Some discuss the value of participating in the show while others discuss the "emergence" of virtual tradeshows. Attending a show is not a small endeavor for a company. It's costly, requires staff and must provide concrete results in the form of sales gold - the almighty sales lead.   T hese folks have done a great job as discussing the value of tradeshows: cadence blog - The Emergence of Virtual Tradeshows Sales Lead Insights - Better I noticed a recent spat of posts about tradeshows. At one point in my career, I had focused on conferences and speaking

Disclosure: My company, ON24 , just introduced a new solution today - ON24 Virtual Show.   With that disclosure out of the way =) , virtual trade show/event is something that is just starting to be used by organizations. Just think about it, you don't have to travel across the country to attend a show, set up the booth at the show, and stand for hours waiting for people to come by your booth. I decided to take this occasion to write a larger post about the virtual events/tradeshows market. Please note, the opinions expressed in this post are my own and not

But it’s a good question to ask about your trade show strategy. recent BPA Worldwide research study indicates marketing budget size plays role in how companies perceive the benefits of trade show attendance. Smaller companies with revenues of less than $1 million annually, see trade shows as a way to generate leads (56%), but larger companies view them as a means to leverage relationships they already have. No, we’re not going all existential on you. Unfortunately, too many exhibitors ask this question after they’ve invested their dollars

My lesson from this experience is that B2B marketers who want to promote their booth at a trade show or conference is this: no matter how spectacular the drawing or giveaway prize or discount, bag the postcard. Tags: B2B Direct Mail Marketing B2B Trade Show Marketing Booth Invitations Conference Mailers Trade Show Mailers Trade Show Post Cards Trade Show I registered late for DMA09 , the annual Direct Marketing Association conference that was here in San Diego this year. So when the approximately 380 exhibitors sent me an invite to

I was honored to guest post on a few blogs regarding virtual events and trade shows. Julius Solaris’ Event Manager Blog: Virtual Trade Shows are Around the Corner Lewis Green’s BizSolutions Plus blog: What is a Virtual Event? Also check out my previous post “ Are Your Ready for Virtual Trade Shows? If you’re interested in learning more about virtual events, check out these posts:   Bonjour Events: Planning a Successful “Virtual” Event

Aren't we all looking for ways to draw more people to our trade show booth?  Start by generating traffic before the show.  Here are a few ideas for pre-show marketing: Send Send pre-show emails and/or direct mail Do whatever you can to get on the attendee's short list of must see sponsors. 

At a trade show, you are all about talking to as many people (hopefully qualified leads) as you can.  But don't forget about your current customers that may be at the show.  More than likely you will have a few current customers already attending the events you sponsor.  Oftentimes with

They either have a limited amount of time, money, or both, but suddenly have a trade show coming up and they need something to give to prospects. The following is a step-by step guide for creating customer-facing marketing collateral for that impending trade show: 1. After all – you are hoping all those trade show attendees will eagerly check you out after the show – don’t turn them off I do a lot of work with start-ups and so I run into this issue a lot. Or they simply need to start creating marketing materials, and don’t

They either have a limited amount of time, money, or both, but suddenly have a trade show coming up and they need something to give to prospects. The following is a step-by step guide for creating customer-facing marketing collateral for that impending trade show: 1. After all – you are hoping all those trade show attendees will eagerly check you out after the show – don’t turn them off I do a lot of work with start-ups and so I run into this issue a lot. Or they simply need to start creating marketing materials, and don’t

Here are three examples of prospects who show the money.   list of subscribers paying to receive an industry publication, for example, is far more valuable than names rented from a controlled circulation publication that is free to readers offline or online.   Trade Shows: In good times, companies freely pay to send employees to trade shows for learning. In this slowed economy, not as many businesses are participating in or attending industry trade shows because of the cost. In the short post last week “ Some people are better than others ,” Seth Godin talked about the value of certain prospective customers over others.