Toolbox: All Your Trade Show Resources All in One Place

Got trade shows coming up? Wondering what you need to do to get people to stop and notice your booth when they’re walking the show floor? Or maybe you’re curious about how you can get the most out of your marketing before, during, and after the show?

At Redpines, we prepare our clients for shows each year. So we have more than a few tricks up our sleeves to make shows and other industry events easier and more successful. 

Now, we’ve compiled our trade show resources in one place to make it easy to find what you need. Visit the new Trade Show Resources page on the Redpines website to find:

● Press Coverage Playbook: See exactly how to prepare for and conduct press meetings that result in meaningful coverage. 

● Stand-Out Strategies: See affordable, proven tactics to make your booth the one everyone wants to stop by.

● Trade Show Video Guide: Find out how to create videos that not only capture attention on the show floor but continue generating leads long after the event ends.

● Your Complete Trade Show Marketing & Communications Checklist: Take control of your trade show preparation with a comprehensive timeline that ensures nothing falls through the cracks.

● Speaking Success Blueprint: Secure those coveted speaking slots that position you as an industry leader.

Anytime you’ve got a show on the horizon and you’re looking to ease the stress and challenges that often arise around industry events, keep this resource page in mind. 

Toolbox: Do You Have Trade Show Anxiety? (Your Complete Trade Show Marketing & Communications Checklist)

By Bob Decker

It’s 2:00 AM. It’s pitch black outside. All is quiet, except the drumming between your ears. You should be sleeping. 

Instead, your mind is going in circles listing off all of the tiny things that could slip through the cracks. You’re thinking about the details no one knows but you. You’re looking to foresee any potential problems before they happen.

The cause of this anxiety is the next trade show on the calendar. Whether you’re preparing for NAB, IBC, InfoComm, Sensors, or one of the other shows that take place each year, you’re not alone if you find yourself under immense pressure in the lead up to the event. 

Everyone experiences stress in anticipation of major trade shows because you have invested so much time, effort, and budget into everything going perfectly. Plus, a great deal is riding on the outcome because the reason you invest in the trade show is the number of deals you can start or secure there. 

That’s why I’ve put together a complete list of every marketing and communications task you have to do starting one year before a show and continuing during a show and even after. 

By following this list, you can eliminate much of the tension and anxiety you experience because it will allow you to anticipate everything you need to think about for a successful trade show. 

Before reading the list, you should know that the single greatest stress-reducer you can put into practice is working with an agency that has expertise in both your industry and trade show marketing and communications. Dundee Hills Group agencies, including Redpines, provide each and every one of the services on this checklist for our clients, easing the load of the trade shows where they exhibit.

Here’s Your Complete Trade Show Checklist:

 

6 to 12 months in advance of the show:

● Begin full show campaign plan

● Pitch possible speaking opportunities and paper presentations

● Create, proofread, format, and submit presentation abstracts 

● Propose ancillary and/or co-located events

● Submit show-related award nominations

● Prepare the trade show participation budget

● Plan product roadmap 

● Create overall theme and visual treatment

3 to 6 months in advance of the show:

● Identify, prepare, and submit for relevant award opportunities

● Complete exhibitor profile on the trade show website

● Submit content for the show dailies

● Design ads and create advertising plan

● Create strategy and budget for press events, such as a press conference or dinner

● Make press conference room reservations

 

1 to 3 months in advance of the show: 

● Media:

○ Organize press events, including invitations, managing RSVPs, catering, and creating and editing the presentation 

○ Identify editorial opportunities specifically aimed at the event

○ Place and write contributed articles on trends, thought leadership, etc.

○ Develop a show preview

○ Create sponsored content for show dailies and other trade press

● Digital marketing:

○ Produce show landing page

○ Design and schedule a social media campaign

○ Organize and offer a pre-show webinar

○ Write and send an e-mail campaign inviting prospects to visit your booth

○ Produce short videos to generate show leads 

○ Reach out to targeted leads one-on-one to schedule meetings at your booth

○ Create digital media that can be on display at the booth

○ Write and design tailored articles or reports

● Print:

○ Coordinate with stand builder 

○ Create sales collateral 

○ Design booth graphics

○ Specify vendor and order booth graphics

○ Specify vendor and order printed handouts

○ Final proofing of all printed graphics

 

1 month or less in advance of the show:

● Review, edit, proofread, and format final paper, booth presentations, and/or slides

● Create virtual tour of the booth 

● Manage booth staff training

● Design slide deck presentation to go on monitors at the booth

● Strategize pre-show video scripting

● Media: 

○ Conduct pre-show one-on-one briefings of editors

○ Provide staff media training, including how to present at a press conference and talk with editors in one-on-ones at the booth

○ Prepare press kit 

○ Create look-books with pictures of editors and a schedule of meetings

○ Offer calendar invitations for press meetings

○ Send press releases about exhibiting at the show, new products, customer announcements, etc.

○ Write and edit press briefings and talking points

 

During the show:

● Staff the booth, press room, lounge, and/or meeting rooms

● Set up the booth

● Troubleshoot booth technology

● Provide final proofing of all changeable graphics (such as lettering) being done on site

● Post on social channels from the show floor

● Host editor meetings

● Record and/or photograph award presentation and booth events

● Take video on the booth to use for follow-up social media and your website

● Coordinate and lead dealer and distributor meetings 

● Launch text-from-stage campaign during the show to capture leads

● Follow up with booth visitors during the show

 

Within 1 month after the show:

● Send follow-up e-mail campaigns to booth visitors 

● Conduct post-show performance assessment and reporting

● Manage editorial follow up such as writing thank you notes, sending press requested materials, and arranging interviews for upcoming features

Having read through the list, would you like to take any of these tasks off your plate in the lead up to your most important trade shows? 

Dundee Hills Group agencies can offer you every one of these services, removing your biggest stressors with expertise and key contacts within your industry. If you’d like to talk about a package of services we can provide you, please reach out to me by phone at 415-409-0233.

Toolbox: How to create a social media strategy that works

By Bob Decker

The particulars of social media platforms are in a constant state of flux. But if you're a newcomer to social media, or if your company is a newcomer, there are certain rules of the game that don't change that much from year to year and which will help you turn your social media outreach into a fruitful, two-way dialogue. Here are my top five recommendations if you're thinking about launching or relaunching your organization's social media presence.

1. Reach agreement within your teams about what your goal is in being on any social media platform and whom your presence there is for. Look to be as specific as possible.

"Raising awareness" is a lame reason to be on social media. Examples of some good reasons:

• Showing the company to be a meaningful place to work so people will apply for jobs there (or won't quit)
• Getting people to come to your event or trade show booth—or wish they had
• Entice customers to buy something specific from you—and give them a link to do so
• Encourage people to like, trust, and respect you by pointing them toward useful information that they might not have found on their own

2. Reach agreement within your company about who "owns" your social media channels and how you're going to measure whether social media is working for you or not.

Yes, social media is always going to be a team effort. But you still need to be clear about who's responsible for driving it from day to day, and who's responsible when they're on vacation. 

3. Even if it seems "easier" to go on to each social media site and post things, sign up for and use one of the social media calendaring and posting platforms (like Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout, and many others). You need this so you can more easily

• plan ahead for future posts and share the plan easily with your team
• scale out to more social media platforms
• enable coordination within your company between different functions (such as marketing and HR)
• prevent all the unpleasant things that can happen when everything depends on some spreadsheet somewhere that suddenly becomes unavailable for whatever reason
• measure the effectiveness of what you're doing on social media: most of these platforms are measurement tools as well as planning tools

4. Have in mind a recurring type of post that you can come up with a predictable frequency. Your social media channels need a "pulse," and you need to find that pulse before you launch. 

Here as elsewhere it's important to put yourself in the shoes of the audience(s) you're trying to reach. What's going to be interesting for them? As a starting point, assume they're most interested in their own problems and, if they're looking at social media at all, in being entertained and inspired. For example, as a marketing communications agency Redpines social media channels aspire to bring useful ideas to B2B companies about how to promote themselves more effectively.

Without knowing the specifics of your business, I can't recommend any specific kind of content that will work as an ongoing "pulse" for your social media channels; but I'm happy to make some recommendations in a free 15-minute consultation.

5. Be open-minded about what your goal is in engaging with social media. It's not just about getting more and more followers. For example, LinkedIn can be an excellent tool to help you find specific people in specific roles in specific companies you'd like to be in contact with so you can sell them things. Tools that automate this process, and there are many to choose from, not only save time, they can also circumvent some of the hurdles you'd face as an individual trying to reach out to people from whom you're separated by too many degrees to suit LinkedIn's rules about who you can contact directly.

I hope you found this useful! Some more Redpines resources on social media:

6 Useful Social Media Tips

5 Shortcuts to Getting Started on Social Media

Toolbox: 5 Ways to Make a Lasting Impression With Your PR Images

By Bob Decker

All too often in the product launch process, creating a photograph of the product comes as an afterthought. Sometimes marketing people question whether a product image is even necessary. “Everyone knows what this type of product looks like,” they reason. “Why should I go to the expense of having it photographed?”

In the past 10 years, PR images have become simpler. But they're still an opportunity to make a statement about your company and the quality of its products. 

The collage on this page shows some examples of semiconductor product PR images from 2022. Compared with how PR images used to be done, the main difference is what's missing: internal captions are kept to a minimum and limited to what will fit on a picture of the chip; "application" images are rare; no attempt is made to have the PR image serve as an "ad."

One thing hasn't changed: a PR image still need to reflect your brand, and that means having clear guidelines for how you do product photography and implementing them consistently. 

I've put together a few simple guidelines to help you make your PR images more effective. You can download them here. And if you're reading this because you're working on a product launch and would like some help with it, please drop me a line — I'd love to hear what you're working on and see if there's any way we can help.

Toolbox: Another Pair of Eyes for Your Website SEO

By Bob Decker

Sometimes improving your website's SEO is as simple

as bringing in another pair of eyes.

Do you ever feel like you're so close to your business that you're no longer able to visualize how other people might see it?

You know who your customers are. You know what problem you're solving for them. 

Can anybody spend a few seconds looking at your website and figure that out as well? 

This is a key part of the thought process that the Redpines team guides you through when we conduct a basic SEO audit. It's like providing you with a second pair of eyes — mainly for your website, but also for your company messaging in general.

How can you tell if you need a basic SEO audit?

Here's one way: Off the top of your head (no fair copying from your website) write down what your company does and who it’s for in 25 words or less. Then delete any mention of your company name. Paste what remains into a Google search query. Where does your company come up in the results?

If your company website is popping up on the first page of results, congratulations. You're doing great. 

Not showing up on the first, second, or third page of results? We can help you fix this.

Toolbox: Is Your Business Paid Search Ready? A Redpines Checklist

Do you ever wonder if you’re missing out on customers by not trying paid search?

It’s easy to think so, when so many companies seem to have enormous success using paid search for new customer acquisition and lead generation. It makes you want to dive into the pool when it’s full of splashing swimmers.

But over the years, we’ve seen paid search turn into an insatiable money pit and endless time suck for too many companies

If you’re considering paid search as part of your marketing strategy, you want to avoid the common pitfalls that companies fall into easily.

That’s why we’ve created a free checklist: Is your business paid search ready?

In this 3-page checklist, you’ll find out how to know if and when it’s the right time to use paid search as part of your marketing strategy, and get a better return on your investment.

You’ll also discover:

• The 5 factors that make or break paid search success
• Which elements search engines are looking for right now
• 3 types of messaging that must be in alignment to win with paid search
• The often-misunderstood timing of paid search vs. organic SEO traffic
• 2 things many companies get wrong when they first try paid search & how to avoid them

Download your copy here.