Trade Show Booth Staff Training Expert, Susan Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach

As you plan next year’s trade shows, take advantage of the new decade as a marketing tool. When the calendar flips over, people—including your customers—enjoy the chance to do a little reflection. That’s why the beginning of any new decade is heralded by predictions about upcoming trends, as well as the usual end-of-year summaries of the best and worst.

This kind of self-examination is not just a natural human instinct. It can be a great tool for gaining honest feedback from customers, for gaining their involvement, even for the much-sought-after viral marketing. Here are four ideas to get you started:

1. Attract buzz with a best-and-worst contest. On your company’s web site, invite customers to participate by making nominations. Nominations for what? Their favorite and least favorite trends in your industry of the past ten years. Or their predictions of upcoming trends. Or the features they would most like to see in your products.

2. Have trade show attendees come by your booth to submit their ballots. Draw winners of small prizes every hour. And yes, they must be present to win.

3. Follow up the trade show contest with a web page devoted to results. List the names of the winners. Post the nominations submitted at the trade show and allow readers to vote on their favorites. This ongoing buzz will multiply the investment you make in the trade show and keep customers coming back to check on the progress of the poll.

4. Keep the buzz going with a group on Facebook, announcements on Twitter, and discussions on other social networking sites.

Check out my brand new online trade show training program.

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Written by Susan A. Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, internationally recognized expert working with companies to increase their profitability at tradeshows.

Author: “Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market” and “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies.” www.thetradeshowcoach.com & www.richesinniches.com

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