Gain the highest ROI
possible for marketing dollars spent
By: Dr. Leslie Garrett
__________________________________________________________
Lead
generation tactics can range from spur of the moment safety-net initiatives
thought-up out of necessity to well-planned and strategic initiatives that
require preparation and pre-event marketing months in advance of the event. Regardless of the tactic, getting prospects
to the booth is one aspect, having a well-trained booth staff who can engage
them in conversation or a demonstration is another.
Hitendra Patil, Chief Operating Officer of Pransform,
Inc. explained how his
booth staff changed their approach which resulted in a more successful
interaction with prospects while working the booth, “We used to talk about
features and what our technology provides, but now we begin every conversation
by sharing the benefits our customers have shared with us which seems to
resonate with attendees quickly.”
The following list represents lead generation tactics -- some new ideas
and some tried and true.
1 1.. Value-added
collateral (i.e. White Paper or survey results).
Giving away value-added collateral is a great way to showcase
thought-leadership in an industry. If
leveraged well, much like the badge scanner, it becomes a great tool that
allows the sales team to conduct a more targeted follow-up. Ideally your
marketing person will know how to leverage collateral as a lead capture tool
used to gather prospect data which will allow for more intelligent
follow-up.
2. Seating area. Seating in the exhibit hall area can
be difficult to come by which is intentional.
Event organizers want to encourage attendees to keep moving through the
exhibit hall. You can take advantage of this by creating a seating area. Rent an additional booth space and encourage
attendees to be seated to watch a demo.
3. Pre-event postcard mailer. Pre-event mailers should ask the
recipient to stop by the booth, provide the booth number, and perhaps some
incentive to visit the booth. Mailers
can be expensive; there are ways to minimize costs.
Michael Giardina, CEO of Office Tools Pro shared his cost-saving approach to mailers, “Even though we may only do a
mailer for a group of 300 at one time, we print 5000 postcards. We leave a
space to print the booth number for an event which allows us to customize the
mailer for each event. Our cost savings
are in the printing.” As for
effectiveness of the postcard mailer, Giardina commented about several
attendees producing their post card mailer when they approached his booth.
4. Give-a-Ways.
Giving away pens, gadgets and widgets does entice attendees to walk by
your booth, however leaving the merchandise out where it can be easily scooped
up without a conversation will not result in leads.
A tactic when using give-a-ways is to have the
item deeper in the booth space, or have booth staff hold on to the item and
offer it to passers-by while making the effort to engage them in a brief
conversation. Francesca Zelasko, Channel
Marketing and Program
Manager at SurePayroll commented, “Year-after-year the attendees come looking
for SurePayroll’s booth to discover what new goodies we have, it works well for
us. We always try to offer something
that would be of value to the prospect as well as help promote the SurePayroll
name,” said Zelasko.
1 5. Food and/or beverage
·
Candy. Catering to attendees’ sweet tooth is
a surefire way to get people to walk up to your booth; however, keeping them at
the booth beyond a one-second snatch-and-grab is the key to this being
successful. At a recent event PayChex handled this well.
They used a shelving unit in their booth with “fill-your-own-bag” self-service
area for attendees. This setup required
attendees to spend time at the shelving unit and scoop their selections into a
bag. This tactic gave the booth staff
time to swoop in for a conversation.
·
Popcorn or ice cream. The smell of fresh popcorn will draw a
crowd. If you are exhibiting the Midwest Accounting and
Finance Showcase
in August 2013,
there is a good chance the ILCPA will have their popcorn machine going and you
will find a long line of attendees standing around waiting for their popcorn. A
savvy exhibitor could take advantage of this by offering free bottled water --
or smarter yet -- a coupon redeemable at your booth for free bottled water.
Much like popcorn, attendees will stand in line for free ice cream
2 6. Games. The purpose of a game is to attract
and keep attendees at the booth long enough to engage them in
conversation. If you use a game your
booth staff should be out in the walkway recruiting prospects to play the
game.
3 7. Register
to Win. Drawings will attract
attendees. Requiring a business card as their entry to win will ensure you have
correct contact information. For the
booth staff at Office Tools Pro, getting the attendee’s business card is only
the beginning of their lead capture process.
They have refined their tactics and efficiently collect qualifying
information while conversing with attendees -- writing coded notes on each
business card -- which enables their sales team to make more pointed follow-up
calls immediately after a show.
4 8. Booth
attraction (i.e. Luggage tag laminator, photo booth, massage chair). Shorten the sales cycle by promoting
your booth attraction to your existing database of prospects.
5 9. Professional
photographer. Offer a professional head shot to prospects
and clients. Market to your top
prospects well in advance of the event to ensure they secure a photo shoot time
and arrive dressed for their picture.
6 10. Badge
Scanner. This technology cannot
be beaten in terms of efficiently capturing data on booth attendees. Badge
scanners are exceptionally valuable when you to identify personalized
qualifiers that enable your sales team to conduct a more targeted follow-up.
Discuss Your Plan B
Despite your efforts in planning lead generation initiatives that gain the highest ROI
possible for marketing dollars spent, there is always a chance you will be forced to go with Plan B,
improvising as a result of some unplanned factor such as collateral or a booth
not arriving. If this happens to you, consider renting a 6x6 screen and
projector, or a large flat-panel monitor and try to make the best of the
situation. Be prepared for unplanned
event setbacks; discuss Plan B with your team.
About the Author
Dr. Leslie Garrett serves Edge Marketing, Inc, as a marketing
optimization analyst with expertise in marketing, public relations, and management.
She is instrumental in leading Edge's corporate consulting and Search Engine
Optimization website analytics services.
