Are you planning an event or participating in a trade show soon? If so, consider the following marketing tactics:
20. Giveaways should be relevant to your business. Who cares if you collect 10,000 names because you ran a cool promotion giving away a 48-inch TV? You've just collected 10,000 non-qualified leads. Instead, you could ask attendees to sign up for a newsletter or special report. One can assume the majority of business cards deposited in your fish bowl will be qualified.
21. Treat your signs as miniature billboards. First, make sure you're allowed to display signs, posters and banners. Then, use no more than six words, and make sure they can be read from at least 10 feet away.
22. You're attire should be slightly better than what attendees will wear. For example, if you're attending an event whereby most of the attendees are engineers, don't wear a 3-piece suit. Also, don't chew gum or talk too much to the other people working your booth. The latter makes you appear unapproachable.
23. Buy exhibit space close to the entryway or at a pathway to food stations or restrooms. Sign up for exhibit space in advance to get premium locations. Corner booths between major walkthroughs are ideal. If prospects can't see you, you're wasting your time.
24. Get a list of attendees after the event and follow up. More organized events provide participant contact information before the event as well as after (often on web sites). Other value-added benefits to ask about include being included in participant email distributions promoting the event, as well as an advertisement or listing in the event show guide.
25. Secure the exhibitors' list several days before your event. Some of your most qualified event leads come from networking with other exhibitors. Outline which exhibitors you intend to approach to secure informal partnerships. At minimum, you want to know which competitors will be there.
"Despite the large number of announcements published, many times that number are rejected for a wide range of reasons," Fireman says. Knowing what the media expects in a press release can distinguish your company enough to catch an editor's eye. Here are his press release tips:
26. Write the release so it's ready to publish with minor or no editing. Your announcement has a better chance of publication if it avoids superlatives that won't make it into print, such as "the most advanced widget ever!" Most editors prefer a journalistic, value-based format, in which the first paragraph provides a summary of what makes the product newsworthy and summarizes other features. The rest of the release should provide supportive details.
27. Develop a comprehensive list of print and online publications. The easiest way to increase the number of times your product announcement is published is to distribute it to all relevant publications. It's possible to find dozens or even hundreds of print and online publications whose readers might be interested in your announcement. Directories such as Bacon's or Standard Rate & Data Services list thousands of business publications categorized by industry.
28. Respond promptly and completely to editor inquiries. Photos (mostly high-resolution digital images) are common requests by editors, so have several different types ready, especially if you didn't send one with the original announcement. Some publications ask to speak to a user of the product, so if possible prepare in advance to have one available.
29. Follow up unobtrusively. Don't follow up on every single announcement, just on those that are most important--once per quarter is a good rule of thumb. Keep in mind that it usually takes a long series of contacts to attract editors' attention, answer their requests, get the publication date and finally receive copies.
Fisher offers these tips for dealing with the media:
30. Give them your full attention. Maybe you're having lunch or you're in a meeting. Guess what? The media waits for no one. I advise my clients to tell assistants to interrupt them at any time if the media calls.
31. You have control over advertising; you have minimal control over public relations. A media piece may not contain the "story" that you would like covered. It may focus on an angle you don't like. The reporter determines what angle to use, depending on his or her needs, information you provide and available space in the publication. And remember that media outlets choose when they want to run stories.
32. Give several contact numbers to the media. Include day, night and weekend contact information. The journalist could be in a different time zone, or might want to call you before or after your business hours.
33. Spend time reading, listening to the radio and watching TV. If you plan on pitching a particular media outlet you're not familiar with, research it first by attaining back issues or archived news clips. You'll have a better idea of the types of stories covered and possibly what "departments" or "time slots" your news might fit best.
