Why (and how) to use promotional products at tradeshows.

April 28th by admin  
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“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”

There are a few different reasons you would want to use promotional products at a tradeshow.  Listed below are the top 10 reasons for implementing a marketing approach that uses promotional products at a tradeshow.  Your individual needs may include one or more of them.  Flat World Design has helped many customers identify their specific needs and objectives and implement an effective program that addresses those needs. 

  1. Drive traffic to your tradeshow booth
  2. Generate industry “buzz” and PR
  3. Announce or launch a new product
  4. Welcome existing customers to your booth
  5. New lead generation
  6. Qualify prospects
  7. Increase sales
  8. Increase brand awareness
  9. Distribute product samples (or allow prospects to sample your service)
  10. Announce a partnership or new program

One size does not fit all.

Depending on what your needs might be, there are also several other variables to consider.  Some of the important parameters or factors to consider are listed below.  Your answers to some of these questions, will likely determine your tradeshow marketing and promotions strategy.  At  Flat World Design, we help customers identify and narrow down their objectives.  Then,we use our proprietary creative analysis process and tools to figure out the optimal mix and execution of a promotional marketing strategy. 

  • What are your goals?  Can you quantify them or be more specific?
  • What promotional marketing approach have you used in the past?
  • How have your previous efforts worked?  What paid off?  What didn’t?
  • How many shows do you do in a year?  quarter?
  • How many of the shows are similar/identical to this one?
  • How many targets/prospects do you expect at the show?
  • What percentage of show attendees are your targets?
  • What is your total budget?
  • What is the value of a new customer?  How much is a new customer worth?
  • What are your current customer or lead acquisition costs?
  • Is your competition going to be present at the show?
  • What are they likely to be doing?  What have they done in the past?
  • …and so on….

We could go on – but the important thing to realize is that one size does not fit all in this case!