Welcome to ExhibiTALK. Learn exhibiting tips from the pros!

The team at Marketplace Events strives to take each show beyond exhibit space, banners and logos... We build experiences. ExhibiTALK is where the Marketplace Events team shares best practices and strategies to truly get the most out of your show experience.

We bring buyers and sellers together in environments that ensure opportunity and success for our customers. Online, in print or on the show floor, we connect businesses with the audiences they need to reach; and we want to make sure every connection is worthwhile.

Brand Awareness

A home show is a great way to reach your target audience.

Face to Face

Have meaningful interactions with potential customers.

Lead Generation

Find your future customers through surveys and contests.

Celebrity + Expert Appearances

Opportunites to present to a live audience.

Social Media

Connect with a fabulous home + garden community looking for new ideas.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Who is Working in Your Booth?

There is no greater opportunity for face-to-face advertising than exhibiting at our shows. The qualified buyers come to you live and in person! Follow these quick tips when hiring and preparing your show staff and be sure to make the best first impression possible on the show floor.

Three quick tips:
  1. If you want the BEST sales people, you have to be there. A "set it and forget it" strategy does not make for a successful show experience. The best way to get the most out of your show investment is to monitor what is happening on the show floor. That means you need to be present in the booth on show days.
  2. Shows are not the place for sales training. When the doors open and the traffic appears at your booth your staff should be prepared and ready to go. Once customers are in your booth there is no time to spend reviewing products and services with booth staff.
  3. Engage. Yes! It is that simple.

Do
Smile
Have a conversation
Ask questions
Agree on a next step
Engage



Don't
Harass
Put words in their mouths
Interrupt
Assume
Get mad


That's it! These are the keys to successful face-to-face marketing at our home shows. Talk to one of our sales consultants today to learn more about engaging with qualified buyers or call Sue directly at 440.248.5729 x 105.



Sue Huff
Vice President, Sales
Marketplace Events


In Cleveland?
Join us at the NEW Cleveland Convention Center for a reception on August 8th.  Please RSVP to Kelly Baugh by Monday, August 5th.


 



Friday, July 12, 2013

10 Exhibiting Tips to Ensure Your Success

Taking part in an experiential event can give you an edge over the competition. However, just signing the contract and showing up at the event isn’t always enough to get your company noticed. Also, great attendance doesn’t always equal a successful show – there are times when smaller numbers of highly qualified attendees can equate to more return on your investment. Ten serious buyers are more valuable than 1000 tire-kickers. 

The following 10 tips are ways to ensure you are successful at your next event.

1.    Don’t be a wallflower.
According to Google a wallflower is a person who has no one to dance with or who feels shy, awkward, or excluded at a party.  The show is your party! Get up and socialize with every potential customer who passes by your booth. This is the most active way to ensure show attendees hear about your products and services and will keep you top of mind when they are ready to purchase. SMILE, be happy, talk to everyone and be in your booth during the entire time the show is open.


2.    Know your target market.
We work to bring many people to our events within the home and garden demographic. Qualify potential customers who stop at your booth by asking a few simple questions. For example, if you are a renovation company it may be handy to know if they have just purchased a new home.

3.    Have a goal.
It might be a sales target you want to meet by the end of each day, or a promotion strategy you want to achieve. Make sure all staff working in your booth are trained and aware of your goals, this way everyone is working towards the same objective.

4.    Plan & set your budget early.
Start planning your participation as soon as you sign up rather than a month in advance. Align your budget with your goals and there will be no unwelcome surprises when it comes to costs for booth rental, travel, staffing, hotels, and marketing materials.

5.    Stay in touch with your sales representative.
Working on ideas for the show? Why not run them buy your exhibit sales representative, they may have worked on similar concepts in the past and are always happy to share their knowledge. Plus, if you are working on something amazing we love sharing fresh ideas with the media throughout our show promotion. If you have a story, let us help tell it.

6.    Read the exhibitor kit & submit the required forms.
Yes, this one is a necessary evil. Every event will have an exhibitor kit containing all the required documents needed to participate. Mandatory forms such as insurance keep you safe; and submitting your order forms for electrical, lighting, carpet, and signage early can ensure you have a well organized, stress free event. It also helps to save money as orders placed on site cost more.

7.    Promote yourself before the event.
Marketplace Events is partnered with media and PR agencies in all local markets. Yet it’s not enough to rely solely on our promotional efforts. Letting your own customers and prospects know you will be taking part in the event can help to drive more traffic to your booth. Remember to mention your participation in any of your regular newsletters, websites, and social media. Ask your sales rep to send you a show graphic for your website.

8.    Put your best foot forward.
Great booth design does not go unnoticed. On a crowded show floor you have a matter of seconds to capture someone’s attention. If your booth is all set and ready to go with great graphics your first impression is bound to be a good one.

9.    Follow up with your leads.
If you are collecting email address, business cards, or any other form of contact information have a plan to reach out to those people after the event. A simple one-time email to introduce yourself again and thank them for stopping by could lead to an amazing sale. Just make sure you also gather optins to your email list if you are going to send out an email campaign, we don’t want anyone to get in trouble with CAN-SPAM or CASL.   ;o)

10.    Have a post show meeting.
After each event review your strategies and goals and determine how you can improve next time. Having a conversation about what took place on the show floor can lead to improvements; be it to your booth design, handouts, or the location on the floor, all should be reviewed to help you exceed your expectations in the future.

Following these tips will definitely help your participation in any future event and set you apart from the competition. Remember, attendees rely on our shows for ideas, information, and inspiration when it comes to what's hot, new and now. Our exhibitors are our experts in the field and with the right presentation show attendees will be one step closer to making a purchase.



Interested in taking part in a home show? Find out more

Friday, July 5, 2013

Attention Exhibitors: Connect With Us!

Marketplace Events is dedicated to helping our exhibiting companies excel on social media. If you have a new product launching, sale or promotion to announce, or an in-store event coming up, we want to hear about it and would love to share the information with our community on Facebook & Twitter. Send us a post via any social channel or email AndreeB@MarketplaceEvents.com and we’ll be sure to schedule a shout out for your company in our social calendar.

There are many different channels available for you to connect with as an exhibitor at a Marketplace Events produced home show. On Facebook, our community of home and garden enthusiasts across North America is currently 44k strong; and locally every market is active on Twitter. There are also many additional online promotional options available via our websites and email campaigns; should you be looking for a more comprehensive social strategy feel free to contact your sales consultant.

Our social mantra is to share relevant content out to our audience. We know our exhibiting companies have excellent products and services making them valuable to our community. Great content is vital to us, and we love to feature exhibitors on our newly designed HomeandGardenBlog.com.

Ways to Connect...


Facebook   Facebook.com/HomeandGardenEvents

Pinterest   Pinterest.com/HomeShows

YouTube   YouTube.com/MarketplaceEvents

LinkedIn   LinkedIn.com/company/MarketplaceEvents

Local Twitter Markets
Birmingham @HomeShowsBHAM
Buffalo @BuffaloHomeShow
Central Florida @FloridaHomeShow
Cleveland @GreatBigShow
Denver @HomeShowDenver
Des Moines @HomeShowDM
Indianapolis @HomeShowIND
Jacksonville @TheJaxHomeShow
Minneapolis @HomeShowMPLS
Oklahoma @OKCHomeShow
Philadelphia @PhillyHomeShow
Salt Lake City @SLCHomeShow
Washington @DCHomeShows

Calgary @HomeShowsAB
Montreal @SalonHabitation
Ottawa @OttawaHomeShow
Toronto @HomeSHowsTO
Vancouver @VanHomeShows

Corporate @HomeShows

Looking to REV up your social? We also have a team of motorcycle enthusiasts in California working on all things AIMExpo! Connect with them on Facebook and Twitter to let them know about your products or to find out more on participating in the motorcycle industry's first combined trade, consumer and media event in North America.

We look forward to connecting with you and helping with your social marketing plans when taking part in our home shows!

Joanne Carry
Digital Marketing Director
Marketplace Events