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ByLeo Victor

How Trade Show Giveaways Drive Traffic to Your Booth

How Trade Show Giveaways Drive Traffic to Your Booth

Anyone involved in product promotion knows a thing or two about trade shows. Getting out there and meeting potential clients still thrives in this age of digital marketing.

The face-to-face human interaction with tangible products isn’t something that’s easily replaced.

That said, going to trade shows and expecting instant success always results in failure. You can’t just show up and expect people to take interest in your product.

Remember, you’re surrounded by hundreds of other companies promoting products similar to yours.

You need to stand out, and it needs to feel natural. The best way to reel in the casual onlooker? Free stuff.

Driving foot traffic to your booth is easily accomplished through taking advantage of people’s desire for free things.

“Free” makes people feel special. That they somehow deserve something for nothing. Giving away a certain amount of product can increase end revenue.

Let’s take a look at the best trade show giveaways to drive traffic to your booth.

Trade Show Giveaways: Raffles

People can’t resist a spinning the wheel of chance, so long as it doesn’t cost any money.

Companies that utilize trade show raffles can capture a large audience with the allure of free things, while also collecting product information and spreading brand awareness.

Raffles are easy to run, but there are two crucial mistakes that will limit the effectiveness of your raffle.

First, why does everyone give away free iPads? Apple is laughing all the way to an already enormous bank account with every iPad raffle.

Instead, give away your own product during the raffle. People at a niche trade show are likely to have inherent interest in what you’re selling.

Free products equal free word of mouth advertising.

Second, make sure you take something in return for the raffle entry. Not money, but email addresses and phone numbers work well.

You can build your list of potential clients immensely through a simple raffle sign-up form.

Games

If there’s anything people like more than getting free stuff, it’s competing against other people to earn free stuff.

Set up games at your booth and watch the competitive nature of humans take over. Any game will work, from guessing marble counts, to trivia, to photo contests.

The only type of games we advise against, are those that take practice to master. Accessibility is important to draw even casual competitors to your booth.

Run the game set up just like your raffle. You’ll want to collect something from every person that participates.

Although, if giving up contact information is scaring people away, try only requiring contact info from game winners.

People are more apt to give up contact information if it means claiming their prize.

Don’t Forget The Basics

Don’t get so caught up in offering trade show giveaways that you forget the basics of face-to-face marketing.

Always keep a friendly smile, spark up conversations with onlookers, and look approachable.

There’s only so much free products can accomplish if everyone at your booth is scowling and unapproachable.

Oh, and one last thing. Know your demographic. Don’t market your booth with hip hop at a convention aimed towards the elderly.

Trade show giveaways are an excellent way to draw traffic to your booth. They entice people, provide free product promotion, and help collect contact information.

Just remember, free doesn’t mean instant success. You’ll still need to interact with the clientele. Trade show visitors are people, not just potential sales.