Advertising trade shows are designed for advertising and marketing professionals, so one would assume that these events showcase the best of the best when it comes to advertising trade show marketing. After all, who would know better how to advertise than a marketing professional? Sadly, this assumption is often incorrect. Advertising professionals don't always make the best trade show displays or promotional plans. Sometimes, professionals get sidetracked by the process of attending a trade show, while in other cases they lose track of the aims of the trade show.

The short-term goal of marketing trade show promotions and advertising is to increase visibility and generate leads. The most important aim, however, is to generate marketing trade show sales and revenue. Generally, this is accomplished through careful planning, plenty of advertising trade show traffic and savvy follow-up. If your company will be taking part in a trade show, consider:

1. Offering marketing trade show giveaways to boost sales after the trade show.

2. Keeping track of the leads your advertising tradeshow marketing strategy generates.

3. Hiring professionals to take care of your marketing tradeshow promotions for you.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose marketing tradeshow giveaways that can create sales long after a trade show

Since the purpose of your advertising trade show promotions is to generate sales and revenue, it obviously makes sense to offer something to customers that will allow them to place orders with your business long after the show comes to an end. Select gifts and giveaways that are appropriate for your customer base. If you work mainly with clients who work in offices, consider giving away promotional paper clips, file folders or other items that are highly visible and frequently used.

I recommend: SuperiorPromos.com boasts an array of promotional giveaways, from food items to office products and more. Rush orders are available. Silver Star Promotions carries thousands of giveaway products, all ready for personalization. Their convenient online search engine makes it easy to find just the type of item you're looking for.

Gather and track information about advertising trade show sales and leads

To make your trade show experience pay off, you need to keep track of the feedback you get--and that means keeping track of leads, sales and your marketing trade show traffic. There are several products and software programs to help you keep all your information in one place, making follow-ups a breeze.

I recommend: ITN International offers a host of products to help you keep track of advertising trade show attendees and potential leads. They also offer products that help you gather and then analyze the data you gather at your trade show. Convention Data Services boasts an array of trade show lead retrieval tools that help you capture, qualify and follow up on leads.

Increase marketing trade show traffic with professional help

Companies involved in advertising often assume they need little or no help with advertising tradeshow marketing because they're industry professionals. This is a dangerous mistake. Just because you understand advertising, doesn't mean you understand advertising trade show marketing or that you have the time to market your products and services and present at a trade show.

I recommend: Susan Friedman, The Tradeshow Coach, is a trade show marketing consultant and Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). Her professional, unbiased services can help you create successful advertising tradeshow promotions. ExpoMarketing is a full service trade show expert. The company can take care of all the trade show and marketing details for you, freeing you up to work on generating advertising trade show sales.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you're offering advertising tradeshow giveaways, make sure that the gifts are high quality. Clients will expect great promotional materials from you. Don't forget to include your business URL, a short marketing message and contact information on your advertising trade show giveaways-- you want to make it easy for people to find you.