leads.
- Verify Exhibit Arrival: Ensure your exhibit has arrived at the show.
- Collect Documents and Backup: Prepare and pack a master book or data file with all your at-show contacts including your booth staffers, exhibit house, and local show city vendors such as the I&D contact to carry with you to the show. Include art files for your graphics.
- Verify Staffers: Check in with all booth staffers that they are still all set to attend the show; get a substitute if needed.
- Love Your Loved Ones: Be extra nice to your family and friends because you’ll soon be gone for a while.
At the show:
- Be Your Best: Be brilliant, calm, hard-working, lighthearted, and creative.
- Make It Happen: Execute your plans for booth staffing, at-show promotions, lead management, and booth logistics.
After the show:
- Come Home: Give your family and friends souvenirs from the trip, preferably chocolate.
- Say Thank You: Thank your booth staffers and vendors.
- Fulfill Your Leads: Get promised packets out, and the leads into the hands of your sales force. Then keep checking on lead follow up.
- Check Costs: Review your actual expenditures against your planned costs to see if you are still on-budget, and the reasons if not on budget.
- Measure and Analyze: Measure if you met your objectives, and figure out what went right and what can be improved.
- Report Results: Let management know how well you met your show objectives, what worked, and what could be improved upon.
You may find you need to give yourself even more lead time for your very largest and your international shows, and require less lead time for your smallest shows.
Use this timeline to improve your opportunity to succeed at trade shows. Take the time to create a solid plan, then work the plan you created, covering both logistics and marketing activities.
Let us know if you have any questions, or if you’d like help planning and implementing your trade show program.