Trade show giveaways: The right item for the right event (or placement)
In our business we hear it a lot: “What’s are the best promotional item for trade show giveaways?”
This invariably leads to a series of questions from us, or any good promotional products company. So, here are some of the things we look at when helping our clients choose items for a trade show.
Are giveaways even the right choice? Strange question from a promo products company, but very pertinent. Before deciding what to give away, look at what you’re trying to achieve and the audience you’re targeting. The mere mention of a trade show evokes the image of giveaways. But step back and really consider if that’s the right thing.
What are you trying to achieve? Keep in mind that there may be more than one goal. This is important, as exhibitors often select one giveaway to hand to everyone when in fact there may be several you want to have on hand. Some possible objectives:
Name exposure during the show
Attract attention to the booth (more, though perhaps not qualified, traffic)
Show appreciation / entice repeat business for good customers
Share / distribute information
Appeal to prospects.
Who are the prospects / recipients? This goes a long way to selecting the gift. Certain audiences have expectations or there may be rules / guidelines you need to follow (consider healthcare, financial services or other regulated groups).
Where is the booth located in the exhibit hall? We’ve all been there… one isle into the hall and we’ve amassed a half dozen unneeded pens shoved in our hands by overly assertive booth attendants. As your booth gets deeper into the hall, your giveaway needs to be more unique. Pens at the back of the hall will leave you with a lot to take home after the event.
When are you giving these items away? Before the show as part of an invitation, during as an enticement, after as a thank you / follow up? You can get very creative (and memorable) with more options.
Regardless of what you give a way, there are a few things that you should do.
Have all your attendants wear logo’d apparel; don’t let them hide in the show. The booth is home base, but it is not the only place to be seen. The purpose of the show is to gain sales traction at or away from the booth.
It’s okay (even preferable) not to hand a giveaway to every passer-by. Use the giveaways as a tool to engage attendees, not just bog them down with stuff.
Have “something extra” for higher value prospects. These are not displayed at the table, but something you pull out to hand to those prospects / customers on whom you want to make a big impact. If I’m spending a $100k and you treat me the same as everyone who passes by, I’m not so special and my experience with you won’t really stand out after the show.
Don’t rely on the giveaway as a crutch. These are tools to help get / keep attention, initiate engagement and show appreciation. But the value of your company comes from the people. All the cool stuff in the world won’t make up for poor product knowledge, unprofessional-ism, or being mentally absent from the show.
Have fun. If you don’t enjoy the trade show, meeting new people and talking about their business, then you may not be the right attendant at the booth. Enthusiasm is contagious. The opposite is also true. Be sure you have the right people, not just bodies.
There is more… lots more. But, it really comes down to understanding what you want to get from the trade show and whom you are targeting. Much of the time, there are multiple objectives and segments for trade shows, so keep your options open and don’t default to only one item.
As important as what you do, there are some pretty good “don’ts” as well. A good article from exhibitors online , sheds some light on this.