“Gearing up for a trade show is like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle. Pieces can come up missing, but companies should do their best in advance to make sure it all fits together to their advantage.” – Susan Friedmann, “The Tradeshow Coach”
Most companies spend the bulk of their budget on travel expenses and purchasing the display items needed for the physical experience. However, there are so many cost-efficient tactics that can be employed to optimize your brand’s presence. It’s time to think bigger than TV screen presentations and free t-shirt giveaways — and it’s time to get qualified sales leads to use after the show.
Think about your overall strategy. When your company starts planning for upcoming trade shows, it can be easy to focus on checking off your to-do list instead of the overall strategy of what you want to accomplish at each event. Redirect your planning purpose by asking yourself questions like:
- How will we generate leads?
- What will the booth experience be like?
- What action do we want people to take when they visit our booth?
Focus on cultivating leads and following up later. Speaking of leads, trade shows are a great place to connect and bring qualified leads to your sales team. Consider doing more than just scanning a badge. Consider a giveaway in the booth where attendees need to provide their information to enter. After the trade show, follow up by sending attendees an email to download your latest white paper or follow up with information on a product demonstration.
Promote your trade show experience before the show for a two-fold strategy. By sending a pre-show email you can benefit by 1) opening the door for remarketing tactics to take advantage of their interest during and after the show and 2) boosting foot traffic during the event. For example: Send out an email with a form — let’s say it’s for a trade show raffle prize. Then send a confirmation email stating that bringing their ticket number to the booth will earn them three more tickets for the raffle prize.
Even if they don’t fill out the form, if they click with the email on other promotions, you can retarget them later using Google or Facebook remarketing (you know, the ads that follow you around after you’ve visited a site). You might not love these ad tactics personally, but the data shows they can be super drivers of conversions, especially with an offer attached.
Keep your audience engaged on and off-site. An integrated approach can reach and engage your audience before, during and after the show. Set your trade show strategy apart by engaging your offsite audience and making them feel like they were at the show, too. Think about options like Facebook and Instagram Live.
Find ways to integrate technology within your booth. As technology continues to evolve, there is a great opportunity to create an experience in your booth using things like augmented reality (AR) and touch screens. For example, some LF clients have brought their products to life at trade shows by using AR that demonstrates how their equipment or product works. We’ve also seen clients showcase videos in their booth with touch screens to create an interactive experience. It makes a big difference when someone has an experience in your booth that drives them to want to learn more. Make sure your booth is staffed with appropriate sales and product team members to have the right discussion with potential customers. If they are a qualified lead, consider offering additional incentives if they share their information or sign up for additional experiences.
Do you like some of these ideas? Well this is just the tip of the iceberg! Connect with our team at LF for help with a strategic plan for an upcoming trade show or other creative ideas. We’re always ready and willing to help!
What if food could make the world a better place? It can. And the food to do it is ham. Lessing-Flynn partnered with the National Pork Board to launch Hams Across America, a charitable campaign that has Americans giving and going ham.
The Objective
Develop a pay-it-forward holiday campaign that encourages Americans – from pork producers to pork lovers – to come together through the irresistible power of ham. We envisioned a campaign that would inspire people to give a ham to friends and loved ones, or members of their community who may be in need. The vision was clear. So it was time to get to work.
The Solution
The Hams Across America campaign launched during the 2016 holiday season with the goal of uniting Americans through a shared love of ham. The strategy included developing an animated video introducing the campaign, social graphics and traditional PR tactics. Utilizing the #RealPigFarming social media channels allowed us to share stories of pig farmers making donations to a wide audience. In 2017, we increased the reach of the campaign with a large launch event and donation to the Iowa Food Bank, and followed this with daily stories of additional donations.
The Results
America went ham! In its first year, the #RealPigFarming social pages shared stories of 32,600 hams and pork product donations. We built on that success in the second year when more than 2.4 million pounds of pork were donated, and 39 stories of donations were shared on the #RealPigFarming social media channels. In all, posts had more than 200,000 impressions combined in just one month. That’s a lot of ham!
In 1993, Gary Sage set out to create a system for a better oil change. His idea was simple: create a machine that would eliminate oil spills on the ground or on himself. After some initial trial and error, the Sage Oil Vac system was born. Sage quickly realized that his invention would not only be cleaner for the average jobsite but environment as well. Not to mention it cut oil change times in half. Today, the ever-expanding Sage Oil Vac on-site fluid handling and maintenance products have made their way into a number of industries including oil and gas field service, heavy equipment fleet operators, generator maintenance, rental fleet companies and more.
The Problem
Knowing the history of Gary’s initial goal when he created the Sage system, it was well-established that one of the biggest jobsite pain points was the mess that comes from changing oil. Our challenge was straightforward — how can we promote one of the most sought-after benefits of Sage Oil Vac equipment: its cleanliness. We know Sage equipment reduces oil changing hassles, mess, expense and time — but getting customers to understand the main benefit (LESS MESS) and eliminate their pain point was our first priority.
We drew inspiration from Sage’s attendance at CONEXPO where customers continually shared how they needed a system to make changing oil faster, easier and of course… cleaner. Competitor research executed via trade publications relative to the Sage Oil Vac consumer audience showed us that their competitors were doing just what we expected — ads with boring equipment photos including lists of features and benefits. While that’s all fine and dandy… is this strategy really going to grab anyone’s attention in all the advertising noise? Probably not. It was time to go to the drawing board.
The Solution
The following Lessing-Flynn brainstorm sessions were filled with crazy ideas — but then someone said, “Hey, what if we made a guy in a tuxedo use some Sage equipment?” That was when we all sat up. It was ironic, creative and different. That day, “The Cleanest Man on the Jobsite” concept was born.
Not only did this take a more relaxed and playful approach, than many of their rough-and-tough competitors, it actually spoke to the primary benefit — ending the work day as clean as you started. With the headline and theme determined, applying the creative look was either going to make or break the concept. We knew tossing a guy in a tux out onto a jobsite was nutty — but, with a well-executed photoshoot and the right applications, we knew we could carry this campaign home.
The Results
This campaign launched in June and has continued to bring in big successes with high engagement and reach. You can find the “Cleanest Man” creative on Sage Oil Vac’s social media channels, in their paid media strategy, company swag and we even incorporated it into their ICUEE tradeshow booth. The campaign’s video “So Fresh, So Clean” also won a 2019 Gold Addy Award from the American Advertising Federation. We’re so excited to see so many opportunities for this campaign and as it continues to grow legs in other avenues, Lessing-Flynn will be ready to execute each tactic with the same quirky creativity from initial brainstorm.
Late last fall, our client, the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives, came to us with an issue — the lives of their members’ employees were at risk, and they needed help. Utility workers who were working on the side of Iowa’s roadways were experiencing too many close calls with distracted drivers.
The Problem
It might be hard to believe that the men and women who put their lives on the line every day working with high-voltage power (sometimes elevated as high as 150 feet in the air) have to worry about a little traffic on the road. Thanks to proper training and countless safety procedures, they know how to do their job safely — it’s really the people like you and me putting them at risk. Distracted drivers and ignorance of Iowa’s move over or slow down law combined to create a dangerous work environment for utility workers.
Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives checked with other electric utilities in the state to see if they too were experiencing the same issue. They talked to all of them – Alliant Energy, Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, ITC Midwest and MidAmerican Energy. All had the same issue. In fact, in the first half of 2017, MidAmerican reported more than 500 incidents of motorists striking utility structures, including utility poles. Thankfully, there have been no fatalities yet, but it could be a matter of time before the unimaginable happens. These electric utility organizations wanted to educate driver about the state’s move over law proactively.
The Solution
With all five Iowa electric utility organizations in agreement, they looked to Lessing-Flynn to suggest a campaign and a plan for a state-wide public service announcement. Eager to help, we assembled our team for a brainstorm. We brought our creative minds to the table and developed a coordinated plan of action to reach Iowa’s drivers from all angles. The strategy included elements of digital marketing, public relations, media pitches, social media marketing, print ads, radio, bill stuffers and more.
We shared a variety of creative ideas that ranged from jaw-dropping to safe, and ultimately, all five organizations agreed on a witty concept that sarcastically reminded drivers to be aware. The “Move Over” campaign was born. In this campaign, a strong call to action encouraged drivers to pay more attention and take an online pledge to move over or slow down for utility vehicles, and then share the pledge on their social networks.
While we were at work on the campaign, our client had another effort underway — lobbying the state legislature. Within one legislative session, the governor signed a bill that expands the law requiring Iowa drivers to move over or slow down for emergency vehicles to now include bucket trucks and other utility vehicles. We coordinated the launch of the campaign and MoveOverIowa.com to coincide with the effective date of the new law on July 1, 2017. Using the materials we provided, our clients (now five of them) distributed the press release, pitched to media and shared social media messages via their respective channels.
The Results
Our combined efforts culminated on July 10, when Governor Kim Reynolds held a press conference where she signed the Move Over pledge and declared the week as “Move Over or Slow Down” Awareness Week. Nearly all major news outlets across the state – including print, news and radio – shared stories and articles to raise awareness among drivers. To date, thousands of users have visited the landing page, and the pledge has been shared hundreds of times across Facebook and Twitter.
On behalf of the Lessing-Flynn team, it was a pleasure to contribute to this powerful effort to protect lives. So, the next time you see flashing lights on the side of the road — do the right thing — move over or slow down.
Move Over Press Conference Photos
