Your trade show sales and advertising plan should inform any executive at your company why it's a great idea for you to be exhibiting at the trade show you are planning to select. Consequently, it's critical to include in the plan quantifiable, measureable targets and goals for the show. As you create your goals, you will want to bear in mind that when the show is over, you will need to gauge your success in regards to how well you achieved these targets and objectives. Keep them reasonable.
First, you need to have targets and objectives for the products and services area of your company. If your company offers a multitude of products and/or services, then you are going to have to narrow your focus in this area to just a few objectives. As you begin to do this, it's imperative that you keep in mind the requirements, needs , and objectives of your key prospects who will be attending the trade show. What services and goods do you offer that are going to be most interesting to your most important visitors?
Goals in the products and services areas need not be sales-based. As an alternative, they should be based primarily on Return on Objectives (ROO) which relates to activities and whether they were accomplished. Objectives that might fall into this class could include any of the following:
- An explanation of benefits, features, and information
- A side by side comparison of your products or services with other solutions or vendors
- A demonstration of an improvement in a service or a product
- A spotlight on a new product or service
The second grouping for which you ought to have specific objectives and goals is specific sales and marketing topics. Even if you will already be engaged with your qualified leads when it comes to this topic, do not focus on just the potential sale! Think out of the box a little with this topic and network with some other departments in your company. Is project management or is the product development team working on something that could benefit from exposure at this trade show? Ask around. You may be surprised at what you learn and the new possibilities that grow.
Keep under consideration that each time you exhibit at a trade show, you ought to establish a new promotional plan for that show. Except that,when it comes to the networking as a goal in itself, you will probably notice that your goals and objectives are the same everywhere, show to show. It's likely the only true difference you can see in this target area is quantitative - the number of events and contacts you target for the show will change depending on the specific show.
At the end of the goals and objectives section of your marketing and sales plan, you will want to list your specific measureable goals. These goals are what you should track to ascertain how successful your exhibition at the trade show really was. Examples of specific goals could be:
- Make contact with a certain number of key prospect decision makers.
- Set up a certain number of sales meetings per salesperson to take place at the show.
- Establish a certain number of new leads.
- Have a certain number of meetings with the media at the show.
When you get to the trade show, and during the course of the show, you will be able to tell who planned for the show and who did not plan. You are going to see how much better your team looks and how much more effectively your team functions just because you took care to prepare for the trade show and set these goals.
First, you need to have targets and objectives for the products and services area of your company. If your company offers a multitude of products and/or services, then you are going to have to narrow your focus in this area to just a few objectives. As you begin to do this, it's imperative that you keep in mind the requirements, needs , and objectives of your key prospects who will be attending the trade show. What services and goods do you offer that are going to be most interesting to your most important visitors?
Goals in the products and services areas need not be sales-based. As an alternative, they should be based primarily on Return on Objectives (ROO) which relates to activities and whether they were accomplished. Objectives that might fall into this class could include any of the following:
- An explanation of benefits, features, and information
- A side by side comparison of your products or services with other solutions or vendors
- A demonstration of an improvement in a service or a product
- A spotlight on a new product or service
The second grouping for which you ought to have specific objectives and goals is specific sales and marketing topics. Even if you will already be engaged with your qualified leads when it comes to this topic, do not focus on just the potential sale! Think out of the box a little with this topic and network with some other departments in your company. Is project management or is the product development team working on something that could benefit from exposure at this trade show? Ask around. You may be surprised at what you learn and the new possibilities that grow.
Keep under consideration that each time you exhibit at a trade show, you ought to establish a new promotional plan for that show. Except that,when it comes to the networking as a goal in itself, you will probably notice that your goals and objectives are the same everywhere, show to show. It's likely the only true difference you can see in this target area is quantitative - the number of events and contacts you target for the show will change depending on the specific show.
At the end of the goals and objectives section of your marketing and sales plan, you will want to list your specific measureable goals. These goals are what you should track to ascertain how successful your exhibition at the trade show really was. Examples of specific goals could be:
- Make contact with a certain number of key prospect decision makers.
- Set up a certain number of sales meetings per salesperson to take place at the show.
- Establish a certain number of new leads.
- Have a certain number of meetings with the media at the show.
When you get to the trade show, and during the course of the show, you will be able to tell who planned for the show and who did not plan. You are going to see how much better your team looks and how much more effectively your team functions just because you took care to prepare for the trade show and set these goals.
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