Trying Something New With Tradeshows

[KristineS]

I'm not sure how many of you do tradeshows on a regular basis, but the company I work for does between 8 - 12 per year. In the past we've always handed out bags with samples of our products and our catalog and other literature, only to find that a lot of the people attending the shows take the bags home and drop them in their workspace and don't look at them again for months. Putting together the bags is a huge expense in labor and product and it isn't worth doing if no one is trying the samples.

This year, we're doing something different. We've created a sample card that people can use to request samples from us after the show. You can use a QR code, go to a special URL or call us and request any or all of the samples that we've given out in the past, and get them for free. The difference is that you have to request the samples and that they'll come to you specifically, not be mixed in with all the stuff that gets picked up at a trade show.

Our first test of this new program will be the beginning of March. I think it has the potential to be effective and save us money. Has anyone else tried something similar to this?

[lucas.bowser]

I've never worked for a company that took this approach, but my first reaction is you may be focusing on the wrong thing. You're focus seems mostly on reducing your trade show costs, as opposed to focusing on increasing the effectiveness of your trade show materials (just my impression. I could be completely wrong about this.)

The problem with trade shows are you tend to have three main types of attendees. People the company sent because that's just what you do, people who are using the trade show to get a company sponsored vacation and people who are actually looking to learn or solve a problem. What's critical is that you design your trade show booth to attract and quickly impact the learner/problem solvers, giving them enough information on the spot to turn them into a warm/hot lead. So my question to you is, what can you do at the trade show that will impress the attendee that they will have to open up that bag and find your stuff immediately when they get back to the office?

The company I work for has a division that makes product additives which increase the efficacy of various products. One such additive improves self-leveling cement. A couple years ago we introduced a 2 minute looping video at a trade show that showed how our product solved some of the unique challenges associated with this type of product. Our response was better than anything we had ever gotten before because we showed the industry a solution that they had never seen for something that was a pain point for all the major manufacturers. It's okay to have the material request card, so long as you have the materials that drive people to make the request. Otherwise you are reducing your costs while getting the same results. This is good, but may not be the best you can do.

[greenoak]

i just got back from a big trade show at the merchandise mart in chicago...as a buyer....to me, the main thing would have to be about the appeal of the product.... if i was interested then any special sample would be nice.... if i wasnt interested, or decided i didnt like it, then the sample wouldnt make much difference...

[Steve B]

I agree with Lucas. You will be successeful at reducing your expenses, but that's probably not really your company's goal. If too many people were not paying attention to the sample that was already given to them - then the percentage of effective samples is certainly going to go down if you're going to throw in a requirement that they go back to their office, then request a sample - then wait for it to arrive - then try it out.

[KristineS]

Good points and things that we did consider. I have to admit part of the idea was to reduce the costs of the samples we were sending out, but more because the samples didn't seem to be working than because we were concerned with the cost. We'll send out samples all day long if they do what they're supposed to do.

The problem with the shows is that everyone there is handing out samples, so you have people coming by with bags and bags of stuff. Many complain about all the stuff they're carrying and we know, from having done these shows for several years that most of the stuff goes back to the attendees homes and gets dumped in a pile. We've tried bags with our logo on them, we've tried giveaways, and nothing has seemed to speed up the cycle of taking the samples home and then trying them. We also know, from followup calls we've made, that our stuff tends to get lumped in with other stuff.

On the other hand, from tests in other venues, we do know that people who request samples tend to try them sooner, and are more likely to convert into customers. Something about the excitement of requesting a sample makes it more significant. We definitely see the samples get tried sooner, get more feedback on those samples, and have a better rate of conversion. Given that, it made sense to try something similar at a trade show. Our first real test of this will be in March, and we may discover it's a bad idea, but given our data, it seemed worth a try.

[Steve B]

That sounds like a logical thought process. I'm curious how it turns out.

Maybe you could hand out $1 or $2 bills (if they're still available) to anyone that gives you their business card and agrees to let you send them a sample after the show is over. You can tell them it saves you the effort of buying too many samples and lugging them all over the country for the show. This will probably cut back on the people that aren't serious about trying it because a couple bucks probably isn't enough for people to give you their business card if they definitely aren't interested. But, if they are, it may be enough to get their attention and make them willing to cough up their mailing address.

[henryz]

I'm sure most of the people who attend these shows are like myself, try to get every companies catalog and samples and hope that they can show it to their customers, what I think might work for you is give a sample of a unique product that only you guys carry, so when someone needs it you guys are the only ones that have it.

[lucas.bowser]

I wouldn't be so sure. I made 3 general classifications above which I would say covers 80%. The other 20% often had other reasons like looking for a job, seeking new clients, etc... I was usually went with a specific goal (and therefore a booth guys dream, since if I was stopping there I was already a warm lead.) If I didn't have a good reason to go, I usually sat that one out.

Again, I think an in-booth product demonstration with a wow factor is really the way to go. Having them request the sample is fine. If you really wowed them, and it is applicable to their situation, I think they'll request it. BTW... What is the trade show you're attending. Personally, I'm speaking from a manufacturing and software engineering perspective when I talk. Henryz and greenoak seem to be speaking from a retailer perspective. Knowing what it is that you're offering samples of would help as well.

[KristineS]

We sell embroidery and sublimation supplies for garment decoration. We do have an embroidery machine and a sublimation printer in the booth and do demos of our products. The people who attend the shows are people who own garment decoration businesses and are looking for supplies.

As for having a unique product, as HenryZ suggests, that's tough in this business. We have a few things we're working on right now, but they won't be ready for debut in March. We do have a thread brand that no one else in the U.S. can sell to commercial embroiderers, and that is one thing we capitalize on when we can.

SteveB - we don't take business cards, we scan the badges of everyone who visits our booth - so we do have all their contact and mailing information. It's not that people are reluctant to take the samples, it's that people take all the samples they can get and then have a huge pile of stuff to try when they get home and forget what samples came from where (despite labeling) or wait months to try things.

I think this is a great discussion and I hope it continues.

[lucas.bowser]

And what is so great about that thread brand when compared to the more commonly available thread brands? Does it solve a specific problem? Do people who sublimate (sounds very odd to say as an engineer) often do embroidery and vice-versa? What are the samples you give out?

I don't know much about the sublimation process. My understanding is that it's a transfer printing process that works best on light colored clothing. Other than that, I don't know much about it. Is there anything unique about your sublimation supplies? Is there knowledge that you have about the process that commonly exceeds that of your individual customers (i.e. not your customers collectively?)