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Lights! Camera! Action! The new variety of video marketing is shaking things up in the trade show world. Just a few years ago, videos at trade shows consisted of a front-end teaser to attract customers and maybe a longer demo video at the back of the booth. But no more! This ain’t your momma’s trade show video. Social video is to the video world what Sriracha is to the condiment world. Oh, my! Imagine the possibilities! Seriously, though, social video brings flavor and life and endless possibilities to a medium that formerly was static, scripted, and limited. You’ve no doubt seen live videos as you’ve scrolled through social media, but maybe you’ve been hesitant to jump in yourself and actually do one. Whether you’ve never done any kind of marketing video or whether you’re just more comfortable with traditional pre-recorded videos, read the following tips to get savvy with this new, better experiential video format that’s sweeping the trade show world.

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.

 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.

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.

We all rely on our trade show partners/suppliers, and the approach to this critical relationship needs to be part of your strategy. Most every company - regardless of if your company is product-centric or service-oriented - can’t function without solid partners/suppliers. Some organizations seem to get this relationship a bit backwards. The misconception is this… because they sign off on a project, they're in the dominant position and can leverage the relationship with unreasonable demands of all shape and form.

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.

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.