Client: FootJoy

Show: Golf Show

Exhibit Size: 80X80 Double Deck

The Booth Details:

We used the Tan as it went with their golf color theme.  On the sides it had 12 work stations with a second floor meeting room for scheduled meetings with existing/potential clients.

The Strategy:

Typically you don’t want to have any walls on your booth as walls are barriers keeping people from entering you booth.  You want it to be warm and inviting.  At the same time you want to create a warm and intimate experience for your client.  With this 80X80 booth we were able to accomplish both of these tasks.

As you can see we do have walls on this booth, however the booth is circular.  What this did was create spots for our sales reps to stand (each one of the four corners), which is a prime spot as the isle corners are where you can get the most traffic.  Also, the booth has more opening on the right and left side of this picture.  The reason for this is that traffic was coming from that direction so we wanted to have more of an opening for them to feel welcome to come in.  On the side they were coming from we had a could additional sale reps.

People Placement Strategy:

We had additional sales reps on the corners that had the most flow of traffic.  This will all depend on where the entrance of the show floor is, and where the presentation halls are, amongst other things.  (If you need further explanation on that give me a call.)

Exhibit Marketing/Sales Strategy Consulting:

Marketing Strategy:

Provided our client with an effective pre–show through post-show marketing strategy.

Exhibit Staff Training & Strategy:

Working a trade show exhibit is different than normal sales procedures.  In order to maximize a trade show’s potential, it is essential to have a well trained staff.  TMG Exhibits trained exhibit booth staff on:

• The best techniques to stop traffic.
• Staff members are then provided with objectives and assigned roles.
• Secrets of how to interacting with qualified leads at a trade show in a way that provides the sales representatives with their full attention while having a sense of comfort.
• Creating an effective follow-up process that the sales representatives approve of and feel will get the best results.

Recently Exhibitor Magazine put out a Social Media Marketing survey, which surveyed almost 8,000 trade show exhibitors.  This survey was conducted because of the large social media boom in the business world.  In fact, facebook alone grew by 42 million people from January and July of 2009.  With this large growth, the trade show and event world is keeping a close eye on social media marketing and deciding what it means to them.

Although a few companies that have utilized social media in the exhibit and event world, many of them are waiting to see if social media is just a fad or if it will result in a revolutionary change to trade show and event world.  The survey showed that over two-thirds of the respondents have used social media sites as part of their marketing strategies for trade shows and events.  Those who have utilized social media have reported an increase in brand awareness and enriched the relationships with their clients, increased booth traffic and even an increase in sales.  In fact, 58% of respondents of the survey believe that social media has moderate potential for exhibit and event marketing.  90% of the respondents insisted that social media has unlimited potential in the face-to-face marketing events.  Of the different types of social media, the two channels that show the most potential with trade shows and events are
Facebook and Twitter.  Even with exhibit and event professionals admitting that social media could be very beneficial, only 31% of the respondents claimed that they have effectively used social media with exhibit marketing and only 24% of them have used it effectively with event marketing.

What is the biggest hurdle for companies when it comes to using social media with their events and trade show exhibits?  In one word, TIME!  The companies lack the time that is needed to effectively use social media as part of their event and exhibit marketing campaigns.  This is why so many companies are starting to outsource this service to agencies that specialize in how to use social media in the trade show and event world.  This will most likely continue to be the trend until it is determined if social media is here to stay.

Do you think social media is here to stay?  If so, how will it affect the trade show exhibit and event world?

If you want to view the results of the survey visit: www.ExhibitorWebLinks.com.