If your booth staffers are not driven to succeed, even the best trade show marketing strategy in the world cannot save your company from a disastrous exhibiting experience. At business to business trade shows, the people who man your booth will be the single most important factor in determining the overall success of your marketing program. Booth staffers should be outgoing, friendly, and professional, but never pushy or long-winded. They should recognize that everything about their appearance, demeanor, speech, and body language will reflect directly on your company’s image, and that creating a great image is what trade shows are all about. So what can you do to motivate your booth staffers to be top-notch exhibitors?

1-  Take care of their most basic needs. Nothing breeds frustration among employees more quickly than being undercompensated on their trip. If you put your employees in a cheap hotel room and give them a meager stipend for food, they will be less likely to perform at their highest capacity on the trade show floor.

2- Offer incentives for gathering leads and making sales on the trade show floor. It is always much easier for people to work hard for their own benefit than for the benefit of their company, so offering incentives is an easy way to improve the performance of your booth staffers.

3- Take care to pick the right booth staffers in the first place. Although senior members of your sales staff may love to travel and exhibit at trade shows, they may be less motivated to do well than a young, ambitious sales person who works hard to impress. In addition to the fact that younger, more ambitious sales staff usually do better at trade shows, it will cost your company less money to send employees who earn less per hour.

4- Allow your booth staffers to be a part of the exhibiting process from the beginning. They will be much more comfortable working within the confines of your trade show exhibit if they played a role in the planning and development process. Who would want to be a part of a marketing campaign that they don’t believe in?

Attendees will be drawn to your trade show booth if you consistently invest in improving your trade show marketing program year after year. Too often we find that companies are content with “just showing up”, and have all but given up on their exhibiting efforts. As a result, their exhibiting program performs more poorly each year until it is eventually removed from the company’s marketing budget. The lesson here is simple: showing up is not enough. It will be obvious to your attendees that you did not put in the effort needed to gain their interest, and your investment in trade show marketing will be worthless.

Successful exhibiting programs are usually operated by experts who understand the importance of consistency. Year after year, these companies find exciting ways to engage attendees, which keeps them coming back for more. Gimmicks and swag are not enough, you need to release new, substantive information each time you return to a show. Showing up year after year with the same product line, the same brochures, and the same ideas is a quick way to lose the interest of visitors. Each new year should maintain the overall branding message your company wants to send, but your exhibit graphics, trade show literature, and your general industry ideas should be new and fresh.

If you’re short on exhibiting ideas, one of the best ways to get your wheels turning is to attend events that are similar to the trade show where you will be exhibiting. Take special note of trade show displays that catch your eye, and try to isolate what specific features of the exhibits caught your attention. Look for ways to improve your existing booth without spending an arm and a leg. If you see graphics that catch your eye, would it be possible to re-skin your exhibit with new graphics? If a particularly well lit environment drew your attention, you could purchase additional trade show lights to spruce up your booth. Remember that the best improvements to your marketing program will be substantive improvements, not cosmetic improvements, so take particular note of exhibiting strategies or marketing programs that catch your eye, and try to glean what you can from them.

Are you having trouble distributing literature at trade shows? This may have something to do with the design of your literature, but more often than not exhibitors struggle with distribution because their literature is presented in an unattractive way. The Dash Literature Banner Stand combines traditional banner stands with literature stands to produce a unique and attractive alternative.

Each system has a large graphic banner with three literature pockets below. Each literature pocket can hold 8.5″ x 11″ brochures, and the banner graphic is 31.5″ wide x 44.5″ high. The graphic is placed under tension using a flexible aluminum pole.

If you have any questions about the Dash Literature Banner Stand or any of our other literature racks, please visit call 877.663.3976 or email sales@moddisplays.com.

Shopping for trade show displays and exhibit graphics has never been more affordable than it is right now. In addition to drastically reduced prices for 2009, MODdisplays is offering additional savings in the form of promotions that are valid through March 31, 2009. Taking advantage of these coupon codes and special savings can help you make the most of your exhibiting budget.

• Free shipping on hanging signs. When you purchase a hanging sign through our online store, use the coupon code “HS-SHIP” to receive ground shipping on your hanging sign at no cost to you.
• Free carry bag with any Xpressions tabletop display. When you purchase an Xpressions tabletop display, receive a free padded carrying bag for a limited time. Call 877.663.3976 to redeem this limited time offer.
• Free shipping on Entasi displays. Receive free shipping on any Entasi display by using the coupon code “ENTSHIP” at checkout.
• Free banner stand light with the purchase of any Expand banner stand. For a limited time only, receive a free banner stand light with the purchase of any Expand banner stand. Please call 877.663.3976 to take advantage of this special offer.

If you have questions about any of our promotional offers, feel free to call 877.663.3976 or email sales@moddisplays.com.

In light of the current economic crisis, companies are using cost-saving trade show marketing strategies to reduce their expenses. When marketing departments have less money to work with, creativity soars. Exhibitors are constantly looking for new and exciting ways to make the most of their shrinking budgets, which has led to a number of innovative marketing trends.

Social media marketing for trade shows has skyrocketed in 2008, and the future looks more promising than the past. Websites like Facebook and Twitter allow exhibitors to quickly and easily communicate with thousands of attendees in a matter of seconds, which means the flow of information at conferences is faster now than ever before. Social media will continue to flourish in the trade show landscape in 2009. Learning to use these valuable tools can drastically improve the return on your investment at your next event.

The sale of modular exhibits is on the rise. Companies are finding that they can save a lot of money by purchasing a single trade show booth that can work in a 10′ x 10′, 10′ x 20′, and 20′ x 20′ space. Although these exhibits limit your company’s ability to exhibit at multiple shows on the same day, it drastically reduces cost for exhibitors who register for fewer than 10 shows per year. Small businesses love modular display systems, because with these systems they have the flexibility to add components to their display system as needed.

Multimedia exhibiting is becoming increasingly popular at trade shows. A trade show booth without a monitor or some audio-visual components is an anomoly in today’s trade show climate. Even in 10′ x 10′ spaces, exhibitors are looking to support large monitors on the back wall of their trade show display booths. Supporting large monitors requires a durable, well-engineered structure. There are many display systems that meet this criteria, but not many can be shipped in a single shipping case that can be transported by UPS or FedEx.

Stay on top of current trade show marketing trends by reading our trade show blog daily. We regularly update our content, so stop by often.

Positioning is the way you set your product or service aside from your competition in the marketplace. As you can tell, the positioning of a product, service, or even store location will stick in the customers mind and always be associated with the company. If you just take a few moments to think about the type of restaurants along interstate, you will realize that they are mostly fast food. These companies have positioned themselves in a place where they know customers have a need for quick, easy food.

Location is only one factor in positioning a company. Think of communication and the messages that are portrayed through commercials and other types of advertisements. For example, what comes to your mind when you hear the name Mercedes, Gatorade, or Subaru? What about department stores such as Neiman Marcus, JCPenny, and Bloomingdales? If you think of the ads for each of these products and companies, you will notice that each place has a different approach. The approach that each company takes depends on the market they are trying to reach and that reflects how they will position themselves.

Positioning strategies are really important when it comes to choosing your trade show booth and graphic design. You want to make sure that the booth you choose reflects the image of your brand and coincides with any other marketing material you have. Determining what graphics you choose for your display depends on what your positioning strategy will be at the trade show. If you chose the correct show to exhibit at, most likely you will have competition there, so you want to make sure your products benefits and services stand out from the rest.

Positioning strategies generally focus on the consumer or the competition. Both ways associate product benefits with consumer needs, but to focus more on the consumer you have link the product with the benefits the consumer will derive by creating a favorable brand image. The competitive approach positions the product by comparing it, and the benefit it offers, with the competition. For example, Scope mouthwash positions itself as better tasting than Listerine. Apple positions itself as having fewer viruses than a PC. Positioning can be the most important part in marketing to establishing a brand.

Before you attend a trade show, pick your booth, and design graphics ask yourself these questions:

1. What position do we already hold in the target consumer’s mind? (This answer must come from the marketplace, not your manager).
2. What position does our company want to own?
3. What competition do we have to beat to get this?
4. Do we have a strong marketing budget to hold this position?
5. Will we stick with a consistent positioning strategy?
6. Do our creative’s match our positioning strategy?

MODdisplays has a lot of experience in picking a booth that best fits your company’s needs and strategy. If you have any questions or need advice on picking a trade show booth, please call MODdisplays at 877.663.3976 or email sales@moddisplays.com.

An industry is a group of companies that operate with the same end-users in mind. For example, the trade show materials industry is comprised of all the companies that are working to sell trade show displays and exhibiting accessories to a group of people who can be collectively referred to as exhibitors. The strongest companies always find themselves in a leadership role within their industry, while weaker companies spend most of their energies imitating the strategies of the stronger companies in an attempt to catch up.

Trade show marketing is no different. If you find yourself planning your trade show exhibit by trying to model your booth after one of your best competitors, you will probably find that your industry-leading competitor will have further distanced itself by the time you’ve adequately mimicked their exhibiting system. In order to take a leadership role in your industry, you need to step away from industry standards and norms and take a long, hard look at what end-users are looking for. Once you understand your client’s profile, you’ll have a clear picture of what marketing steps to take. Instead of merely copying your competitors marketing efforts, you will be able to define your own presence and set the tone for your industry. Your display may take an entirely different shape and style than any of your competitors, but that won’t matter if your look is exactly what clients have been searching for.

One way to spot a dying company is to look for responsive marketing practices. Do you ever wonder why Microsoft doesn’t respond to Apple’s constant jabs about the inferiority of Windows PCs? The reason is simple: Microsoft holds over 80% of the market share, and responding to Apple’s marketing efforts would legitimize them. While marketing campaigns should be flexible enough to respond to changing competitive environments, they shouldn’t be focused entirely on tearing down competitors. A marketing strategy that directly attacks competitors in an unskilled or tactless way only serves to legitimize your competition, and may actually drive customers away who want to find out what it is about your competitor’s business model that has you in such a tiff.

When planning your next event, think carefully about what will interest your potential clients. If possible, try to take your thinking outside of the context of what other players in your industry are doing. If everyone else in your industry is making unnecessarily large profit margins, your company will have a lot of success by offering lower prices. If your industry lacks a recognizable brand name, improve your packaging and placement to put your logo in the minds of your potential clients. If your industry is like most, there is plenty of room for improvement. Can you ever improve as a company if you’re constantly copying ideas and responding to the work of your competitors?

Building brand awareness can take decades, especially if your company operates within a small niche. Consistency and longevity are important for any marketing professional, as they show your customers and competitors that you are dedicated to meeting your long term objectives. Strong, enduring companies pace themselves and only take on the challenges that they can adequately handle, which allows them to keep their brand in front of customers consistently over a long period of time.

How many times have you witnessed a strong company aggressively take on more marketing challenges than they can handle? Inevitably, they run out of motivation, manpower, or money; and their short term approach fades into oblivion. If you know that your advantage over your competitors is your dedication and determination, you can actually force your competitors into this position by making them compete on your terms for market share.

Trade show marketing is no different. Many companies exhibit in large spaces, and wind up spending much more on their trade show booths than they budgeted. Their large exhibit space looks under-staffed and inadequate for the space, and the event winds up being a disaster for the exhibitor. It is always better to pick a small niche where you know you can be the best than to try and keep up with your larger, more capitalized competitors. Reserving a small exhibit space will allow you to outfit and staff your space properly, and may end up driving more traffic to your booth than an underfunded space.

Purchasing a lightweight, portable exhibit can save your company thousands each year in shipping and drayage. With trade show marketing budgets tightening across the nation, cutting costs in shipping is a great way for exhibitors to save money without sacrificing their look. When you ship your trade show booth via UPS or FedEx, your charges are determined by size and weight (larger and heavier will cost more money to ship).

At MODdisplays, every trade show display we sell includes a proper shipping case that can be shipped via UPS or FedEx. Many of our cases are designed to fit just underneath UPS/FedEx dimensional weight restrictions, which allows you to ship the most material possible without facing additional charges due to the size of your package. In addition to saving our customers money, this saves our carriers money and makes their life easier, which is an important factor in securing extra discounts with UPS and FedEx.

In addition to the cost savings, purchasing a lightweight trade show booth is good for the environment. Lightweight, portable exhibits are just one more way companies have found to reduce their carbon footprint and promote sustainable practices.

Depending on the type of company you are promoting, cash cube money machines can be an effective way to attract attention to your trade show booth. Everyone loves to watch important business executives grabbing helplessly at dollar bills in a telephone booth, and there is no doubt that a money blowing machine will increase foot traffic. Before investing in renting or purchasing a machine though, you need to consider whether a money machine will attract the kind of attention you’re looking for.

If your company sells consumer goods, cash cubes may be a great investment. Consumers do not require serious courting from marketing companies. However, if your company deals in the business to business marketing environment, you may want to avoid money machines. Many business clients will be turned off by gimmicky promotions, and will require more serious trade show marketing strategies.

Once you’ve decided that a cash cube is right for your company, try to get an important executive in your money machine. If you can enlist a trade show speaker or an important corporate sponsor to stop by your booth and get inside your money machine, you have an excellent promotional opportunity that you can capitalize on. With the right pre-show marketing, you can be absolutely sure that attendees will flock to see the keynote speaker at your event grasping at dollar bills.