It’s tradeshow season – time to rehearse because, after all, you and your company are on stage. We know that your plate is overflowing with 2012 priorities and we’d like to help you in any way that we can. Here are 5 tips that will help ensure that your tradeshow season is a success:

1. Size Matters
It’s important for your booth to be the right size for your company.  If your company is new to tradeshow marketing, you’ll want to start out with an inline 10’ x 10’ or 10’ x 20’ booth.  Get a feel for the pros and cons of these booths shelling out the big bucks for an island exhibit.  Generally, smaller booths get less traffic than larger ones – for three reasons – location, location, location.  Bigger exhibits are usually closer to the main entrance, centrally located and along the main aisles.  The biggest advantage of the larger (island) exhibits is square footage and height.  Some island exhibits are two stories, can include meeting rooms, have multiple kiosks, presentation areas and floor to ceiling graphics.  Smaller inline displays only allow for you to do so much.

More than likely, you exhibit at more than one trade show a year with the importance of some outweighing others.  At your main show, you’ll want a bigger presence while at others, you may only need a table top display.

The general rule of thumb is that you need to be at the trade shows your competition attends and that you need to be as big in presence—if not bigger.  More importantly, it’s important to determine what your goals are for the show and what you need to do to exceed those goals.

2. Cluttered Graphics
Less is more and while some people think the booth needs to tell the complete story, it doesn’t.  That’s why you have people staffing the booth.  The purpose of the graphics is to identify the company and draw in traffic with simple, clean visuals.  Exhibit booths are a lot like billboards – you have only a few seconds to attract the interest of your target market.  That doesn’t mean your graphics can’t be colorful and creative.  You just don’t want there to be sensory overload when someone is trying to learn about your company.

3. Giveaways Just Because…
Don’t hand out giveaways just because everyone else is doing it.  Sure, everyone likes logoed items, but if your items don’t have a purpose, you’re just giving stuff away—and inevitably wasting money. If the recipients of your giveaways pick it up only to throw it out—or worse—aren’t even interested enough to throw it in their goodie bag, your brand and message aren’t being seen. We recommend have three levels of giveaway items at a tradeshow:

• Something for scoopers – this is an item that costs less than a dollar for the people that just come by the booth to get stuff.  This item should not only have your logo but it should have a web address for them to go to learn more about your company.  Bonus:  If it has a special web address specifically for the show that gives them the opportunity to learn more about your purpose at the show.  i.e. Introduction of a new product or service.

• Something for qualified prospects – depending on your budget, this could range from $2-5.  The people who receive these items are ones who would be a good fit for your product or service.  Perhaps they attended a presentation or demonstration.  The product you’re giving them should reinforce your company’s brand and offering.

• Something for clients – often times you’ll have clients visit you at a tradeshow booth.  You’ll want to reinforce your relationship with a gift.  Depending on the value of a client to your business, these can be $5-50.  Often times, nice golf shirts are given to clients so they can be walking brand disciples for your company.

No matter the item, make sure it’s relevant to your tradeshow audience.

4. Booth Staff Not Trained
Staff training is an often overlooked area that makes or breaks a trade show.  Just because you have sale reps in the booth doesn’t mean they know how to work a show.  Training before the show and before the show each day ensures that everyone is singing from the same songbook.  Each person who walks into your booth is deciding whether or not to purchase your product or service. A knowledgeable staff member can be the key to closing a sale or getting a prospective client interested enough to pick up the phone and call your company.

And don’t forget—details matter. Make sure everyone at the tradeshow is on the same page. Is everyone wearing what they should be wearing on a given day?  Is eating allowed in the booth?  Can booth staff be on the phone or answering email while in the booth?  These are just a few of the questions that need to be answered when you train your staff.  It’s a big investment to be at a show; everyone should be on top of their game.

5. Poor Follow Up on Leads
To echo what was said in #4 – it’s a big investment to be at a show; everyone should be on top of their game.  Your post show marketing plan is just as important as your pre-show plan to attract people to come to your booth.  Leads should be handled within 48 hours after you get back to the office.  Carefully tracking leads after a show determines the ROI for a show and if it is worth attending the next year.

Tip #1. Don’t do it alone. Email marketing service providers are your friend. They can help you maintain and segment your lists, provide you with nifty design templates, connect to social media,  track performance and much more. We’re big fans of MailChimp here. They even offer an absolutely free (no joke) level of service. What’s better than free?

Tip #2. Back to basics. When you get into the design portion of your eblasts, make sure you stick to old school tables to get the best cross platform compatibility. CSS is great for web sites, but don’t you dare use it for your eblast. After your programming is done, don’t think you’re done. Test it. Then test it again. And then test it some more. You’ll want to test on the major online email readers like Yahoo and Gmail, not to mention the very stinky desktop readers such PC platform Microsoft Outlook and the very awesome Mac platform Entourage. (What bias?!)

Tip #3. Don’t be sketchy. Always make sure to include a one-click “unsubscribe” link to give your readers the options of opting out. Ideally, your e-blasts will be so awesome and helpful that no one will want to unsubscribe—but let people make their own decisions. Also, if your company has a private policy online, go ahead and provide that link to your readers.

Tip #4. The bold and the beautiful. You’re sending an email, not building a fancy pants website. At most, you’ll have text and images. No javascript, no flash, no embedded videos. You’ll want to keep images to a minimum if possible. Keep in mind that email programs and mobile devices have a tendency of stripping out images. And when you do use images, make sure you have your alt tags setup. Make sure your emails make sense—even without the pretty pictures.

Tip #5. Don’t be annoying. Make sure before you send out an e-blast you actually have something to say that people want to listen to. Be concise with your words, get to the point and again, keep it simple. And remember—the only person who wants a daily e-blast from you is your mother.

Tip #6. Only bad people buy lists. If the people you’re emailing didn’t ask to get an email from you, don’t send one. You’re just setting yourself up for failure at that point, and even worse, you risk losing your email marketing service provider if you get one too many unsubscribes or complaints. And if that happens, people will point, laugh and make fun of you. Rightly so.

Tip #7. Viagra! While it gets your attention, it will not reach any inbox. Stay away from spammy words or phrases that might raise an electronic eyebrow—especially in your subject line. Words to avoid include viagra, free, limited time, click here, sales, sample, trial, quote…well, you get the point. Also, ALL CAPS is a no-no. (That and it reads like you’re yelling at your reader—SO STOP IT!)

Still confused? Have questions? Or would rather let someone else worry about tables, alt tags and getting everything right? Give Bullpen a call today at 713.652.2030.

They’re everywhere and on everything. But what the heck are they? Where did they come from? And why should anyone use them?

A QR Code (short for Quick Response Code) is nothing more than a square, funny looking bar code with your smart phone acting as the scanner. It can direct your phone to a website, display text (up to 250 characters), and even open up a phone number on your phone.

QR Codes were created in Japan in 1994 and have spread throughout the world (with a little slower uptake on the western hemisphere). And ever since, they have proven to be a valuable marketing tool…given the right circumstances.

Before you take up a full page ad in the Houston Business Journal with nothing but a QR code, there are some things to keep in mind:

• A QR Code requires a smart phone with a built-in camera to be read—and not everyone has one of those.

• If you do reach an end-user that happens to have a smart phone, they must also have an app and internet connectivity in order to read the QR code.

• After the technological hurdles have been over come, it still takes motivation from the end-user to take out that phone, open that app and scan your code. Say, for example, scan here and receive a special Bullpen offer!

That being said, why would anyone use one of these silly things? Well, it’s a great way to provide lots of information (leading you to a website) with a limited amount of space (for example, an advertisement). This code becomes an extension of your ad or your billboard or your product brochure and can provide a limitless amount of supplemental info that you couldn’t necessarily print in that medium. It’s also acts as a shortcut key. Instead of having to type a URL into your phone (with risks of typos) it leads the user directly and exactly to where you want them to end up. Not to mention, there is certainly a coolness factor with these little buggers. So go ahead and try it out. Here are some tips and tricks to help you along:

• Don’t have a QR Code app on your smart phone yet? There are tons of apps available that are free for download. Click here if you need help finding one.

• Don’t have a code? QR Codes are easy and free to generate. Here’s one of many sites that provides this service.

• When applying codes to printed materials, make sure codes are printed at a minimum size of 1″ x 1″. And although people have learned to be creative with their codes using colors and icons, we recommend keeping it simple and printing them black on white.

• Need to see some creative application of QR Codes to be inspired? Check out this image gallery and let your imagination run free.

So go ahead. Have some fun with QR Codes! And if you need help applying these things in your marketing, just call Bullpen Marketing (by scanning here!)

Posted by: Robert Melvin

Brand your love. Love your brand. What does that really mean?

A brand in its purest form is a relationship with an emotional attachment. And that’s why we say, “Brand your love. Love your brand.” This is our mantra. It’s what we do and it’s what we tell everyone to do.

It begins with doing “the right thing” for your customers time after time, again and again. This could entail adding a requested feature to an existing product. Or it could result in extending the warranty of that product. It might mean that you publish a monthly e-newsletter, which includes information that helps your customers do their job better. It could be as simple as sending a handwritten thank you card or as subtle as widening the parking spaces in front of your office building.

If you’re successful at doing “the right thing” on a daily basis, you will gain respect from your customers. If you do this over and over again, that respect will eventually shape into trust. When your customers both respect and trust your company, there is a good possibility that this will turn into love. If you brand your love, there is a good chance that people will love your brand.

Brand your love. Love your brand.

After the Haiti earthquakes, people around the nation rallied behind a unified cause. The goal to raise enough funds for medical and relief efforts continues—one cell phone at a time.

Have you ever had a moment of realization where suddenly it hits you: “I’m living in the future!” This moment happened to me after I watched an episode of the Colbert Report where he had US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, on to discuss what viewers can do to help. Her answer— text ‘Haiti’ to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross. I found myself reaching for my cell phone thinking (a) I can afford $10 (b) this donation process seems relatively quick and painless and (c) I’m doing my part to help.

Thought (d) only occurred to me after I had received my confirmation text back a few seconds later.

(d) THIS IS BRILLIANT!

Marketing at its finest. I became very aware that I was living in the future where technology, philanthropy and laziness all met in a comfortable, easily attainable place—the palm of my hand. This method of fundraising seemed like a perfect solution for non-profits trying to reach the seemingly impossible-to-reach youth demographic.

So why would people text-to-donate?

It’s quick: Since texting has become something people do on a daily basis (for the young and less young alike), sending a message is not only easy and second nature—it’s fast. This is essential when trying to capture the attention of an ADD-diagnosed generation.
It’s undemanding: Most people carry their cells phones on them at all times (come on, admit it—you’re one of them). So taking out your cell phone to donate isn’t a hassle. It’s not something you go out of your way to do. It doesn’t require logging on or writing a checking or even speaking to a live person. You can do it from your couch, in front of the television while flipping between the game and the news. (The ADD-diagnosed generation is also the self-proclaimed lazy generation.)
It’s inexpensive: Most text-to-donate causes are either for $5 or $10. This is an amount that seems doable even for people on a tight budget, but yet enough to give the donor a sense of “Yeah, I did something. I helped.” And as most people in charge of non-profit fundraising know, it’s the small individual donations, not the large donor gifts, that help reach that goal marker.

So, why should you use text-to-donate marketing in your fundraising?

It works: MSNBC has reported that mobile giving to help Haiti exceeded $30 million. Of course we bare in mind that this is a national campaign with news coverage on a daily basis. Unless live underneath a rock, you have heard of it. Not all nonprofits have the same advertising resources and coverage. But text donation also lends itself to some pretty inexpensive marketing—social networking. Get on Facebook and let the word spread. There are even widgets that let you donate on Facebook by typing in your phone number and hitting the submit button.
It’s targeted: You reach a younger target base as well as those technophiles who just generally prefer the company of their Blackberry to human interaction. And really, in this day and age—who doesn’t have a cell phone?
But its not for everyone. Collecting donations via texts isn’t to a point where it’s can be used by all nonprofits (yet!). There’s usually a gross revenue minimum, as well as other mandatory and preferred standards. There are application, processing and monthly fees involved. And of course, the money only gets to your nonprofit if the bill gets paid to the cell phone provider.

Is it worth some research?
You decide. Here are a few online mobile donation companies that offer that service: Give By Cell, Mobile Commons and mGive.