Tradeshow Strategy Overhaul: 6 Steps to 36% Larger Deal Size
If you’re not familiar with MarketingSherpa.com I suggest taking a few minutes to browse through the pages of what I consider to be great site for practical, how-to marketing information and resources. Tonight I read a great article titled, “Trade Show Strategy Overhaul: 6 Steps to 36% Larger Deal Size” which is essentially a case study outlining six steps that one company took to achieve maximum results for its one big annual event.
Overview:
Every year, Aon exhibits at the annual Risk, Insurance and Management Society (RIMS) conference. It’s the one event that the risk management, reinsurance and human capital consulting firm considers a “must attend” regardless of economic conditions.
The Challenge:
Develop a strategy around the event that ignores the limitations of an ROI-based approach, and still establishes a presence in a big way.
What the marketing folks at Aon did was design an integrated event plan that focused all of its efforts on its customers. The concept, called “Client World” turned Aon’s exhibit space into a showcase for its customers products and services. Instead of talking about itself, Aon mixed marketing messages into video testimonials and case studies about its customers success. Six steps that Aon took to execute its plan:
- Select clients to feature in the booth.
- Create marketing materials around client stories.
- Provide meeting areas, lounges and networking opportunities.
- Pre-show promotion through direct mail and email.
- Track multiple customer touches during the event.
- Add contacts to marketing database for post-show follow up.
Results:
The “Client World” exhibit program resulted in a 12 percent increase in new business than the average deal size for all new business, and a 36 percent increase in the average deals size for RIMS 2007 business. Two other key results include:
- RIMS 2008 deal closing was 15 percent higher than average rate.
- Exceeded leads by 7 percent.
You can read the full article here, http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31305.
Read how Echelon Design has helped its clients through similar challenges here,http://www.echelondesigninc.com/success/default.aspx.
Until the next time…
