Blog

Go Beyond Selling Products or Services  

Facing the trade show season can be daunting for the experienced and first-timers alike, because the whole of trade shows are just such a large undertaking and incredibly detailed. Not only do you have to pick the best events that are the best fit for your product or service, but you also have to attend to the myriad details involved in actually pulling it all off. One thing to keep in mind to keep from getting overwhelmed is to remember that trade shows are not really about your product, your service, your booth, your giveaways. Sure, that matters.  A LOT.  Still, what’s MOST important in the trade show world is {drumroll, please}. . . the PEOPLE. You already knew that, but it bears saying.  The connection between your company’s booth staff and your booth’s visitors is primary in every interaction. As you begin to think about how to connect with your attendees, remember the 5 Es of the trade show world. The 5 Es are based on research found in “It’s Not Your Father’s or Mother’s Trade Show Anymore – Engage with Caution,” an article hosted by CEIR Industry Insights Series.

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, trade shows, sales leads, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B, client relationships, booth staffing, experiential marketing, trade show promotions, trade show product displays, booth lighting

 10 IDEAS TO GET YOUR EXHIBIT NOTICED  

Some things take a larger amount of time and money to implement.  Here is a list of 10 fast and simple to implement ideas to get noticed.  Look to these quick, easy ideas to spruce up your booth environment to get the attention of attendees and set up for the best trade show yet.

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, trade shows, sales leads, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B, client relationships, booth staffing, experiential marketing, trade show promotions, trade show product displays, booth lighting

Which App is Right For Your Company?  

Well, we knew it was just a matter of time before even more technology began to grace the world of events and trade shows. Fortunately, when it comes to lead-capturing, the news is all good. More and more exhibitors are switching from the old rented badge scanners to mobile apps for gathering leads on the trade show floor. Unlike the badge scanners, which could take days to route information to you, these new mobile apps instantly provide you with customer data and much, much more. The ability to reply to leads efficiently and to automatically integrate the information with your CRM makes these apps invaluable for bustling trade show managers.

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, trade show leads, sales leads, B2B, trade show promotions, lead capture

Trade Show Marketing Wars: Twitter vs LinkedIn  

With over 575 million users, LinkedIn is every business’s go-to social network. For connecting with like-minded business owners and people locally, nationally and globally, it seems to be the obvious choice. Since it burst onto the professional scene in 2003, it has seemingly made networking faster and more powerful in the business world. However, a closer look at LinkedIn, its user trends, and its current growth reveals even more that affects your marketing dollars and clientele.

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, B2B, trade show promotions, trade show product displays, Twitter, LinkedIn, social media marketing

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, B2B, trade show promotions, trade show product displays

If you tend to think that living in a technological era isn’t really that big of a deal outside of cell phones, heated car seats, and Netflix, read the following statistics:

* Over 3.8 billion people use the internet daily; that’s about half of the world’s population.

* More than 570 new websites are created every minute.

* 340,000 tweets are sent a minute.

* 90% of the world’s data has been created in the last 2 years.

* Digital marketing and AI marketing are among the fastest growing new careers.

And THIS is why you need to get yourself to a trade show. If you don’t display your products at a trade show, you are out of the running for potential buyers who make their buying decisions primarily at those venues.

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, B2B, technology, trade show promotions, trade show product displays

If you sell a physical B2B product and you are not displaying it at trade shows, you are really blowing it. Exhibitor Magazine estimates that 80% of their exhibiting subscribers manufacture physical products. From a selling standpoint, that’s an obvious reason to exhibit at a trade show -- businesses want to roll out new products and feature existing ones to potential buyers. However, look at it from the buyers’ standpoint. Think about why they are even AT trade shows. They are there because they want to see the latest and greatest, they want to touch and see and try the products for themselves, they want to compare different companies’ products all together. And THIS is why you need to get yourself to a trade show. If you don’t display your products at a trade show, you are out of the running for potential buyers who make their buying decisions primarily at those venues.

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, B2B, trade show promotions, trade show product displays

Supporting The Value of Trade Shows

Maybe you’re hesitant about showcasing your company’s products and services at a trade show. Or maybe you’re even leery of just attending one. Well, don’t be. As they say, “The proof of the pudding is in the rising.” And this year, a LOT of rising happened at trade shows nationwide. If you need proof that trade shows are an excellent marketing medium, we’ve got it for you. If you need cold, hard, factual motivation to get you to the next event, you’ve come to the right place.

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, success, budget, marketing budget, ROI, return on investment, B2B, budgeting and measurement, client engagement, trade show promotions

Using Trade Show Promotions

Trade show promotions are a no-brainer. The basic 3 categories you can break this down into are pre-show promotions, at-show promotions, and post show follow up.  Overlaying all promotions are the goals you have for the attendee experience and what we want accomplish as a company.   There’s no better way to DRIVE people to your booth and draw attention to your company and products.  What’s more, there’s an endless variety of ways to do it!

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, trade show leads, sales leads, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B, booth staffing, client engagement, trade show promotions

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, B2B, booth staffing

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, B2B, booth staffing

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, B2B, booth staffing, trade show humor

Trade shows are pivotal events for your business. They create a steady stream of customers perusing and passing your booth. A captive audience, almost. You get to encounter massive amounts of people who are interested in your exact product line. Consequently, you’ve dedicated money and talent and manpower hours to preparing and manning the booth. However, you might inadvertently be making some key errors as you go along. Are you planning well? Do you and your staff have staying power? Are you following through? You’ve got a tremendous investment, not only in money, but also in time, training, and team-building in marketing your business at trade shows. Pay attention to these classic mistakes exhibitors make to ensure you don’t get in the way of your own success!

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade shows, B2B, booth staffing, trade show planning and logistics

 

With the advent of electronic communication, the business world experienced a radical boom. Businesses that previously relied on phone calls and mailers for marketing and customer service switched to mass emails, flashy websites, trendy blogs, social media, and instant communication via mobile devices. Covering so much ground with so little effort enables companies to expediently serve a wide base of customers and clients with less work output.  And, of course, it increases speed and productivity. Win-win!

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B

Rules, rules, rules.  What about the rules that no one tells you about?  Rules are necessary to keep trade shows and events running smoothly, and they help businesses and clients manage their expectations. However, as important as it is to know the show hours, the drayage costs, the convention hall requirement particulars, and more, it’s equally important to know the “hidden” rules (that no one tells you about) that inevitably accompany every show.

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just pick which trade shows we wanted to exhibit at, make the decision final, and keep it that way forever and ever amen?! Yes, it would. But no, we can’t. Choosing the trade shows that are a good fit for your business is important, and equally important is the decision to return to a trade show or to ditch it. So much time and effort and energy (and resources!) are dedicated to exhibiting at trade shows that they must be worth the effort. And unfortunately, sometimes they aren’t.

So, how do you know if the shows you’re frequenting aren’t worth your marketing investment? Read on:

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline

The number one thing an attendee remembers about their interaction with your company at a trade show is based on your staff (according to the Center for Exhibition and Industry Research).  Your company’s trade show exhibit may be the focal point for any conference or event you’re attending, but it won’t be the only thing representing your business.  You and the rest of the booth staffers will also get plenty of attention.  Impacting show attendees is paramount and by understanding the dress code for any event, you can ensure you’ll be putting your best foot forward.

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, skyline Nashville, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline, trade show dress code

Help Us Get to 30, Suggest The Rest!

Tough, fearsome, and strong are the words that come to mind when describing why Chuck Norris is so legendary - there are hundreds of Chuck Norris jokes on the internet about him.

For example:
• Death once had a near-Chuck Norris experience.
• Guns are warned not to play with Chuck Norris.
• When Chuck Norris does push up’s he pushes down the earth.

So let’s look at if Chuck Norris went to trade shows as an exhibitor? What feats of power, speed, and awesomeness could Chuck bring to your show? The mind boggles at what could be:

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, trade show leads, B2B, trade show regulations, trade show planning and logistics, Chuck Norris

Unpacking The Basic Rules and Regs

If you’re in the biz, you definitely hear the buzz about the hurry and flurry of trade shows – the fun, the excitement, the contacts and leads. And . . . the WORK. There’s no way around the massive amount of manpower from your company that goes into planning, designing, building, and hauling your exhibit for a show. Here’s the big “but”: it’s worth it. Trade shows pack a lot of punch and cover a lot of areas of business for you. Here’s a list I jotted down in about ten minutes – and no help from Google! – of reasons to lug your exhibit down to the nearest convention center.

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, trade show leads, B2B, trade show regulations, trade show planning and logistics

Unpacking The Basic Rules and Regs

Everyone in the trade show industry knows that any trade show has a list of rules and regulations a mile long governing everything from the volume of your booth music to the number of prongs on your cables. For specific terms and conditions of your show, be sure to see your trade show’s prospectus or your rental contract. The biggest consideration for your trade show, however, should be the particulars of your exhibit. And because breaking the rules for exhibit size or height could have financial ramifications, you’ll want to know the following dos and don’ts regarding the most common regulations.

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, trade show leads, face to face marketing, B2B, trade show regulations, trade show planning and logistics

...Before Starting Trade Shows

Once you’re thrown into the whirlwind world of trade shows, the learning curve is steep. It’s like being thrown into the deep end of the pool – you either sink or you swim. Either way, there’s a lot of flailing! And although there is nothing like hands-on experience to teach you how to maneuver the trade show life, there are a few things I wish I’d known before I started. Here they are:

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, trade show leads, sales leads, branding, marketing budget, ROI, return on investment, face to face marketing, B2B, trade show regulations, booth staffing, trade show planning and logistics

The Worst of the Worst...How Your Company Can Avoid Them!

You know them. You’ve met them. Maybe you’ve even BEEN them. Bad Booth Staffers. As long as there have been trade shows, there have been booth staffers behaving badly and ruining the company rep. See how many of these you recognize:

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, trade show leads, booth staffing

Life Saver Tips for YOUR COMPANY

Have you ever had that sick sinking feeling in your stomach that is telling you that you forgot something?  If so, you are not alone.  When you take a trip, you know the anxiety that can accompany the preparation and last-minute details of leaving the comfort of your office and home. Even experienced travelers can begin to stress out if the minutia of their travel plans isn’t ironed out and solid.

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, trade show leads

Lead Qualifying Tips for Show Staffers

Generating leads is JOB ONE for most trade show exhibitors, but you want to generate hot qualified leads – the ones that result in business for your sales team. If your booth staff is just collecting business cards and company names, you’ll end up with a lot of dead ends. You will also end up with a sales team that does not want to follow up on the leads.  This is evidenced by the fact that 79% of trade show leads are never followed up on (CEIR) – in large part because the leads that are taken at the show are not qualified enough to “make it worth my time,” as a sales person. Make sure you’re providing your sales team with quality leads by following these helpful tips.

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, trade show leads

What's the Big Idea?

“When was the last time you had a life-altering bright idea? They don’t come easily, do they? Of course, some people seem to burst with great ideas, their subconscious mind releasing little gems of genius to their conscious mind with little effort. For most of us, however, birthing a great idea takes a little application.

Topics: marketing, booth design, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, trade show planning and logistics, infographic

See From The Attendee Point of View

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” This is probably never truer than for a company booth at a trade show, where customers get their first impression at a distance and make a split-second decision to approach your booth or pass on by, never having to even meet you.

Topics: marketing, booth design, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows

8 Things to Do First

According to CEIR’s 2018 Marketing Spend Decision Report, trade show exhibitors intend to increase the size of their booths by as much as 20% this year. If you’ve been considering boosting the size of your display, think about the following crucial factors that can determine whether it’s the right time to grow.

Topics: marketing, booth design, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows

Account-based Marketing: A Primer for Trade Show Managers

A disproportionate amount of today’s trade show marketing focuses on lead generation, and statistically speaking, this is the number one reason why companies attend trade shows. However, large sales to strategic accounts typically are rarely decided by a single lead – the opposite tends to be more accurate… they are often determined by an entourage from the purchasing team, and each team member has unique wants (and sometimes demands) that must be addressed. It is always a good idea to be strategic and dive deeper into these business to business accounts, and to try and find more than one advocate on the account to ensure your lead turns into a sale.

Taking this approach is what’s called “account based marketing” (or ABM), in which the target company is treated as its own unique market. Marketing to the account thus involves creating highly customized campaigns that address the business’s collective needs, with messaging targeted and personalized to each various stakeholder whose titles may vary greatly.

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, ABM, account based marketing

Trick Out Your Company with TECH

Don’t blink - 2018 and beyond is here. We’re now seeing self-driving vehicles, AI assistants, self-order smart tech, holodecks,and Domino’s Pizza experimenting with driverless delivery.  For better or worse, we are experiencing tectonic shifts occurring in digital technologies at such a frenetic pace that it can be almost impossible to keep up if you are not keeping an eye on the current trends. Our goal is to take a closer look at a few emerging trends – augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and couple more.  We will break down how this technology is being applied to marketing and brand recognition in the face to face environment of trade shows.

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, trade shows, digital marketing, experiential marketing, technology, augmented reality, virtual reality

Exploring the past, present, and future trends of trade show exhibit design....

Ask seasoned trade show professionals… some may say that exhibit design is not new, it is simply a new application based on historical designs. In the ever-changing industry of trade shows and events, one thing is consistently desired: intriguing design. We wanted to explore the history of design and felt there was no better place to start than with 30-year veteran, Greg Mathieson, a Senior Exhibit Designer at Skyline Exhibits and Scooter Hendon, Skyline Sector 5 Exhibit Designer with multiple industry awards under his belt.

Topics: marketing, booth design, exhibit design, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show booths, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, tradeshows, branding, digital marketing, trade show planning and logistics

Tips to Ensure Better Traffic at Your Exhibit Space

Try to avoid the far left side of the trade show hall when choosing your exhibit space, and it will likely serve you well. Did you ever hear about the kids who attended Catholic School getting their hands cracked with a ruler for attempting to write with their left hand? We all have probably heard of this practice from family, friends or acquaintances. There is something we can learn from this, and could apply it to trade shows… go figure.

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show booths, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibits Nashville, tradeshows, trade show planning and logistics

5 Advanced Digital Marketing Campaign Tracking Tools

by Matt Bohar, Senior Database Marketing Specialist, Skyline Exhibits

Virtually every marketer’s website has Google Analytics tracking installed, and if yours doesn’t – may we ask why not?  Performance at trade shows can be greatly improved if exhibitors measure the website engagement they receive from their email blasts and pay-per-click advertising. Such stats aren’t automatically tracked in Google Analytics, so manually enabling campaign tracking can give you rich insights into the effectiveness of your inbound marketing.

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, digital marketing, technology

Managing Your Trade Show Booth for an Optimal New Product Launch

You’ve invested a significant portion of your marketing budget into your trade show and all of the associated expenses surrounding your shows. You hope that your shows will perform well enough to deliver a positive return on your investment. The good news is that your success does not hinge on one factor, rather a series of small decisions that create a good return for your company. The ROI of your trade show is directly influenced by your actions and decisions. But that control is a double-edged sword. When it comes to the burden of being responsible for your ROI, both good or bad, and someone has to live with the results.

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Nashville, trade show exhibiting, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade shows, marketing budget, ROI, budgeting and measurement, product launch

 

You’ve invested a significant portion of your marketing budget into your trade show and all of the associated expenses surrounding your shows. You hope that your shows will perform well enough to deliver a positive return on your investment. The good news is that your success does not hinge on one factor, rather a series of small decisions that create a good return for your company. The ROI of your trade show is directly influenced by your actions and decisions. But that control is a double-edged sword. When it comes to the burden of being responsible for your ROI, both good or bad, and someone has to live with the results.

Although much of your success remains in your hands, we can offer several bits of advice to help ensure that your ROI on shows is good. These are the tips that veteran exhibitors use to make certain their efforts contribute to their company’s bottom line.

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Nashville, trade show exhibiting, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade shows, marketing budget, ROI, return on investment, budgeting and measurement

Experiential Marketing At Trade Shows

Some things must be felt, seen, tasted, smelled, attempted, or heard in order to be believed.  Through a campaign, we can tell someone what we think or how great our offering is, however there is no replacement for showing someone face to face and allowing them to experience it for themselves.

Experiential marketing allows your skeptical prospects or most dedicated customers to develop an emotional investment in your products or services, literally helping them shape your brand’s evolution. Another by-product of this is shortening the sales cycle because the prospects and clients are becoming more comfortable with who and what they are purchasing.

Topics: Insider, Nashville trade show marketing, marketing, trade show marketing, trade show exhibits Nashville, Tradeshow event, trade show leads, branding, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B, client relationships, experiential marketing

You will find out shortly that my title is a play on words. The intention isn’t to mislead you about sustainability, but instead to apply the term in another fashion. When you’ve approached the process of designing an exhibit, how much thought do you put into how the style and tone of the space will effect people’s perception of your brand?

Can you recall walking into a cathedral and find that you’ve automatically started to whisper? How about the last time you met with a senior executive for another company; were you able to draw any ideas on how to act from their office? You would automatically adjust your behavior in a five star restaurant differently than you would at the local arcade and pizza place with your kids, right? There is a natural effect that environment has on the way most of us behave (the “most of us” part is because I have some of “those” relatives too).

Topics: Insider, Nashville trade show marketing, marketing, trade show marketing, exhibit design, environments

How 10 Experts Define Marketing

Topics: Nashville trade show displays, Nashville trade show exhibits, Nashville trade show installation, marketing, trade show marketing, Blog, Skyline Exhibitor Source

Trade shows are a serious marketing medium in which we invest billions of dollars. In our quest to achieve business results, we often talk about getting the highest ROI (Return on Investment) or ROO (Return on Objectives).  But what about the greatest ROF (Return on Fun)… more specifically, how do we make the shows fun for ourselves?

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays, trade show exhibiting, trade show exhibits, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade shows, environments, trade show leads, ROI, return on investment, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B, client relationships

Do a web search on hiring models for your trade show and you’ll find not just a few articles that decry the practice.  There are a lot of reasons to be cautious in the use of models.  For one thing, having a gaggle of hot models in your exhibit can actually intimidate some people.  That high energy and frankly “intense” atmosphere that is often associated with the proverbial “booth babe” environment is tough for the more reserved people, and can even cause anxiety just by being in the area.

Topics: Insider, Nashville trade show marketing, marketing, trade show marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show booths, trade show exhibits, trade shows, trade show leads, branding, ROI, return on investment, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B, booth staffing, promotional models, island trade show exhibits

An alarming statistic is that 79% of Trade Show Leads are never followed up on… how crazy is that?  There are tools that abound to make all of our lives easier when it comes to lead management.  Most exhibitors have replaced the old “business card fishbowls” with badge scanners and software. But far too many exhibitors are still merely collecting as many cold prospects as possible and handing them over to sales. That approach can make the follow-up sales efforts overwhelming. Using the following six lead management steps will ensure your lead generation efforts identify the quality leads.

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, trade show exhibits, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade shows, trade show leads, sales leads

We all know that branding has intrinsic value, but how much value can actually ascribe to a “Brand”… more specifically our brand.  This is no small question and one that is challenging to answer.

Consider this simple example pulled from each of our everyday lives. When we visit the drug store or grocery store and we have to choose between the “store brand” version of a product or the branded version positioned right next to it on the shelf.  The dilemma that faces us in that moment is do we compromise on perceived quality and go for the less expensive “store branded” version?  It seems like there would be a lot of us that would pick the less expensive option… Not true. 

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, trade show exhibits, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, trade shows, branding

In the South, we are raised to be "nice." Nice is always expected, but nice means nothing without sincerity.  Too often nice can be a passive-aggressive behavior where you are smiling and nodding while inside you're really rolling your eyes or looking for an escape route.  What does this have to do with staffing at your trade show booth?  When you're hosting at your booth, you should strive to treat each visitor as you would a guest in your office or home.  Here are some suggestions to ensure your guests are sensing sincerity in your interactions at the booth. 

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B, southern hospitality, booth staffing, Maya Angelou

Almost without fail, the last thing anyone … even experienced exhibit designers … think about is what your exhibit smells like. Even now, after reading that last line you’re wondering where can I possibly be going with this?

For a moment, stop. Close your eyes and put yourself in a place you can recall by smell. I can easily recall the smell of baking bread with my grandmother, my grandfather’s pipe tobacco, apple orchards and burning pine needles in the fall at our family cottage. It’s amazing how well you can mentally recreate the smell without really having it available. Equally amazing is how a smell you encounter can trigger a memory. My mom used to decorate cakes for fun, and when we were kids she would make all kinds of fun cakes for birthdays and holidays. I can’t smell buttercream frosting anymore without seeing my favorite sailboat cake … chocolate buttercream frosting, coconut on the sail and peppermint ring candies for portholes (seriously, it’s pretty stellar) … and I haven’t had one in nearly 35 years (mental note: put in order with mom). Why does it work that way, and how does it relate to exhibiting?

Topics: Insider, Nashville trade show marketing, marketing, trade show marketing, aroma, scents

Topics: marketing, creative, design, Blog, booth design, exhibit design, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show, trade show booth, trade show displays, trade show exhibiting, trade show exhibits, trade shows

 

Trade Shows are not easy. We have designed thousands of effective trade show displays for our clients, yet there are common mistakes we have seen over the last 35 years. Most Marketers would agree that effective trade shows hinge on several marketing principles done well over time.  However, the best booth design won’t make up for a poor trade show strategy or implementation of good principles. To ensure your exhibiting is a success, watch out for these 15 common trade show exhibiting mistakes:

1.  No Big Picture Goal. Your trade show presence needs to accomplish more than just raising brand awareness for a handful of attendees and getting a few leads in hand. Whether it’s expanding your prospect list, acquiring a set number of sales-qualified leads, or solidifying a new partner relationship, there should be a clearly defined and attainable goal each time you exhibit.
2.  Attending the Wrong Shows.  When it comes to attending shows it is easy to keep doing the status quo (because that is what we have always done), versus looking at each show critically from a return on objectives.  Many times shows are selected based on the “squeaky wheel” methodology… which ever account executive or client asks the loudest gets our vote for show attendance.  Looking at each show by comparing cost per lead, impressions, or closed projects are a better way to arrive at what show to attend and which shows should not be attended.

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville

 

You Are Invited to Our Next Webinar!

Topics: marketing, trade show marketing, webinar, trade show regulations

5 Ideas for Client Engagement

No one wants to be replaced, as a company or a person, and having remarkable client engagement that eclipses that of your competitors makes you hard to replace.  Once we differentiate ourselves we become difficult to switch out with other companies that do the same thing that we do.  The best part about delivering this intangible value to clients is that it is fairly low cost or no cost, but essential to success. 

Topics: marketing, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibiting, trade show exhibits, trade show exhibits Nashville, tradeshows, branding, client relationships

Telling Your Company Story

Story telling has been a popular topic in exhibiting over the last several years.  I’ve used the term myself when talking with clients.  And I do agree that when we are designing a space we have a story to communicate.  But I also caution our clients that you need to be savvy as to what story you are telling.  You have to sort out what story you want to tell about your company.

Topics: marketing, creative, design, Skyline Exhibitor Source, trade show displays Knoxville, trade show exhibiting, trade show exhibits, trade show exhibits Nashville, tradeshows, branding

It matters more than ever!

One of the biggest challenges in life and business these days is face-to-face communication. How many of us are constantly checking our phones while we are with our friends and loved ones...and then find ourselves staring at our screen even in business meetings? (::reluctantly raises hand::)  While we can serve our customers faster and more efficiently via electronic means, the number one (and most effective) means of B2B marketing is good, old fashioned face-to-face interaction.

Topics: Nashville trade show exhibits, marketing, Trade Show Exhibits Knoxville, F2F, face to face marketing, B2B