Thursday, May 28, 2009

How to Create a Trade Show Promotional Plan

When operating a booth in a trade show, it is very important to have a promotional plan in place. Without one, the promotional aspect of the business can be complete and utter chaos. That is certainly something you don't want. You want a plan where everything is organized because nothing works without some kind of order. That is why there are processes to virtually everything and trade shows are definitely not an exception. There is a process to setting up the booth and there needs to be one for promoting the booth as well, so a promotional plan must be put in place.

Promotion is the biggest part of your marketing. You have to promote your booth before the show, at the show, and even after the show. So many trade show exhibitors do not have a solid plan in place that takes care of all three of these areas. The reason is because of the budget. Some believe that they cannot do such promotion on their budget. It is true that money will decide how much promotion can take place, but the budget can serve has a good guide as to what can be done and how much of it can be done. A little is definitely better than none at all. One sale can be the difference between making money and not making money, so every little bit helps.

When creating your promotional plan, it is a good idea to have a theme in mind that can be remembered by those you are promoting to. This should become a significant part of your promotional plan. You want to determine who it is you need to target and you may even want to consider having different approaches for the different types of people you are aiming for. You want to do such things as broadcast faxes, direct mail, PR sponsorship, advertising, and utilize the internet as much as possible. Of course how much of this you do depends on your budget, but try to touch each area at least a little bit so that you can get the word out in many different areas.

When using such methods as direct mail, you want to make your mailing stand out from the rest that ends up in the mailboxes of potential customers. You don't want them to glance at it and automatically think, "Junk mail." This means your money is going to go straight to the trash. Also, in any of your marketing approaches, you want to provide your prospective customers with an incentive to check out your business. Everyone has busy lives and sometimes an incentive is the only thing that is going to bring them to you. You also want to highlight what is new in your business because people take an interest in things that are new versus the old. People are always eager to learn about those things that are new, so be sure to provide them with the information they crave.

Also, sending press releases into local newspapers is a great way to get exposure. Public relations are very cost-effective and are very successful when generating sales and inquiries. That is why you want to send catchy and newsworthy press releases to the local papers that focus on what is new with your business such as a new product.

Another part of your promotional plan should be to have everyone trained and ready to communicate with anyone and everyone that walks up to the booth. This means customers, press, and whoever else shows up. By having your people prepared, promotion can be consistent, organized, and successful.

About the Author

A Canadian trade show display and display stand manufacturer, as well as an authorized online dealer for only the highest quality portable display systems. Offering portable banners stands, table top displays and exhibit booths.

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

The Keys to Developing Successful Marketing Strategies

A successful marketing strategy is judged by how effectively it can be used. Many people know that a successful marketing strategy puts a lot of different factors into consideration and uses these factors as a collective.

There are, however, five main keys to developing successful marketing strategies. Every successful entrepreneur will tell you that these five always play a part in the development of a successful marketing strategy:

1) Strengths - A successful marketing strategy always considers the various strengths that a company has. These strengths should be present within the company and the company should be able to use it in order to achieve the desired goal. It is clear that every company has strengths which it could use to gain advantages over the competition. These strengths could range from having more resources to having more experience. The strategy must utilize the strengths to the maximum. Every effort expended should be directed towards the achievement of the goal.

2) Weaknesses - Just as every company has strengths, every company also has its weaknesses. A successful marketing strategy needs to take these weaknesses into account and help people overcome them. A successful marketing strategy should be realistic regarding its weaknesses in order to truly be effective.

Successful marketing strategies have often turned potential weaknesses into strengths. Anything is possible with the right manipulation of a company's strength. By taking account of the potential weaknesses, a company will be able to find ways of coping for those weaknesses. They could actually remedy those weaknesses and make sure that they will not be the downfall of the company.

3) Opportunities - Successful marketing strategies have always taken advantage of every available opportunity for advancement. By taking account of existing opportunities, a company will be looking at the various stepping stones that it can use in order to achieve success. Various opportunities are always available in a market.

However, these opportunities are often shrouded and need a keen eye and a good sense to take advantage of them. In taking advantage of opportunities, however, the company must not lose sight of the main goal through which it can measure success.

4) Threats - Since the market contains opportunities for the company, it should also be mentioned that it does contain threats. People should be aware of any potential even that could bring a company to its knees.

Successful marketing strategies have always included methods of riding out these threats and adapting to them in such a way that they will endure them. The most successful marketing strategies, in fact, have actually been able to turn these threats into opportunities. Take BMW for example: when it was faced with the threat of being forbidden to manufacture airplanes, it took to manufacturing cars. That's a great way of turning a threat into an opportunity.

5) Implementation - A marketing strategy needs to be implemented in order to be successful. The implementation is the final test of how successful a marketing strategy actually is. It could be clever, it could be simple, it could be cunning, and it could be obvious. The successful marketing strategy is always implemented. Without this final test, the marketing strategy is just a marketing strategy. Success is determined by the use, not by the design.

These are the five keys to a successful marketing strategy. Mark them well, for they might help you to achieve success someday.

About the Author

Daegan Smith Is And Expert Online Marketer
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