Amerimold 2019 Exhibitors: Get Your Booth Bling On

Amerimold may be a smaller trade show compared to some, but it is important to moldmaking, and that makes it an ideal opportunity to showcase products and services for the moldmaking industry. There are more than 200 exhibitors who will be vying for the attention of every attendee who walks down their aisles. Who will collect the most leads? You can bet on the companies who have the most effective booth bling. (Those companies probably also took advantage of the opportunity to promote their presence at the show, and I wrote about that in my blog on April 12. If you missed it, click here, and then come back for today’s installment.)

What steps can be taken to enhance one’s “booth bling?” It is not what you might think. There is not need for actual bling like disco balls or flashing lights. The bling is the products and services on display in a way that grabs attention. Granted, if one sells shiny cutting tools, mold components and the like, the lights might play off them enough to pull attendees in, but the point is to be sure that whatever is being sold is front and center, as part of the booth backdrop, on the tabletop and within any electronic displays. Never assume that just because this trade show is focused on moldmaking that everyone will know what your company is offering. If attendees do not recognize, at a glance, what is being sold, they will walk on by.

Think of the booth as a billboard on a highway. There are sometimes dozens of them, one after the other, all vying for attention. Drivers only have a couple of seconds to look and take away the messages that the advertisers are trying to send, if they notice them at all. Trade show attendees may have more than a couple of seconds, but not much, so make sure the message you want to send is clear and concise. Give attendees a reason to take note of the product or service. Show them why they need it.

I want to point out that not even free giveaways are enough to attract the right customers. It is nice to have items with a logo and website on them so attendees remember your company, but will it sell your product? Not likely. If you must have a giveaway, invest in something that carries your message the way your booth bling does. One excellent example that I recall is mold industry supplier that specializes in engineered coatings and finishes for molds. Years ago, they had the very clever idea of coating pennies with a proprietary coating they developed, and they gave those pennies away on a card with their contact information on it and the name of the coating. The idea was to let attendees feel the lubricity and let them take it back so their co-workers could also feel it. They got a lot of business from that giveaway and probably still do. It sent the right message.

See you at Amerimold!