First, we must delineate between the virtual exhibits provided by show organizers and the ones developed by companies privately for their own use.  Often, virtual event organizers are offering a few stock designs that you can adjust the colors of and slap your logo onto.  Almost inevitably, your booth already looks eerily similar to others, possibly your competitor’s, so has no uniqueness or reason to elicit engagement.  Some higher end events do offer the option to develop a unique booth for you, but the cost is often exorbitant, the design limits are still restrictive, and the end product is not available for use to the client outside of the event.  Essentially the design becomes a one-time use, and at the next show the client will need to invest in another based off of what that show’s organizers are offering (if any).

A custom-tailored virtual exhibit offers much more flexibility for a company and Marketing Professionals.  Design-wise, it can be whatever the client wants.  It can be a 2D “flat” design of an in-line exhibit, or, a totally immersive and navigable 3D exhibit with multiple demos and information centers.  Some choose to emulate their existing booths, while others look at the relatively low development cost compared to a physical booth, and then decide to build the virtual booth of their dreams.  This is much better than choosing from a few stocked options and slapping your logo on it.

Another huge plus for privately developed virtual exhibits is that they are web-hosted at a unique IP address.  This means that the traffic to the exhibit can be monitored- giving insights as to who visited.  We recommend tying in questionnaires for the entry into a give-away in order for visitors to provide further qualifying information.  With this all being captured digitally, there’s markedly less chance of the lead getting lost as “sometimes” happens even at a live event.  Since the virtual exhibit lives at the web address, it can be used outside of specific virtual events as well.  Salespeople can send the link directly to clients and prospects at their will so can create a more private experience.  Marketing Professionals can use in pre and post event campaigns in order to reach more targets than just the ones that attend a virtual event, and then actually take the time to navigate a virtual floorplan.  Many clients create a tab to their virtual exhibit right on their main website’s landing page, and then also include a link to it from their Company Info/Bio page in the event’s directory.  The versatility of a web-hosted virtual exhibit means you can use it so many different ways in order to reach so many different people outside of the confines of a virtual event.

But many may ask, “why invest in a virtual exhibit when the return of live events is right around the corner?”.  For one, no one knows when that corner will be reached and live events will return.  We are  hoping Q3 of 2021, but we were also pretty optimistic when the pandemic first hit that live events would return in Q3 of 2020!  When they do return, the landscape will definitely be different.  In a recent study conducted by the Center for Exhibition industry Research, only 22% of respondents think that virtual will overtake live in-person events.  However 70% of them do think that a virtual component will need to be part of live events going forward.  Many companies have already put moratoriums on employee travel through the end of 2021, so those ones will not be participating when live events first return and number of exhibitors at these first live events will be greatly reduced.  With less exhibitors, comes less attendees then as well, so the hybrid model will be used and virtual will need to be utilized.  The reduction in attendees will also be precipitated by the initial reluctance to travel post-pandemic out of concerns of catching & potentially spreading CV-19 upon the return.  So, by investing in a custom virtual exhibit to compliment a live event’s activities, Marketing Professionals will be able to reach the targets that are initially not able to or not willing to travel or participate in these initial live events.  We have a few other ideas on this topic from a previous blog we published recently.

Nothing can replace the live event and what it does to bring people face-to-face in order to accelerate sales cycles and educate other companies and the public on what is the latest and greatest that companies have to offer.  But as we’ve seen increasingly in every aspect of our lives, digital technologies are being used more and more to market and educate consumers.  By investing in a custom virtual exhibit, companies can close the engagement gap created by the pandemic and utilize it as a lasting tool to compliment their face-to-face efforts.

This month’s blog post was authored by industry veteran, Nick Crumb.  Nick has over 10 years experience in our industry with Apogee and has helped execute hundreds of live events for his clients on a global scale.  

The post The Virtual Complement to Exhibiting appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

Customer-Centric Booth Design

On the day of the trade show, one of the most overlooked aspects of lead-capturing is how your booth is designed and laid out. Prospects are constantly walking up to your booth, and if your design is not customer-centric, many will keep walking. Part of the missed opportunity is due to your sales staff being busy with other prospects and not being able to greet every customer who walks through. But if your booth is designed to attract visitors and it allows them to engage themselves with your products, then you’ll be maximizing your booth’s potential—as well as your investment.

Consider that more than 80% of trade show attendees possess buying authority. These design tips will help you stop those valuable leads from passing you by.

Open Concept – Arrange your show booth so that it invites attendees to walk inside and around your booth. Design with space and entice them with creative product displays that encourage interaction.

Strategic Lighting – A smartly-lit booth can accentuate design features and create a warm environment. A well-lit display is essential, allowing visitors to easily view the important details of your products and graphics. Use lighting to brighten key areas of your exhibit, such as product displays and promotional materials.

Touch Screen Displays –  People love the opportunity to guide their own experience, so think of unique ways you can include touchscreen displays to accomplish that goal. Catalogs, virtual tours, company videos, and portfolios are all great ways visitors can interact with your products on their own time.

Want more ways to attract quality leads during your next trade show? Check out our free Ebook, “Beyond the Booth: Capturing Prospects During the Show”  that’s packed with advice like pre-show email campaigns, custom booth design, how to engage with your prospects, hosting seminars, and more.

You’ll also get access to our new Custom Timeline Generator tool to help you plan for your next big show!

The post How to Capture Prospects at a Trade Show appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

Before You Begin

Social media is best used as a visual platform. It’s important that whoever is posting to social media ensures every post has an image, and that all images are sized appropriately for the platform they are being published on.

Image Size Cheat Sheet

Facebook – Recommended upload size of 1,200 x 630 pixels
Twitter – Minimum size 440 x 220 pixels (a 2:1 ratio)
Instagram Image – Images will be resized to 1080 x 1080
Instagram Story – Recommended resolution is 1080 x 1920
LinkedIn – Recommended size for images or links: 1104 x 736 pixels

Our 20 favorite social media tips can help your team form your social media strategy ahead of your next trade show.

1. DEVELOP A DETAILED STRATEGY
2. SET CONCRETE GOALS
3. MONITOR SHOW HASHTAGS
4. FIND WHERE YOUR ATTENDEES ARE ENGAGING THE MOST
   Related: Check out our best Trade Show App for Exhibitors
5. CHOOSE THE RIGHT CHANNEL
   Instagram – Instant Photos and Videos
   Twitter – Bite-size Content Pre, During & Post-Show
   LinkedIn – Engage Your Professional Connections
   Facebook – Albums, Recaps, Longer Posts
6. DESIGNATE A SOCIAL MEDIA LEADER
7. ENCOURAGE THE WHOLE TEAM TO GET INVOLVED
8. USE THE SHOW HASHTAG
9. TELL EVERYONE YOU’LL BE TWEETING AND POSTING
10. PROMOTE MORE THAN YOUR BOOTH NUMBER AND GIVEAWAYS
11. LISTEN TO WHAT ATTENDEES WANT
12. SHARE SOMETHING VALUABLE
    Related: Read our Secrets to a Successful Trade Show Email Campaign
13. SHARE VALUABLE CONTENT FROM OTHERS
14. DON’T SOUND LIKE A CORPORATE ROBOT
15. JOIN THE TRADE SHOW CONVERSATION
16. SHARE ON-SITE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
17. SHOW YOUR FUN SIDE
18. CREATE YOUR OWN UNIQUE HASHTAG
19. GIVE VISITORS A REASON TO USE IT
    Host a Hashtag Contest – Scavenger hunt, Best Tweet, Photo, Video
    Host a Twitter Chat – Cover a hot topic, Facilitate a Q&A, Solve an Industry Problem
20. CONNECT WITH YOUR LEADS

The post 20 Social Media Tips For Trade Show Exhibitors appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

Communication Apps

Whatsapp

Whatsapp started out as Android’s answer to iMessage but has since become one of the most popular messaging apps. It ensures your team can stay in contact with each other during the unpredictable travel process and during the event itself, so that no one will be left uninformed or out-of-touch from the team.

Asana

Asana is an all-in-one solution for team communication. It works as a project management and communication tool. Users can view texts, IMs, emails, tasks, projects and deadlines from a bird’s eye view without having to jump from app to app or device to device.

Scheduling Apps

ShowGo Mobile

Designed for trade shows marketers, the ShowGo Mobile app allows event coordinators to communicate information to their sales reps by giving them automatic updates on scheduling, staffing, tasks and hotel arrangements quickly and efficiently.

When I Work

A popular scheduling app, When I Work allows booth staff to view their shifts, request shift trades and communicate with team leaders about scheduling. Team leaders can moderate requests as well as create and edit schedules and notify staff of any changes. This app is perfect for assigning shifts to your booth staff and updating schedules in real time.

Budget Tracking Apps

Expensify

The Expensify app is a great tool for expense report management, receipt and mileage tracking and overall budgeting for business travelers. The app keeps track of your expenses and even contains a feature in which photos of your receipts can be stored virtually. This app is great for budgeting during your trade show adventures.

Track My Budget

Track My Budget app is ideal for managing money and keeping track of spending. BudgetTracker is a complete online money management tool designed to keep track of all your transactions and bank accounts from a PC, mobile phone or iPad, making it perfect for monitoring your trade show budget. Keeping track of your funds while planning and executing a trade show can be difficult, but this easy to use app does all the work for you and your company while you are on the road.

Travel and City Guide Apps

Tripit

Tripit provides real-time flight alerts, allows you to locate alternate flights and even alerts you when better seats become available. Traveling to your event can be stressful, but this app takes most of the hassle out of flying.

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is one of the most popular travel apps and can serve as your guide to whichever city you find yourself in while exhibiting. TripAdvisor offers reviews of restaurants, bars, hotels and local attractions, offers suggestions on where to go and provides walking maps to ensure you never get lost.

Marketing Analytics Apps

Brandscopic

When it comes to event marketing, data can help you hone your trade show program. Brandscopic can help you capture event recaps, measure attendee demographics and learn more details about your audience. Insights garnered from Brandscopic can help you to set and measure goals from show to show so you can track your program’s progress and effectiveness.

QuickMobile

Quickmobile provides you with analytical data for each trade show that you attend along with meetings, conferences and other marketing events. Quickmobile will help you prove your trade show ROI with analytic insights built right in the event app. Quickmobile also features benefits like project management and content management for your website, making it one of the best trade show apps on the market.

These are just a few of the many event marketing and trade show apps available to help marketers exhibit better.

Learn more about how these apps can help you plan for your next trade show. Contact an Apogee expert today!

The post Best Trade Show Apps for Exhibitors appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

Here are 8 questions you can use to springboard an insightful discussion.

1. What Were Your Strengths & Weaknesses on The Trade Show Floor?

Identifying areas where you and your staff excelled on the show floor can help you assess the strong points in your trade show marketing strategy. After the show, sit down and outline areas where you and your team shined.

Points to Consider:

• Ask your booth staff members where they felt the team succeeded and when they felt confident while exhibiting
• Discuss how well-prepared and supplied your staff were on the show floor
• Highlight where competitors and other exhibitors may have fallen short and where your company succeeded

Just as you identified the good, you will need to assess the areas where your team fell short. By evaluating your weak points on the show floor right after the event, you are giving yourself a head start when it comes to planning for your next event.

Points to Consider:

• What potential opportunities did you miss?
• Did your prospects have questions you were not prepared to answer?
• Did you effectively communicate your brand and identity to attendees? If not, how can you improve your messaging and communication to visitors?

2. How Did You Measure Up To Your Competitors?

Trade shows are among the few times you’re surrounded by your competitors. It gives you the opportunity to analyze and assess their products, messaging and services. During show, take notes on your competition and study them to better gauge your position in the market. This can be tough to do during a busy show; designate one person each day to keep track of competitors so the work doesn’t all fall on you.

Points to Consider:

• Did your competitors outshine your company on the show floor? Was their booth larger, better designed, more expensive or filled with more attendees than yours?
• How deep and robust were your competitor’s product offerings?
• What products and services were your competitors promoting?
• What product features and benefits are they emphasizing in their marketing messaging?
• Highlight the key differences between your competitors, especially if these differences create opportunities for your company to take advantage of in the future.

3. How Effective Was Your Marketing Message With Prospects?

Your trade show campaign’s success can be directly measured by how effective your marketing message was on the trade show floor. An effective trade show marketing message should connect with the requirements, considerations and pain points of attendees to make certain that your products or services are attractive and distinctive from your competitor’s offerings.

Points to Consider:

• Insights: Did your marketing message effectually communicate the problems or needs of prospects and did your message address these issues with solutions?
• Benefit: Did your messaging articulate the appealing and distinctive benefits of your product? Did you give prospects a reason to choose you over your competition?
• Trust: Did your marketing message give prospects a reason to believe the promised benefit(s) can be delivered by your company?

4. How Successful Were Your Meetings with and Current Customers Prospects?

Meeting with clients and prospects face-to-face is one of the cornerstone goals of trade show marketing. When you review your trade show performance, make sure to keep an eye on how many quality meetings your team had with prospects.

Points to Consider:

• Were you prepared to answer prospect questions and concerns?
• Did you have sufficient private meeting spaces to engage your prospects?
• Did prospects seem genuinely interested in your sales pitch? How can you improve your pitch?

5. Determine the Quality of Your Leads and Lead Gathering Strategy

There are many strategies you can use to collect leads at a trade show. After the show, evaluate how effective your lead generation strategy was and how many quality leads you gathered as a result of your efforts.

Points to Consider:

• What strategies helped you gather the most leads, like giveaways, games, product demonstrations, or interactive technology and displays?
• How many of the leads gathered where of good quality and how many were less than desirable?
• Did your team beat its lead goal? If not, what are steps you can take to improve upon lead generation for future events?

6. How Can You Improve Your Trade Show Exhibit for Future Shows?

The design of your trade show booth can have a considerable impact on how many attendees you attract to your space. To make sure your trade show booth design is optimized for success on the trade show floor, ask yourself the following questions.

Points to Consider:

• Was your trade show exhibit traffic-friendly? Cluttered booths are often passed by prospects looking to make the most of their time on the show floor, so consider redesigning your exhibit if it lacked open spaces.
• Did your signage make a good first impression on your audience? If not, how can you make your signage more engaging and reflective of your marketing message?
• Which exhibit design features worked well and which ones did not? Are there any features you wish you had, like kiosks, counters or hanging structures?

7. What is Your Post Trade Show Follow-Up Plan?

One of the most important post-show steps is to properly execute the post-event follow-up plan. After the show, make sure that both your booth staff and your sales force know exactly what is expected of them once the show concludes. Before you head into your event, make a detailed follow-up strategy to guide future correspondence to your prospects and leads.

Points to Consider:

• Make sure leads are routed directly to sales staff so that they can follow-up promptly
• Trade show leads may sometimes be ignored by the sale team back at the office. Train your in-house team to follow a set follow-up strategy.
• Diversify your follow-up correspondence from show to show to avoid being repetitive and getting your messages ignored by prospects.

8. Was it Worth the Cost?

This question probably can’t be answered right away, since it can take weeks, months, or years to nurture a lead. But it’s a good question to end your analysis on. To help realize if the show was worth the investment, ask yourself the following questions.

Evaluating the Value of Your Show:

• How much did it cost to exhibit?
• How many qualified potential customers attended the event?
• How well did your brand, product or service stand out on the show floor?
• How important is the trade show within your industry?

By asking these key questions, you will be better able to pinpoint what went right, opportunities for improvement and ways you can bring even more value to your trade show program.

Learn more about how to evaluate your trade show experience by contacting an Apogee expert today or calling us at (315) 986-4600.

The post 8 Post-Trade Show Questions to Ask Yourself appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

Our free Ebook, “Use Content to Amp up your Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Trade Show Booth,” highlights how you can drive traffic to your booth with various content pieces like design elements, videos, white papers, infographics and live interviews.

What You’ll Learn

• The impact of powerful content
• How to create trade show videos  
• Organic vs. Paid: What’s the difference?
• How to use Apogee’s content strategy timeline

The post Use Content to Amp up Your Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Trade Show Booth appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

In this article, we’ll cover trade show email marketing best practices and help you devise an effective email strategy for your brand.

Your Target Demographic

Before drafting your first email, make sure you understand your core audience.

Is your target demographic likely to be receptive to your message? Will your target demographic be open to email communication? Are the members of your demographic buying influences within their organization?

The best way to answer these question is by forming a buyer persona of your ideal customer. Treat buyer personas like fictional characters; get to know their habits, personalities and consumer preferences, and outline their likes, dislikes and overall temperament.

You can create a buyer persona by looking at any data you have on your customers. The more information you have, the better. If you lack the right information, like your customers’ age, demographic, interests, etc… send a survey to your customers and use the responses to form your buyer persona.

Once you have created your buyer persona, you can use that information to inform your email subject lines, calls-to-action and promotions in your emails. Also, by nailing down your key demographic, you are maximizing the effectiveness of your event marketing campaign, which should lead to a greater ROI for your organization.

When planning emails for before, during and after your trade show, be sure to personalize the messaging to capture the reader’s attention. Timely messages give attendees a solid reason to visitor your booth, engage with staff and follow up afterwards.

Tip: Before you attend a trade show, get a list of attendees and create specific email campaigns tailored to their needs.

Send Emails throughout the Trade Show Marketing Cycle

Email is a vital part of any trade show marketing strategy. When reaching out to attendees before, during and after trade shows, it is important to keep an open line of communication and reinforce the connection through multiple touch-points. Keeping in touch with attendees and prospects nurtures the face-to-face relationships you’ve built.

Before the Show

The weeks leading up to a show are a crucial time for building buzz and motivating visitors to check out your booth. Long before the show opens, attendees should be anticipating the opportunity to connect and learn more about your products and services.

In pre-show emails, give attendees a reason to visit by including:

• Product launches
• Contests and giveaways
• Discounts and exclusive trade show offers
• Unique booth elements

When crafting pre-show emails, it is important to include the booth number and location so attendees can easily find you on the busy show floor. Additionally, share blog posts, resources and social media profiles for important brand insight. The more attendees know about your brand, the easier it is to qualify and convert during the show.

Need content ideas for your emails? Check out Apogee’s Top Trade Show Trends of 2019

During the Show

Emails sent during a trade show need to be drastically different from ones sent before a trade show. Your main goal of in-event email is to drive traffic to your trade show booth, not your website or landing page.

That being said, the same principles apply: conceive of an engaging message to share with your recipients, draft a relatable subject line and make sure that your email has a call-to-action (CTA).

Remind attendees about the benefits of visiting your booth by reinforcing key points from pre-show emails. It can be easy to overlook companies once attendees are caught on the bustling show floor. Email reminders sent during the show help keep your brand on their minds. Consider offering special giveaways to event-goers who received an email, extend one-on-one consultation invites or offer free limited-time product sample to drive traffic.

After the Show

After everything is packed away and it’s time to go home, your email outreach has just begun. Be sure to follow up with attendees who connected with your company at the show. Tailor your messaging to nurture leads based on their specific interests and buyer personas. Personalized emails are the key to capturing attendees’ attention and boosting the likelihood that they will convert. Additionally, craft an email that targets recipients that expressed interest in your company but were not able to visit.

Related: Plan Smarter with Apogee’s Trade Show Timeline

Create a Killer Subject Line

There is no magic bullet for the perfect subject line. Instead, focus on crafting subject lines between 30 and 50 characters that specifically relate to a call to action and–if possible–a reader benefit.

“Visit us at [name of show]”

Why it’s good: The call-to-action “Visit” is direct and clear. The reader will know exactly what the content of the email will aim to do.

Make it Better: Use language that teases the reader so they are enticed to open the email. Include more relevant information, such as specific location at the event or a reader-oriented benefit to visit.

“Why you should visit booth [1234] at [name of show]”

Why it’s good: While still being clear and concise with the call to action, this subject line tells the reader where, exactly, to find “us” at the show.

Make it Better: Spell out the benefit to the reader. What’s in it for them if they open?

“Sample our new hand lotion at [name of show] booth [1234]”

Why it’s better: This version of the subject line is very reader-benefit oriented, but still packs a ton of information in 46 little characters. Plus, the benefit – or the hook to entice an open – is within the first 35 characters of the subject line, which is ideal for mobile reading.

Bonus Tips

• A/B test subject lines to avoid potential issues with spam blocking software, and learn which subject your reader prefers
• Use a Call-To-Action (CTA) at the beginning of subject lines so the email is actionable

Design Emails that Work

With every email, you hope that a reader converts twice: once with the click and once with the purchase, conversion or lead capture form.

How to create emails that work are twofold: (1) Spell out the call to action as soon as possible and (2) make converting easy with a built-to-match-the-email landing page.

For example, if your event marketing goal is to increase traffic to your space at the event or trade show, place your “visit us” enticement high and early in the email (such as a “save 5% with this coupon” or “get a free exhibit hall pass” button). Having the call to action high in the email means that the reader will not need to scroll or read through the email before figuring out where to go.

Create an Effective Landing Page

If you claim in your email, “save 5% with this coupon,” the link should take a reader to a landing page where they could print out or request a coupon. If you send them to your homepage or a general “promotions” page, you run the risk of making the reader work too hard. The average web user expects to find what they’re looking for in less than five seconds. If you make them work too hard, the chances are high that they will give up and leave.

Additionally, it’s a good idea to include links to your social media pages and other relevant content on the landing page. This gives visitors an opportunity to learn more about your company and find valuable information they need.

Be Consistent in Your Efforts

Successful email marketers understand the importance of testing out different email approaches and the trial and error nature of email marketing. Not every email you send will be a home run. In fact, you may have some not-so-impressive campaigns before you finally hit your email marketing stride. However, that doesn’t mean you should give up, nor does it mean that what you are doing isn’t worth your time and effort.

Testing out a variety of tactics and strategies with your audience is a good exercise in helping you identify which emails they are most receptive to, hone your skills as an email marketer, and help you drive consistent conversation and buzz around your trade show marketing campaigns.

When used properly, email marketing is one of the most effective tools in an event marketers’ arsenal. As with every facet of event marketing, proper planning is key. So plan, execute and review as often as possible.

Talk to an Apogee expert and carve out a successful email marketing strategy for your brand. Contact Us or call (315) 986-4600.

The post Secrets to a Successful Trade Show Email Campaign appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

Two primary reasons to measure results at trade shows (and any special events you host) are to simply justify the expense on the investment in a trade show display or exhibit,  based on it’s return (we’ll discuss what type of return you may measure shortly), and to also provide a scorecard for effectiveness at specific events, as not all are created equally).  To continue to justify your investment in events you have to be able to identify what you’re measuring and why you’re measuring it.  ROI varies from event to event and also from year to year.

Here are 5 basic measurements that almost every company should be measuring:

1.) Cost per lead:  Simply put this is the overall cost of your event divided by the number of leads gathered.  Be careful here as you need to rank the quality of your leads (A,B,C) to ensure you are getting qualified leads.

2.) Return on Objective (ROO):  A list of specific goals for any event.  They can be “soft” less measurable goals such as new brand launch, product awareness campaigns, or something more quantifiable such as gaining qualified leads from specific vertical markets, or special private event functions within a trade show that showcase specific items or services to a more select audience.

3.) Exhibit budget versus actual cost:  Identifying your event marketing budget is hard!  There are many variables and it’s important to minimize any “surprise costs” after a show.  If your exhibit house isn’t helping you identify your budget you need to ask them to.  A very easy tool to use is past event history to help manage budgets and predict future costs.  Proper pre-event planning with your exhibit house is a must to help identify potential added costs.

4.) Post-show orders or sales:  What’s the life cycle of your selling process after a trade show?  How long does it take to turn a qualified lead into a future order or call to action?  In “The Cost Effectiveness of Exhibition Participation: Part I and Part II,” the Dallas-based Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), provides several stats that prove that, on average, exhibition leads take less time and money to close than field-sales leads.  According to the study, the cost of an initial face-to-face meeting with a prospect is $96 for an exhibition lead; whereas, without an exhibition lead, that figure is $1,039 (including $443 to identify the prospect prior to the initial sales call and $596 for the field-sales call). Thus, meeting a prospect at an exhibition versus finding and meeting a prospect in the field saves $943 per prospect.

5.)  Web and Social Media traffic (pre versus post event):  This is an important metric in this advanced digital age. It’s how your buyer’s now research your company, buy products, and live their lives!  Website and Social media are an integral part of your Exhibit plan.  It’s a “trickle” campaign that can indirectly nurture your leads from events.  Notice an uptick in followers and website visits after an event?  If so then you probably did some good social media marketing and website promotion beforehand.  These sites are where your future customers are going to further vet you so measuring this and promoting/driving traffic prior to and after your event is another important thing to measure.

Finally we should attempt to measure our overall ROI from any events.  This is a longer term analysis as you will need to know post-show revenue generated from the events.  One you have that the formula is relatively simple as this example below shows:

Of course this is just an example, but this shows that every dollar invested in Exhibiting is yielding a 2X return on investment.  Some events will be lower, some higher, but the importance is in the measurement to be able to justify or eliminate events.

We also offer a neat little ROI and show analyzer that can also help you evaluate events.  If you’d like to have this sent to you simply let us know

Now you are armed with the weapons you need to evaluate, measure, and hopefully justify your event marketing budgets!

The post Measuring Event Marketing Results: Things to measure to ensure Exhibiting makes sense appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

To fully understand your brand, you want to think about the entire experience one has with your brand and facilities. This includes everything from your logo, Mission Statement, and Website to your culture, workplace physical environment and consistency of message across all media. But that’s not all, everything connected to your brand should speak to the image you want it to reflect or reinforce.

In a nutshell, your brand is how your company is perceived both by outsiders as well as your employees.

Let’s look at 8 reasons why it is important that you develop a strong brand strategy on a global scale…

Branding Promotes Recognition
The old marketing “rule of seven” states that a prospect must notice a brand or message seven times before they will take action. Consistent branding will help your potential guests recognize your brand.

Branding Sets You Apart
It is critical to stand apart and be recognized through your brand. Iconic brands in history have been known by their visible logo or icon. You can look at a pepsi logo without the word Pepsi and know exactly who the brand is.  The same should be true in your industry if you want your brand to be recognized and able to set you apart.

Your Brand Creates Connection
A strong brand connects with people at an emotional level, leading to positive feelings and a stronger remembrance of why they interact with your brand in the first place. This can be felt by your visitors, your clients, and even your team. Your employees who promote your brand are key to this.  This is why a stong shared value statement associated with your brand by your employees is also important.

Branding Delivers On A Promise
What is your brands promise? Effective and consistent branding need to communicate the “promise” and the differentiator about you and your brand and organization.

Your Brand Communicates Your Core Values
Your brand experience illustrates your core values to your members, visitors, and community. Is the interaction with your company telling the right story about who you are and who you aren’t?

Your Brand Provides Motivation & Direction 
Your brand strategy provides the clarity that your staff and clients need to be successful in reaching collective goals. This needs to be communicated effectively everywhere!

A Strong Brand Leads To More Invitations
People love to tell others about the brands they like. A strong brand will make people more inclined to wear and share your brand, meaning greater awareness and more opportunities to refer business and identify and market successes and case studies that show why your company is important to do business with.

Branding Creates Clarity & Focus
It’s very easy to get sidetracked from your original goals or plans. A clear brand strategy helps you stay focused on your church’s mission and vision. Your brand can help you be strategic and will guide your efforts saving time and money.

The post Branding is so much more than just a logo appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

It is proven that face to face marketing events such as trade shows, private VIP events, and conferences are important and beneficial to an organizations growth, brand awareness and ROI.

It’s more than just a cool booth (which we love designing don’t get us wrong).  The work required to have a successful event has to begin months (if not years) prior to the opening of the show.  The moving parts required to have a successful event are numerous.  Brand building has to happen 24/7/365 in this new age of “get it now” information gathering.  Looking at an event after it happens to see that you received a rotten ROI is a great way to see what you did wrong.  So pre-event planning is more important than ever.  So here are our suggestions for effective management of your events, before, during, and after:

Pre-event planning:

Set measurable goals.  Determine why you’re going and what metrics you’re using to measure your results:  Number of visitors, leads generated, leads qualified, future appointments or actions, etc.

Develop pre-show announcements to be made prior to your event to engage and increase awareness.

Develop a top list of prospects by type that you are in search of and try to communicate in advance that you’re exhibiting and create a “call to action” for them to build awareness or interest.

Do a prequalifying call to prospects you think are attending and see if they want to schedule a one on one meeting.

List your events on your website and do some email marketing prior to events to “save the date”.

Engage your Exhibit house or display producer to ensure you have everything prepped and ready and they have all the information about your event so they can help you properly manage the logistics.

At your event:

Social media awareness is very important at this time.  Create hashtags and use the event hashtags to keep followers engaged.  These should be used frequently during your event and at any after-hours mixers or fun events as well.

Offer special incentives for qualified visitors to your booth.  Consider contests or games with prizes that are more than just cheap give-aways for qualified prospects only.

Research the best event management software you can use to capture lead data from attendees, manage follow ups, and track any results after the event (very soon after the event)!  There are some great tools out there from developer’s such as Exhibitforce, EventMobi, EventBrite and others.

Some exhibitor’s have found success in live-streaming from their booth about their event to build future awareness as well.

In today’s digital age instant follow up should be easy.  Collateral in your booth should be available electronically so you can instantly fulfill requests and schedule follow ups in the above mentioned apps.

After the event:

Ensure there is a “lead czar” who has assigned and is managing all your qualified leads.

By the time your event ends any requested information should have been communicated or at least followed up upon by a booth staffer to schedule a demo or appointment.

Send “thank you” for attending emails and create a call to action again in case they didn’t get in front of someone to meet specific goals or requests.

Have a booth staff meeting to review and see what you did well and what needs attention.

Engage your Exhibit house if you have one to ensure your booth properties are in show ready shape for your next event.

Review your total cost per lead and other metrics to gauge what this event did for you (or didn’t do for you).

This is just short list of things you can do on a regular basis to ensure you have a consistent event approach and can reap the rewards from being prepared and “show ready”.

The post Maximize your event marketing results by doing these simple things… appeared first on Apogee Exhibits.

When I began in this business in 1994 the biggest challenge we faced was how to get a VCR to play a looping video of a client’s promotional material.  Netscape Navigator was the first commercially launched web browser, and folks like Amazon, Yahoo, and YouTube were only in their beginning stages.  Attendees back then were engaged by (hopefully) savvy booth staffers who knew how to engage, qualify and present their companies products or services.  The booth staff drove the presentation.  Technology as it is today didn’t exist and most was used for general presentations and was not at all interactive.

Fast forward to 2018.  There are now an estimated 45 billion, Yes BILLION! Web sites and roughly 4 billion web users.  Many of those users are now strolling the show floor looking to “interact” with you and your exhibit.  Only this time it’s different.  Your booth visitors want to run the presentation!  They want to decide what they look at and how they interact with it.  The current-day attendee wants information and wants it fast.  How we communicate it is very important in the digital age of social media, web, and interactive engagement.

A recent 2017 Floor Engagement Study done by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research found that over 75% of all attendees visiting an exhibit want to interact with products or information (see, touch, manipulate) and over 90% want to be approached an engaged by a booth staffer.  These are two driving factors that keep attendees engaged within a booth space.  The first is the quality of the booth staff interaction and behavior.  The second is how the attendee is engaged by the staff and exhibit.  In most cases an attendee wants to drive the information gathering, not be force-fed by an unqualified staffer.  This is why staff engagement along with supporting technology that an attendee can interact with is so important.

In today’s trade show environment an atmosphere of discovery is a must.  Attendees must be drawn into exhibits with dynamic examples of new products, technologies, or services.  Moving imagery, smartboard demonstrations, interactive touch screens and attendee driven interfaces are crucial to keep the folks in your booth engaged so you can further qualify and present your case.

A growing trend amongst larger exhibitors (over 60% of these folks employ this tactic) is to feature “Creature comforts” such as plush seating/meeting areas, charging stations, and food/beverages.  This tactic is seeing increased use by exhibitors as well.  Implementing just a few of these tactics will keep your audience engaged and allow your booth staff to do their job and promote your brand at the face to face level!

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