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.

The largest consumer technology trade show in the world kicks off tomorrow in Las Vegas. The Consumer Electronics Association is a massive organization that spends nearly all of its energy planning and preparing for the Consumer Electronics Show, which is widely recognized as the most prominent trade show in the world. With big name exhibitors like Sony, Samsung, Motorola, and many more, CES has drawn massive crowds to Las Vegas year after year for almost four decades.

Each year, many new products and technological innovations are unveiled at CES. With over 2,700 exhibitors planning to show their stuff this year alone, it could take you weeks just to visit every trade show booth spanning across three of Las Vegas’ largest convention centers (including the monstrous Las Vegas Convention Center). There are always a few diamonds in the rough each year (startup companies with brilliant products or technological innovations), and there will be a massive media presence in attendance hoping to be first to spot the next great opportunity.

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.

The Eco-1st Bamboo Retractable Banner Stand is unique because of its lightweight bamboo construction and its microknit recycled fabric graphic. If you’re looking for an affordable, attractive banner stand that’s environmentally friendly, you’ve found it.

The graphics are printed using water-based inks, which is much better for the environment than solvent-based inks. The fabric that your image is printed on is made from recycled soda bottles. The hardware itself is made from durable, renewable bamboo. Every Eco-1st banner stand we sell has been designed and produced with the environment in mind. Whether you’re using the banner stand to promote your company’s green initiative or you’re genuinely committed to eco-friendly practices, this banner stand will suit your needs well.

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?

MODdisplays is proud to announce our biggest savings event ever: 15% off every product on our online store. We understand that marketing budgets get pinched near the end of the year, but that doesn’t mean that your company should have to sacrifice its presence at your next trade show.

Whether you’re looking for top of the line Exhibit One displays, popup displays, or Xpressions displays, you’ll find unbeatable prices on our online store.

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.

One of the biggest mistakes a company can make before going to a trade show is showing up without a marketing objective. Marketing is a key part of business that companies can often loose site of what a good marketing strategy is and how it can be measured. Everyone considers the definition of marketing as something different. When some people think of marketing, they think of sales. Others may think of marketing research, products, and pricing. The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”

Effective marketing requires a company to identify the need and desire for a good and service. You have to present a value to the customer that your product or service is the one they should use to fulfill that need. This is where trade show marketing can be a very important part to a company’s marketing objective.

At tradeshows, if you choose the correct show to exhibit at, your company or organization is in front of customers who have a desire to fulfill a need that your company offers. During the show, excellent promotion and sales is your key to success by informing consumers of your organization’s product or service and convincing them of its ability to fulfill their needs and desires.

The second key to marketing is relationships. Today organizations should no longer be looking for a one time exchange with customers. Building relationships is vital to your marketing strategy for three reasons. First, companies have recognized that customers have become much more demanding in that they desire excellent service, support and quality. Consumers want the best service and support, quality product, a competitive price and ease of purchase.

Second, they want a product that can be personalized for their exact need or want. Customers like to see something that can be molded to fit their need rather than a generic product. The one key way to find out what customers need is to build a relationship. You will be amazed what you can find out from consumers just from a simple conversation.

The third reason relationships are important, is it is much more cost effective to retain your customers than look for new ones.  Although sometimes you might think that you spend so much money just trying to keep your customers happy or satisfied, this definitely outweighs the other option of spending money on advertising to find a new ones.

Before you go to your trade show, make sure you are exhibiting where your target marketing is present, your company has a strong marketing objective that will build value to your product or service, and you are ready to build relationships that will lead to a successful business.

• Display Type: Tension Fabric
• Booth Size: 20′ x 20′
• Special Accommodations: N/A
• Price Range: $20,000 – $50,000
• Turnaround Time: 7 business days
• Setup Time: 2 – 4 hours

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.