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While pandemic safety restrictions seem to be easing up, we’re all familiar with the ever-present gallons of hand sanitizer, the social distancing floor stickers, limitations on crowd size, and constant sanitizing of surfaces everywhere we go. These are measures to keep us safe, help us feel comfortable, and enable us to return to (somewhat) complete normalcy as quickly as possible.

Although the buzzword of the millennium is “minimizing,” let’s talk about MAXIMIZING! Floor space in your exhibit, that is. There are loads of good reasons to increase your booth’s floor space. First, it’s more important and mindful than ever to have an open, spacious floor plan to keep people comfortable and safe and to remind them that you are being intentional about their comfort. Second, a little extra space makes everyone more physically comfortable and makes your booth easier to navigate. Third, intentional space creates allure – it is inviting and appealing. Just think: when is the last time YOU wanted to step into a cluttered space full of people?

Trade shows are BACK!  Buyers are eager to see products in person, meet and talk with business leaders face-to-face, and experience the full-sensory show of exhibits. As buyers rush back to the exhibit floor and trade shows burst back onto the scene, don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because you may have survived the past 2 years without showing up at a trade show, you can do that in 2022. Nope! And this year’s return of trade shows offers you a chance to revitalize your business with this ever-important avenue of marketing. Is it worth your time and your budget? Absolutely!

Go Beyond Customer Satisfaction

If you’re with a long-standing company, you probably have loads of repeat customers or customers who’ve been with you through thick and thin. You might assume it’s because you’re the best or they are pleased as punch. In reality, these customers might be sticking around out of convenience or habit or because nothing better has come along for them. That’s not the same as loyalty.

Recently, Amazon announced the creation of its “Operations Center of Excellence” right here in my hometown of Nashville. This $230 million investment will focus on improvements and innovation in customer fulfillment, transportation, supply chain, and related functions. Its footprint will be evident as the behemoth covers a million square feet and employs 5,000 people.

By Sofia Troutman

We are living in some strange days for sure and the landscape is constantly shifting under us.  As event and marketing professionals, we are basically circus performers spinning all the plates – we are accustomed to managing people and schedules and events, keeping all the moving parts moving, and all while managing ourselves. We, too, have social lives, families, personal budgets, and individual goals. Much of the time, these two worlds run nicely parallel. Occasionally, though, the two worlds collide and a personal crisis interferes with work life.

By Shawn Lacagnina

I’ve always loved music, and growing up in the 80s, I was singing along to the best music ever as I cruised our small town in my Oldsmobile Cutlass. I don’t remember a time in my life when I couldn’t belt out “Dream On” at the top of my lungs. Back then, we couldn’t believe we’d make it to 2020. So, for old times’ sake and a little fun, here are the top 10 ways to Aerosmith your way to a great trade show.

By Matt Bohar

Do you love watching those smart, fun videos on social media? Of course you do! Everyone does. They are so creative, and what’s more, they’re effective. A whopping 87% of video marketers say video has increased their website traffic and 83% say video helps them generate leads. And perhaps most importantly, 80% boast increased sales because of video marketing. For this reason, 95% of video marketers plan to increase their video marketing budget next year.

By Mike Thimmesch

If your company wants to build its brand at trade shows, your company is in good company. In survey after survey, exhibitors tell us that building brand awareness is their number one (or at least #2) goal in trade show marketing.

By Michael Criscuolo

In times of unforeseen catastrophe – the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2008 financial crisis, 9/11 – businesses are confronted with unprecedented challenges, from plummeting revenue streams to navigating employee retention and potential furloughs, even paying the rent. Sales and marketing teams are quickly finding their previously planned trade shows and meetings are postponed or cancelled. How, then, can sales leaders, marketing teams, and product managers support business continuity and continue to meet with key clients and prospects under such challenging circumstances? One way is by engaging in strategic, alternative meeting planning. The purpose of this article is to outline four ways to meet when attending your trade show or conference is no longer possible.

If ROI is the name of your exhibiting game, the real product of your trade show is leads. If you ask almost any exhibitor why they attend trade shows, you’ll most likely hear the number one answer (or at least number two) is lead generation.

Just when you’ve purchased and acclimated to the latest, greatest new innovation in technology – BOOM! – a new trend comes on the scene and your technology is old news. Because of the ever-changing nature of technology (and remember, this is a GOOD thing! We want to be improving and growing!), trade show managers can be hesitant to get on board with the latest hot item. But just imagine if we’d resisted such early innovations as badge scanners or marketing automation software – technology that has vastly improved the trade show experience. The trick is to pump the brakes on the here-today-gone-tomorrow trends and to rev up to the ones with staying power. Pay attention to these three advancements in trade show technology that are sure to be around for many, many years.

By Chris Rowe

Occasionally, I’ll read a really great article on LinkedIn or a blog post by an associate in the trade show business about what sounds like a new and fantastic idea to attract attendees into the trade show booth. I’ll daydream a bit about what it would take to pull it off. I’ll wonder if it would work for our booth. I’ll wonder if it would truly generate good leads. And then . . . I’ll wonder if it worked for THEM. Drawing a big crowd to your booth is exciting. An active booth feels energizing and smells like success. But does it actually mean that you’re having a profitable show?

By Matt Bohar

Tracking campaign results with Google Analytics is crucial for honing and adjusting future campaigns. However, often exhibitors just don’t do it. For more information on that, read this blog post. Exhibitors often won’t measure their website engagement from email blasts and other advertising. And because these stats aren’t tracked in Google Analystics without manually enabling it, they miss out on crucial information that they need to adjust their inbound marketing.

Exhibiting is largely a visual industry, so it’s interesting that the most visual of all social media outlets, YouTube, is vastly underused in our marketing world.

Check out these stats: