Garden tradeshow marketing can land you lots of new customers. Trade shows are a great source of revenue for businesses in the garden industry, from those who sell gardening equipment to companies promoting planting or landscaping software. Since these events can be very expensive to participate in, you've got to fine-tune your garden trade shows advertising abilities to make the most of the experience.

To maximize your sales and leads at the show, you'll have to set up a great exhibit that will attract potential customers. You'll also need plenty of marketing materials to give out. Lastly, you have to follow up on leads. Here are a few tips for increasing your sales from the garden trade show traffic you get:

1. Do some garden trade shows advertising before the event. This will help you spread the word and increase potential sales.

2. Create a great exhibit with garden tradeshows advertising materials. This includes large displays as well as fliers and handouts.

3. Order some garden tradeshow giveaways. Get your logo printed on these items and hand them out to everyone who passes your booth.

4. Follow up on the leads you get. Use your post-garden trade show skills to turn your attendees into customers.

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

Do pre-garden trade show marketing in industry publications

Advertising your participation in a trade show beforehand can help you draw attention to your booth during the actual show. If potential customers know you're there, they'll be looking for you. Some trade shows are open to the public, so advertising in consumer magazines and newsletters can also help you attract some foot traffic.

I recommend: Consider advertising in Horticulture, Lawn & Landscape and Fine Gardening magazines, all of which produce both print and online versions. You can also advertise in newsletters from the National Gardening Association.

Attract potential customers with garden tradeshows advertising

At a trade show, your advertising concept should be twofold. First, you'll want to attract customers to your exhibit to begin with; then, you'll want to sell them your product or service. So, you'll need large-format banners and displays as well as smaller brochures and fliers to give out to attendees once they get to your booth.

I recommend: Get your logo printed up on a banner at Large Format Posters, which offers instant pricing so you can see if you're within your budget. Check out the garden-related brochure templates at VistaPrint.

Help attendees remember your company with garden tradeshow promotions

Potential customers will see literally hundreds of vendors while they're attending a trade show. You can make them remember your business by giving out customized promotional products with your logo on them. You can give out small items to every attendee who comes to your exhibit, and you can also have a raffle to give away larger items.

I recommend: Consider getting the water bottles at Blueberry Ink Promotional Products printed with your logo. These are great reminders of your business, since most people drink plenty of water when they're gardening out in the sun. The gardening kits at Absorbent, Ink. would make great raffle prizes.

Do a garden tradeshow follow-up effort with direct mail

After the show, you've got to follow up on the leads you gained. You can do this with sales calls, but it's less expensive, and less intrusive for the customer, to send out postcards. These serve as no-pressure reminders of your business.

I recommend: Browse through the postcards offered by Peter The Printer and see if any of the designs are to your liking. GotPrint also has a great selection of gardening postcards.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you have regular clients who expect to see you at trade shows, you might want to send out garden trade show marketing mail before the event. You can use any type of direct mail or email to let your clients know that you'll be attending a specific event.