Drive Media Interest at a Trade Show

This article was written by Rachel Meranus of Entrepreneur.com

Trade shows are a key component of most companies' marketing efforts. And for small businesses, trade shows are especially beneficial because they provide an opportunity to reach a plethora of potential customers, investors, industry analysts and journalists over a very short period of time.

However, the limited resources of most small businesses mean you have to extract the most from each appearance as possible. Want to know the secrets to making the contacts you want? Susan McPherson, vice president of global trade show services at PR Newswire, shares her tips for leveraging your participation in a trade show.

What tools and resources should a small business use to plan for a trade show?

Susan McPherson: Trade shows begin booking exhibitors at least six months in advance. An important step is finding out if the trade show management offers any tools to help exhibitors reap the full benefits. These might include media lists, a Web site for posting exhibitors' news before, during and even after the show, and special packages and pricing with service providers. These benefits can be especially helpful to a business with limited resources.

You should also consider asking the trade show management about their PR plans. In many cases, there'll be opportunities for riding the coattails of the show's promotional activities. For example, if they're issuing a news release about the event, consider asking if your company can be listed in it as an exhibitor, or offer your participation as a case study for their marketing materials.

If you're launching a new product or service, make sure to target the daily show magazine or newspaper, both online and in print. Also consult the editorial calendars of industry trade publications. Many will run show editions. Keep in mind that most magazines have long lead deadlines, so be sure to make contact early.

And last, but certainly not least, if you're launching a trade show-specific Web site, be sure to have it populated with relevant content at least three to four weeks beforehand, and make sure that you're able to update it while you're on the road. Use your special event URL in all show-related correspondence, press releases and invitations, and include a link to it from your main Web site. A well-managed site could be the difference in converting leads to customers.

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