Conventional Thinking.

by | Feb 9, 2018 | Tradeshows

You’ve got a booth at an upcoming convention. Now what are you going to do? You paid your money and committed your time to get you and your product out in front of people in your industry and you want to make the most of it. If you’ve never planned a booth before—and even if you have—you may be wondering what is the best way to stand out this time and make yourself and your service or product memorable.

Now is the time to remember that the important thing in the exhibit hall at a convention is not balloons and confetti or even a great giveaway. And although creativity and entertainment may draw large crowds, depending on haphazard booth traffic does not guarantee results for your bottom line.

There are lots of reasons to have a booth at a convention. You may want to generate buzz for a new product or service, or you may be looking for more sales leads, or you may want to increase your brand awareness. Whatever your goal, you want to reach the right people—your target audience. You are looking for people who will want to do business with you in the future. So before you spend time on some outrageous gimmick that might make you memorable in the moment but won’t deliver the results you are after, consider these ideas:

  • Place a distinguishable advertisement in the official event program on either a daily tab or one of the covers.
  • Sponsor one or more of the technical sessions which highlight your product or service.
  • Research the pre-registration list of attendees including exhibitors.
  • Mail or email an invitation to specific attendees on this list and give them a reason to your visit booth.
  • Update your booth display with most relevant product information for this particular audience and provide a call to action which expires after the event.
  • Network with attendees AND exhibitors to collect industry knowledge while evaluating all contacts as potential prospects.
  • Prioritize your prospects so you don’t overwhelm your sales team with too many invalid leads.

Because Barton Marketing Group offers comprehensive professional marketing services specializing in life sciences and agriculture, we can help you plan your booth at your upcoming convention. Our significant expertise working with both corporate and not-for-profit organizations will help you build your brand, create enduring customer relationships and generate revenue. We can help you reach the audiences that need to hear the messages that will help you and your business communicate your solutions to the challenges facing agriculture.