Experiential and event management is exciting yet there are many ‘nail biting/ nerve racking’ moments that can be averted with a proper strategy. If you’re interested in experiential marketing, in the middle of planning an event, a marketing student, etc. than then post is for you. I’m going to share the top ten tips and tricks I’ve picked up in my five years of experience with CES – hopefully you’ll stop biting those nails now! Click below to read more.

1. Determine the goals and objectives of the show.

Before you even think about the booth, show displays or message for the show ask you and your team, “Why are we going?” (What are our marketing goals?):

• To add a few names to our contact list? (lead acquisition)
• To maintain our presence in the industry and make a stance among our competition? (Positioning your clients brand within the respective industries present; also against other competitors present?)
• To launch a new product?
• To get away from the office? (Hey now…!)

2. Make sure you set MEASUREABLE goals in which management agrees on.

This is by far the most important lesson I’ve learned. What is a success to one person, usually isn’t to another; in fact, sometimes it can be perceived as a failure (be warned). For example:

• In a four day stretch you gain 3,000 leads (contact information) out of a conference with 10,000 in attendance (you’re hitting 30% return).
• That’s an average of 750 leads gained per day: a good number and rate of return, it means your booth is probably staying busy!

So how could 3,000 leads be seen as a failure? Here we go:

• It’s great that you’ve given them more contacts (heck, it could even have been an increase over last year) – but are they qualified?

In general, a measurable goal will let you calculate return on investment and create justification for your presence at a show. Specifically though, an increase in qualified leads will take you much further than a large list of ‘tire-kickers’ who stopped at a booth for a free pen (or to kick a tire or two…). This brings me to my third point:

3. Define “qualified” lead.

Similar to #2, this definition can differ from person to person. Make sure everyone has a clear understanding of what makes them qualified and put it in writing. (Are you seeing a trend here?) This is a critical definition to determine at the beginning of your event planning; it will not only set the bar for a performance indicator but also allow you to tailor your booth’s presence and messaging around your desired audience or “qualified” leads.

4. Determine your target audience(s) and make sure you speak their language and message to them.

You can generate this from your goals and objectives. (Wait you have those, right?!) If your #1 goal is to increase media exposure, then the media is your #1 target audience. Don’t forget they have goals for the show too, so make sure your message will get their attention; give them something new and exciting to talk about – make their life easier, make them want to write about your client! Don’t forget your electronic media kit – paper was so last decade.

5. Bring copies of all paperwork, blueprints and confirmations. And phone numbers.

It seems like every year, show services misplaced one of our orders. If I didn’t have my 45 lb. binder with me that safely kept every form, map, plan and confirmation for every order, we would’ve been without electricity, internet, you name it. Without phone numbers, I would’ve spent an hour or so tracking down the right person to get it fixed. And every second off your feet counts.

6. Bring art files for all the graphics, literature and anything else printed for the show.

Why not be prepared in case disaster strikes? Imagine if a graphic didn’t match up right on the spot – it could be printed poorly, it could have stitching problems, it could get rained on…the list is endless. Be prepared.

If you’re not, it’s just a wasted half day on the phone with the ‘home-base’ (aka, the office) tracking down files, sending them, getting things re-printed; imagine if your design team was sleeping – what a nightmare!

7. Communicate between your freight carrier and show logistics before and during shipment.

Oh and don’t forget cell phone numbers for both the truck driver(s) and logistic crew members. We had a second shipment arrived on-time once to the specified location however, show logistics decided to close the gates earlier than listed on the form. So when the truck arrived he had to turn around, continue on to California to deliver another load, then turn back around to deliver our freight one day late. You may think that it’s only one day, but that one day caused a wasted day for the installation crew and overtime to make up for it. Lessons learned!

8. Plan for unplanned expenses in your budget.

Even experiential events and tradeshows have rainy days – do you have your client’s rainy day fund set aside? Avoid this conversation:

“Where’s this?”

“We were supposed to get that?”

“Yes.”

“Uh-oh”

Be prepared, consider that rainy day funds an umbrella to cover any last minute crisis expenses; a good budget is crucial to every marketing strategy but planning for contingencies is crucial!

9. Show Services, are your friend.

Yes, they cost an arm and a leg to do anything from hanging your overhead banners to plugging in an electronic device (some venues are stricter than others) but they can make or break your schedule and your sanity. If you’re ungrateful or rude, you move to the last on their list. But if you’re friendly and appreciative, they will bend over backwards for you. A smile and a wink doesn’t hurt either. Any other bribe is up to you – we assume free food works as well though…

10. Bring a first aid kit for your booth staff.

Not just Band-Aids, though necessary for those evil blisters but water and lozenges for dry throats; shoe inserts for those tired feet; ibuprofen for headaches and swelling feet (and hangovers, should that happen…); and snacks for hungry bellies in case they’re too busy for a break. Anything to keep your staff smiling for 10 hours a day – in case you haven’t tried that, it’s hard. One moment of not smiling at a booth can be captured forever on YouTube….

To recap a few things:

• Plan
• Communicate
• Budget (extra)
• Think about the peons (try giving them food to increase loyalty!) that run the shows.
• People will forget to drink water; hydrate them, or miss out on precious ‘smile-time’!

I hope this helps and best wishes for a successful show from your pal at Steketee Greiner and Co. ~ Jill.

Talk to us on Twitter @steketeegreiner!

The beauty of where this all goes – AdAge Viral video chart

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=143824

As I spent some time today on AdAge getting my daily dose of what’s happening and who’s who, I came across a great article that was talking about the most successful viral campaigns of the week. What was intriguing and also wonderful at the same time is that AdAge was referencing “Visible Measures” viral ability chart as a reference guide to who was winning the race. So there we have it – a publication that was once dedicated to a traditional advertising model paying homage once again to the power of digital and and non-traditional. Google’s Chrome video took the lead with an impressive 1.86MM views on a new spot they published online. Toyota was close behind with 1.85MM views regarding a campaign they put together for the Sienna.

What I love most about this example is the market’s willingness to understand and give credibility to the power of digital and social media. However I must say there is a great opportunity to provide more insight into this report than just how many views have been achieved. There is so much more data available to help you understand the true impact and connection that these impressions have had with the eyeballs that have viewed them. If harnessed correctly, marketers have the ability to make those moments so much more impactful to both the brand and the consumer experiencing them.

Brian

Global Brand – We are trying to understand how we can leverage your platform to create a consistent brand experience for our customers. How can we do this?

FB – Well we have a lot of great ideas cooking around unique brand experiences and here is an agency that we are working with who can help you create one.

Global Brand – Okay.. Agency, we’re not so much interested in creative however we are interested in designing a system that enables us to easily publish content across a myriad of markets in multiple languages. Have you done this before?

Agency – Well, we have a content publishing tool that we designed that enables us to “work around” the FB system design however we have never done this for more than 8 markets or have any language translation capabilities…

Me – FB / Agency, can you elaborate on your long range tech plans for addressing the issues around multiple countries and multiple languages?

Agency – We design future functionality around what our customers ask for (my interpretation – we don’t have any plans to develop a translation engine until we have a customer that wants one)…

FB – Our goal is to create a compelling user experience for the end user and we have developed an advertising model that enables you to “micro-target” consumers. The architecture and design work is being left up to our agencies…

Agency – Yes, this is where we come in…

Global Brand – Agency, do you have experience integrated your platform with our social media platforms (i.e. Orkut, Bebo…) or across YouTube and Twitter…

Agency – Yes we have worked with Twitter and can integrate this into the content publishing tool. No to the rest….

As I’m sure we can all agree, Facebook is an extremely compelling playground for brands. With over 300MM users spanning the globe it’s clear that it is not only the dominant player in the space but that it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

This area is truly still a “white canvas” for Brands willing to take a risk and do something unique. With that being said, there are only a handful of agencies out there that have experience with it. When looking to evaluate an agency to launch your Facebook social strategy, make sure to consider the following questions.

1. How many brands have you launched FB initiatives with?

2. Do you currently have IP in the space? If so, what makes your IP (and solution) unqiue and compelling?

3. What experience do you have working across multiple Geos and multiple languages?

4. Do you have a content generation platform? If YES

5. Does your platform manage multiple permissions from multiple administrators?

6. Can it flag in-appropriate content?

7. What experience does your team have with cross integration of other US based and overseas based platforms?

8. Can you show me a functioning application that is more than a “hot link” to an outside URL?

9. Can you provide reporting and trends analysis beyond fan, friend, and links growth? How should my growth compare to other companies/competitors in my industry? What are the benchmarks?

10. Do you have a direct relationship with the social media platform? How is your development team structured?

11. After you install my solution, how much additional customization and support will be required for me to activate a campaign?

12. What business model are you working off of? If this is a license deal, what value is your technology providing me?

13. Can I get the same functionality through a free platform or another provider?

14. What makes your solution truly unique?

15. Who are your competitors?

Global Brands, like those before you who have charted new territory, have perseverance and patience.  Vet your agency partners carefully as you embark on creating a consistent brand experience across borders and languages.

Brian

It seems pretty clear the executive mandate of 2009 is “we must get into social marketing”. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Fortune 500 brand or a HVAC distribution company, the people have seen the future and everyone is trying to figure out how to get on. So when is social right? Let’s first take a minute and look at the definitions of social marketing as spelled out on Wikipedia :

Social marketing is the systematic application of marketing along with other concepts and techniques to achieve specific behavioral goals for a …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_marketing

Use of marketing techniques to improve social well-being by changing attitudes and behavior in regard to a specific product or concept.
www.rho.org/html/glossary.html

Marketing and advertising that reaches potential consumers via social networking website, such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo. They appear at the edges of users’ profiles and can be targeted based on keywords in their profiles to match their stated interests or recent activities.
www.mediasmart.org.uk/parents-media-glossary.php

A marketing message designed to promote a social concern or political idea as well as a product.
www.glencoe.com/sec/busadmin/marketing/dp/ad_serv/gloss.shtml

What’s important to note is that Social Marketing does not necessarily have to include Facebook, or Twitter by that matter. It’s about how we connect amongst our peers, family, and brands. Sometimes that great tool of Facebook can be a launchpad. But consider this… Would you become a fan of your local pool supply store? Yes that is correct. I recently passed a billboard in front of our local pool store advertising the great opportunity to “fan” the pool store and stay tuned for deals. This I believe is a mistake and an in-appropriate use of a social platform. Sorry Mr. Pool store man if your out there reading this – It was a novel effort.

Social networks really haven’t changed over the years. The advent of the digital version of social networks has though. It has created a great platform to get engaged and have a voice out there. If used properly – it can make a difference. We’ve seen this both in the B-B and B-C space. However a lot of those examples didn’t and do not include “Facebook”… Start thinking outside of the norm. Forums, influential blogs, and other relevant trade and audience specific sites can be fertile ground for getting your message out. Especially if you need to communicate to specific target audiences. Use them properly and don’t “get in” just for the sake of “getting in”…

There’s a lot of value to be had by getting online and going social. However this always needs to be taken in the context of the rest of your marketing mix. Keep it cohesive and remember… You have limited control of your message once it’s out there….

Think, do your homework, and make sure to clearly understand what you want to get out of “getting into social” before you get started.

Brian

Congrats to the whole team on making this happen!

Enter a State of Simplicity

Dell story on engadget

Dell Latitude with wireless charge stand