10 Reasons Why it is Worth the Money to Have a Presentation in Your Booth
When walking around the trade show floor, I am constantly amazed at how many exhibitors I see who do nothing to encourage attendees to enter their booth. Having a booth presentation is a strong way to make a statement, and encourage attendees to stop, look, and listen.
The possibilities are endless…presentation theater, game show, product demonstration, magician, booth tour, interactive competition, roving reporter, you name it…but they all do the following:
- create a “buzz” in your booth
- draw attendees out of the aisle and into your booth
- provide education and information to a large amount of attendees simultaneously
- prequalify attendees
- locate “hot leads”
- introduce attendees to company employees for more in-depth discussion
- maintain a positive environment in the booth
- motivate company employees throughout the duration of the trade show
- provide a positive first impression of your company
- take some of the pressure off your company employees
Just imagine accomplishing all of those goals with just one item at your next trade show…a booth presentation!
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[...] – For more, read Barta on 10 Reasons to Have a Presentation in Your Booth. September 30th, 2009 | Tags: Booth Staff, Presentations, tradeshow | Category: Presentations [...]
Great thought Emilie! I too am constantly amazed at the inaction of most exhibitors. What a great opportunity for those that ARE awake!
A decent presentation is a great idea. Although it needs to be carefully set up & monitored by the Staffers to isolate the hot prospects. Lack of activity is indeed the death knell of an exhibit.
I don’t think it takes the pressure off the company employees though – it gives them a better focus & they need to be furiously WORKING the crowd!
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Colin.
What I meant by “take some of the pressure off your company employees” is that having a theater-style presentation puts the pressure on the Professional Trade Show Presenter to attract the attention of the attendees in the aisles, rather than the company employees. Company employees are fantastic at standing at attention and waiting for attendees to approach them and ask them questions. Unfortunately, I find most company employees do not feel comfortable actively engaging attendees who are in the aisle and who are not on a direct path to the booth.
However, when a Professional Trade Show Presenter is on the microphone, inviting attendees into the booth, giving a presentation, and becoming the attention-getter, the company employees tend to get caught up in the excitement and gain some confidence. My clients are constantly amazed at how many attendees I get into the booth who had never even heard of the company and/or who had no intention of spending time with the company. And when those attendees turn into paying customers, my clients say “WOW!”
Make sense? Have a great weekend!!
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Hi Emilie, I saw a very bad example of this just last week. The company had a very expensive, very cool interactive tool in their booth that had they invested a bit more in a professional presenter like you, it would not have just been taking up space.
Because they did not have anyone engaging with people and showing them how the tool actually worked and why it was there, it sat unused the entire show. Not only was this a missed opportunity but a colossal waste of money. Sadly I’ve seen this happen way too often. Just because you build it does not mean they will come.
Exhibitors…please, please, please figure in the cost of a professional presenter into your booth budget if you are demoing anything. The ROI is definitely there.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 10:43 am
Thanks for your comment and your observation, Traci!
Product Launches are one of the most effective tactics at a trade show because you have a captive audience that wants…and needs…to know about your new offering. But that captive audience is hurrying down the aisle, so if you do nothing to get them out of the aisle and in to your booth to actually learn about the product, it is merely “taking up space” as you mentioned.
I wonder how many attendees would have eventually purchased the product had they actually know it was there, were educated on it, were showed how it worked, and were thinking of how it could fit into their business? Just something to ponder…
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Couldn’t agree more. In the late 1990s and early 2000s we used to do some fantastic stuff for a local insurance company: theme decor, games, prizes, costumes, and characters. At boring insurance trade shows, they were the hit of the show. People would line up to play their games, and their leads went through the roof. Our client was awesome at choosing giveaways that weren’t the most expensive, but were always the most desired of the show. Even other vendors started to choose their locations for the next year’s show based on where this company chose their space, just to be near the traffic.
Then they got bought out by a larger, multinational insurance company. The suits rolled in, the stodgy corporate booths came back, and even our contacts wound up leaving the company.
Whenever I see someone sitting at a booth in a suit, stacks of brochures lying about, arms folded, and their opening line as you pass by is “Want a *insert lame giveaway here*?” I always think of those booths and wonder why nobody seems to get it…
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That is a great example, Brandt…thank you so much for sharing it! I get frustrated when I see exhibitors sitting around in a non-interactive booth environment. Why aren’t they doing ANYTHING to attract attendees to their booths…why aren’t they making connections…why aren’t they having fun? I guess it’s because they don’t like getting new business and closing sales!
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The combination of a great trade show booth presenter and great technology can truly help companies communicate sophisticated solutions and close business. Using interactive technologies within your booth space can engage participants to interact with virtual product models or entice prospects to learn more about your company/brand. Proper booth staff education is the key. An added benefit is also the ROI they may be saving by no longer shipping product to trade shows, but rather showing 3D virtual replications that look, act and behave just like the real products. Customers can zoom, spin, turn and engage with them like never before.
Again, technology is king if used properly by professional presenters within your trade show environment!
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Thank you for your comment, Dana! As I am a big believer in “seeing is believing,” it is integral for an exhibiting company to have their product or service in the trade show booth to show the attendees what they are talking about. And if it is cost or space prohibitive to ship the product to the trade show, technology such as 3D replications is a great alternative.
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