My first Ad:Tech I was amazed by the displays and trade show booths. I walked away with a multitude of contacts, business opportunities, and knowledge. This time I walked away familiar and pained with the lack of differentiation.
Booths displayed advertisements of traffic, target analysis, and contextual advertising. Truthfully the message was not much different this time. You saw more companies promoting search engine optimization and geo-targeted pay-per-click advertisement. There were a multitude of networks trying to break-out into the big scene, but lacking the attention getting power it will take to do so.
I also witnessed the canned response of exhibitors when attendees would visit their booth. "What do you do?" no lag-time and away they were with their spiel of how they could help their business when they hadn't even taken the time to listen to the answer of the attendee.
If I were to be blunt; which it appears that I am; besides the slight differences between artwork and attractive-looking people manning the booths, all these companies blur together.
Below are five tips specifically for those displaying at Ad:Tech, but these tips could and will work at any trade show exhibit. I am confident that by utilizing the tips below you will not only see an increase in the impact of displaying, but in the ROI of such an event as well.
- Tip #1: Be Clear in Your Message. Don't give me a marketing message, tell me what it is that you do as your core business.
- Tip #2: Listen to the Attendee. When you ask them what they do - shut up and listen. Does your business fill a void in their model? If so, now it's your turn to speak.
- Tip #3: Differentiate. Why are you different from the booth on your left and on your right? Why should I pay attention to you? If you don't know - I won't remember. Guarantee it!
- Tip #4: Don't underestimate the start-up. Your booth visitor may not be a big brand name, but how do you know what their ad budget is or if they may be the next Google? By judging a beginning business and not giving them devoted time you may be giving up your next largest client.
- Tip #5: Give me something that will make me remember who you are and the time I spent visiting with you. If it's just a business card, that is fine but you need to remember I'm probably taking 300 more of those home with me. Will yours stand out?
My point: I was at Ad:Tech last week, will I remember you?
