1> Great Thank-Yous
2> Amazing Takeaways
3> Talkworthy Trade Show Booths
1> Great Thank-Yous
Replace your boring thank-you notes with something people will talk about. We sent cheesecakes, boxes of books, and candy bars. Give people something that will make them walk around the office and say "You won’t believe what they sent us!"
2> Amazing Takeaways
Never let someone walk out of your office or store without something in their hand to share. Make sure that everyone they see for the rest of the day knows that they just did business with you. Give them an awesome bag, a crazy hat, a bag of snacks, a lapel pin, coupons, a sticker … anything!
3> Talkworthy Trade Show Booths
If you’re planning on standing in your booth in front of a banner — don’t even bother to show up. Do something that makes people say, "Did you see what they have over there?" Some classics: Live artist in the booth, astonishing food, the perfect tote bag, a celebrity, an cool demonstration. We once passed out air-cushion insoles to exhausted attendees.
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{ 2 comments }
Insofar as #3, I agree that pens stamped with the vendor’s name is a passing-through take-away. Nothing particularly talkworthy.
My talkworthy caveat… Should you choose the celebrity-type attention getter, be target focused.
About a year ago, I visited a robot that held two-way conversations with trade floor visitors. The robot was sponsored by the booth vendor. Lots of folk waited in line to speak with the robot. By the time your turn came, you were too tired to then speak with the human vendor staff. Moreso, because the robot was not at all relevant to the vendor’s offering, the robot did not attract target leads.
At another conference, the vendor booth featured belly dancers. Big crowd pleaser… but had nothing to do with the vendor’s storage device offerings. People watched the dancers and left.
The morale is (with apologies to Andy), “smart companies” need to “get people talking” about their company–and less about robots and belly dancers.
Thanks for the comment, Maurene — you’re right, of course, in that any company presenting at a show needs to have something worth selling. It’s one thing to bring people in, but another completely to keep them involved. We’ve seen enough booths where the presenters haven’t bothered to think of either!
I work at GasPedal, and we’re big on making sure every company has something buzzworthy. Your post is a great follow-up to that. It often doesn’t take much to stand out at a trade show booth, if you give it some thought… but have a plan for why you’ll engage visitors once they come!
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