When it comes to utilizing Giveaways as part of an overall trade show Exhibit Strategy, there are two very distinctive schools of thought. Some organizations firmly believe that the handouts at trade show booths seem wasteful and useless and have dismissed them as the marketing convention equivalent of a wedding favor. However, other business leaders have determined that these items deliver more than just a passing "freebie" thrill to visitors of their trade show displays and continuously add to the mentality that they are a classic for a reason.
At some point during the strategizing process, you will also find yourself faced with the decision of whether to handout or not to handout. If you're leaning toward eliminating these giveaways in favor of investing your available finances in other convention resources, read on. There are three very compelling reasons why you may not want to ignore the promotional potency of the exhibit.
Trade Show Exhibit Success Requires Visitors
It's no secret that, ultimately, the overall success achieved when setting up trade show booths is directly proportional to the number of guests that visit the stands throughout the show. The more people that can be effectively enticed and compelled into checking out your displays, the more likely your team is to generate leads and close business. While pre-event marketing and advertising as well as state-of-the-art displays may lead you to believe that you've effectively stacked the odds in your business' favor for drawing in a crowd, it's important to remember that your competition has probably done all the same preliminary legwork. Come event day, you may find you need a simple but effective differentiator that helps your organization stand out from the competitive crowd. Enter the giveaway. Offering crowd-pleasing gadgets and other items can truly make the difference between passersby stopping in for a closer look or walking by your stand altogether.
Handouts: Effective Well Beyond The Initial Consumer Encounter
In addition to helping your business initially connect with the wandering masses at the next promotional function, these giveaways also deliver some undeniable fringe benefits as well. Strategically emblazoned with your company's motto and logo, a handout offers potential consumers brand recognition reinforcement beyond your trade show booths and other collateral handouts. Whether they've purchased from you in the past or have never heard of your company before the event, the giveaway will help them mentally connect your brand with your services and wares even after the convention has concluded.
Finally, not only do handouts help keep your brand fresh in the minds of visitors to your trade show displays, it also holds the potential to deliver portable promotional punch to everyone your booth guest comes in contact with. Pens, mugs, executive notebooks, flash drives and the like all have a tendency to make their way around the office. Each time a colleague of your visitor borrows a pen, your company name and logo will appear, offering the ultimate ROI for your team: a potentially endless marketing cycle.
