One of the places where guerilla marketers rule is the expo or tradeshow. Contrary to popular believe the two terms aren’t interchangeable. When people attend an expo they are usually looking to form connections and long term relationships. When people attend a tradeshow they are typically looking to buy. Expos work better for the purposes I’ll be talking about here, but if you play your cards right you can work well with either of them.
Like I said, expos are usually more about connecting than selling. Exhibiting is going to be your best way to form these connections (and I’ll do an entry on exhibiting later), but if you don’t have the time/resources to exhibit you can make some good connections just by walking the show.
First you have to find the right type of show. Take a look at your local chamber websites. At least one of them will usually be attached to pretty much every show that comes to town. Failing that, take a look at the websites for the local convention centers to see what they have booked. You can also search for associations and groups that have appeal to your audience.
I know some people who will walk every show they can find. Personally, my feet are wayyyy too old for that. I try to limit things to shows where my target audience will either be attending or exhibiting.
The guerilla technique is a little different for each situation. If your audience is exhibiting -that’s the easiest. If they’re working their booth correctly they are trying to form connections themselves and following up with the prospects they reach. If they aren’t very good at working their booth you might have to force the conversation a little. (This is actually one of my pet peeves – it really bugs my “inner guerilla”. If you’re going to go through all the work of exhibiting, you should be ready to talk to people.) Just as they are sizing you up to see if you’re a good prospect for them – you should be sizing them up to see if they would be a good prospect for you. When they follow up with you, you turn it into a networking opportunity for yourself. However, I strongly urge you to be considerate to the exhibitor. Remember their time at the show is valuable so don’t monopolize it & please don’t use it as an excuse to suck up all of their promotional products or waste their expensive literature. When you meet with them later you don’t want to be remembered as the person who drained their resources.
If your audience is attending it takes a little more work. It’s a matter of playing it by ear, literally. You need to make your ears work independently so you can hear as many things as possible. As you walk the show listen for conversations about problems you have the solution to, problems you’ve been able to solve for your other clients, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t recommend launching into a sales pitch. Keep it light and conversational – remember, you’re just two people attending a show. If you work it right, they’re going to ask you for your card. Even if they don’t – it never hurts to ask for theirs & jot a note on the back about the conversation. Then follow up with a friendly “did you ever get that _____ taken care of?” call.
This begs another note to be considerate to the exhibitors. You never want to hijack their prospects or insult them in any way. For one thing they have the upper hand because they have the credibility of exhibiting. For another, they’ll remember you & like they say, “paybacks are a b**ch.” You want to be an exhibitor one day and you definitely don’t want someone doing it to you.
One more thing a good guerilla does at every show – pay attention to all the exhibits you think could be good ideas for you later down the line. Its never too early to start planning for your next show.
So, who has some good exhibitor/attendee stories to share?
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