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Sometimes you want
maximum number of prospect leads possible. "Qualification" is not so important because either you have "system" to handle extra garbage leads, or your garbage quotient is very low. What does that mean? Simply that your product has a very broad appeal, and that virtually everyone is a prospect. Obviously no product is completely un-targeted; but equally obviously, some products (e.g., many consumer goods) have a much broader target group than, for instance, specialized industrial goods.
In case of broadly targeted goods, you may want to get maximum number of leads so you can send your sales team to work on them — especially if there is no major cost or downside in doing this. (But beware, there's always a cost of some sort!) This is when you should provide an "incentive" to get people to "sign up".
What kind of incentive? Usually it will be some sort of giveaway: "Sign up and we'll send you a valuable X." Where "X" is your premium of choice: pen, hat, balloon, bag, etc, etc. Of course you don't have to send it after show, either. You can have a "info for hat/pen/bag" trade right there at show, if you think you can tactfully manage it ("Give me your name, and I'll give you a hat." Hmmmm.)
Another type of premium rapidly gaining popularity is "digital" item: software, music, "e-books", digital services of one kind or another. The nice thing about these is that they can be delivered online via your website (or special event website)— so there is no significant cost. For example, you could say "Register and we'll send you 5 free e-books." (a popular tactic used for internet sales). Then your follow up can consist of an email greeting-plus-pitch along with link to their premium. Pretty painless. And there are lots of free e-books out there just crying out to be given away (because they have subtle embedded links and promos in them). Or you can create your own, and embed your own promotions.
The other popular incentive is a "draw", where you give away something of perceived value: a vacuum cleaner, a bicycle, a gas barbecue, a computer, etc., etc. Or if you have some high margin products of your own (e.g., wedding photographer), you can give away some of your own products or services as an incentive for trade show leads.
This can get expensive, but only you know how much you should be "paying" for trade show leads. If your product has no built-in premium space, and if your conversion rate increase (by giving a premium rather than not), is negligible, then obviously you should not give premiums.
Find more resources at TradeShow-Display-Experts.com and America-Banners.com.
Rick Hendershot is a marketing consultant operating out of Conestogo, Ontario, Canada. He publishes several websites and blogs, including Web Traffic Resources, Marketing Bites, SuperCharge Your Website with Power Linking, and many more.
