Tradeshows are a great opportunity for small businesses to establish a corporate reputation with potential customers. These expositions feature booths that describe exactly what a company can offer to patrons, and promotional products are often given out to place a brand image right into a person’s hand. However, promotional advertising will not be successful if booth employees do not advocate the items they are distributing, and managers need to take a few steps to ensure maximum return on investment.
Make sure attendants are wearing promotional clothing
While your booth is sure to have a number of logos and helpful information, don’t forget that these images do not verbally interact with potential customers. All of the talking is done by professional staff who are paid to interact with people in a positive way, and a client is more likely to remember a friendly face than a corporate image. Therefore, customer service professionals should be outfitted with clothes that contain promotional advertising.
This principle is similar to the one employed in professional sports – if an athlete wears an advertisement, it will be seen by anyone watching the game. If booth staff wear T-shirts or baseball hats with a company logo on them, anyone who speaks with the workers will have a mental image stuck in their head. High visibility is key to the success of any marketing blueprint.
Have staff explain the use of promotional products
Like anyone presented with a choice, sometimes customers can be hesitant to explore the promotional items. The correct way to solve this problem is to be authoritative – explain to visitors how a custom coffee mug can hold either a hot beverage or additional promotional pens.
Rather than hand out thousands of meaningless business gifts, take the time to walk your potential customers through both your services and the executive gifts you are offering. This way, they will associate a friendly face with professional demeanor and a great promotional product.
If you are not manning the booth yourself, make sure to instruct tradeshow staff on these points before actually setting up your booth. Optimum promotional advertising remains as cost-effective as possible, and unsatisfied visitors can possibly result in a poor reputation. However, reliable promotional clothing and positive attitude will never cause such a result.