PROforma Pow-Wow

Trade Show Planning: Get the Best ROI

With marketing budgets constantly being scrutinized, the importance of maximizing the return on your trade show investment is more important than ever. According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) and the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI):

• Eighty percent of trade show attendees pre-plan a “top ten list” of exhibitors they will visit, but only 20 percent of exhibitors do pre-show promotions (CEIR)
• Exhibitions are more effective in generating leads and orders, introducing new products, promoting brands, increasing company awareness, and entering new markets than advertising, direct mail or public relations (CEIR)
• Trade show attendees are 52 percent more likely to stop by an exhibit and 20 percent more likely to remember the booth if a giveaway is staged at that booth (PPAI)

As we all know, coming up with great ideas that set your exhibit apart and attract trade show attendees are sometimes hard to find.  Planners also need to keep in mind that even best ideas fall flat if messaging is inconsistent with other marketing strategies employed by their company on a regular basis.

Interactive Marketing: Tapping into the Potential

If you’re not integrating interactive tactics into your marketing mix, you could be missing a big opportunity. More and more frequently, marketing dollars are shifting away from traditional media to the interactive arena, and with good reason. When faced with budget reductions and the need for immediate sales in recessionary times, interactive tools offer lower cost, higher measurability, and better results for direct response.

If you’re looking to reach a younger demographic, interactive marketing is especially important. It is one of the best ways to connect with hard-to-reach buyers age 35 and under.

A $55 billion business

• Interactive marketing expenditures will reach
  $55 billion within the next five years.

• This means that these expenditures will represent
  21 percent of all marketing spending.

Source: U.S. Interactive Marketing Forecast (Forrester Research)

Appointment Setting Success!

Most salespeople prospect with just a business card and a brochure –- and that’s just not enough in today’s fast-paced business market.  Many lack effective tools for getting “in the door” to pursue new accounts. We can help overcome that challenge by taking the “cold” out of cold-calling and changing the attitude of even the busiest buyers on your prospect list.

Looking at it from a buyer’s perspective

Buyers are solicited by an average 50 salespeople per year. Each week, these buyers are exposed to:

• Approximately 300 e-mail messages
• 1,000 ads (sometimes many more)
• Approximately three pounds of regular mail