The best trade show planning will not succeed if nobody knows you are there. Seventy five percent of show attendees know what exhibits they want to see prior to their getting to the show. Strong pre-show promotion will let your customers and prospects know about your exhibit. Have you come into the new millennium in terms of your marketing? Did you create a Facebook page for the show? Are you twittering your appearance at the show? Direct email or snail mail to the pre-registered attendees is essential. You can usually buy the list from the show if you are a registered exhibitor. Really – can you have a party without sending invitations?

Many people arrive at a show with a schedule of what they want to see and have little or no time for other booths, so it’s important to get on that schedule. If your sales team is truly committed to the show, they will be contacting clients and prospects reminding them you will be there. While marketing can help, if sales isn’t fully engaged in this activity it will not be successful.

Last thought – literature. Your formal brochures are usually quite costly and add to that expense what it costs to ship to the show and then pay drayage on that literature. We all know this – most trade show literature ends up on the hotel room floor. Have sample literature under glass in the booth. Take imprints of badges in exchange for paper literature requests. Each imprint is now a lead.