Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

How about you send out the buttons in advance and make them find you to collect their token cool thing. Then, they enter for a drawing with all their contact information for something really cool. You'll need to look at your budget so you have plenty of "not so expensive" but cool things to hand out to everybody who shows up at your booth and then one or two or three really cool prizes that one, two or three people will win.

Good Luck!

CVN

Depending on the number of trade show attendees, consider a room drop (buttons and explanation of rules/promo). Advise attendees that if they are spotted by one of your roving prize mavens, they may receive a (insert wonderful prize here, or obscure text indicating prize).

Also tell them that anyone who comes by the booth wearing the button will be eligible for a drawing of another (wonderful thing here). Register those folks, of course... scan cards, drop business cards in a (big orange) bowl, etc. You'll already have contact names for those you room-dropped. If the attendee list is too big to make a room-drop cost effective, target those you most want to reach with the drop.

Your Prize Patrol should be dressed (like ridiculously so) in corporate orange so they'll be easy to spot. They need to be able to appear, award, and disappear to avoid being mobbed. Recommend having them use traffic safety vests, or orange sport coats, something they can pull out, put on, and then take back off after awarding a prize or three.

They should also be recommending to passers-by (those without the buttons) that going to booth #1234 is how they, too, can be part of the fun :) that part they can always be doing, even when not wearing lots of orange.

You could also have several buttons to choose from, all with the orange background, and let people "choose their flair" to borrow a facebook phrase.

One note... many women, and some men, won't want to puncture a suit coat or nice shirt with an actual pin. Consider something that would clip to the trade show lanyard/badge or attach some other way.

Good luck!

I agree - badges should be attached to name cards which adds value for the exhibition visitors also!
When the people get the buttons from your stand they are attached to a card with a catchy phrase to entice them to wear the button like 'Be Noticed in your Industry'. the card is to be dropped into an orange drum at a point in the exhibition which gives them time to check out some of the visitors cards. You could have 2 prizes - 1 which is a lucky drawer out of the rolling drum and the other being a greater prize which is a guessing comp of the most number of industry visitors (ie buyers,wholesalers, retailers) wearing the button at say 12 noon.
encourages people to network with each other on the floor - valuable add on which your company could give potential clients
this gets people to look at the name tags and gives value to the people wearing them.

I realize scanners are the rage, but the cost is not necessary. Get a business card before you give the buttons.

It's better to give a gift out on the floor. Otherwise you have people hanging around your booth and a crowded booth has it's own problems.

Michael

If your primary objective is simply to raise awareness about the company at the trade show, then giveaways with catchy slogans may be a good idea. The problem is that you and all the other exhibitors are more than likely offering the same types of things. Many trade show attendees simply want to collect all the free stuff they can get, without really intending to buy anything.

Perhaps at the next trade show you might consider a more strategic approach. Get a copy of the registered attendees from the show organizers. Identify and categorize the attendees based on the relationship you seek to have with them. Send the "A" list attendees a note asking them to look for you at the show. One effective way to separate yourself from the other exhibitors is to have a hospitality suite at the host hotel during the show. Make it invitation only, preferably for your A list prospects. This allows you to spend quality time with a number of prospects and depending on how well you orchestrate the experience in the suite you will make a far more memorable impression.
Make sure that your top sales people are in attendance and the suite is branded with your company's signage, colors etc. Make sure you have samples of the product and plenty of marketing materials available. But use the time to build relationships rather than hard selling.

Also, it's a good idea to be a presenter at one of the trade show seminars. This is a great way to position yourself as a thought leader and raise awareness.

Sponsoring receptions, speakers and other high visibility trade show activities are other ways to maximize your presence and your ability to generate quality leads. Instead of being one of many exhibitors trying to outdo each other with trinkets, take a different approach that offers your company a way to make a serious and lasting impression on prospects that result in the beginning of a meaningful relationship.

Does your company Web site have a blog incorporated into it? Have you used YouTube or Facebook at all in your business? Here's what we're doing at a trade show next week (background - we're a non-profit trade association):

We had special buttons made (regular buttons with pins, that can be pinned onto the lanyard) with the phrase "Ready to make $100,000? PPA can help." We're passing them out everywhere - on the trade show floor, at our booth, around the convention center, etc. When people come by our booth, we're passing out mini $100 Grand bars. When someone joins our association, we're snapping a Polaroid picture that the new member will sign in black Sharpie. Then we're scanning the Polaroid (okay, technically snapping a pic of it with an iPhone) and uploading it directly to our blog, Facebook page, LinkedIn, and posting on Twitter. The special online sections are called "Welcome New Members!" and we'll be linking their name to their online member profile.

With regard to giving out prizes, in the past at our own convention, we've captured the moment on video and posted the edited clip on our blog and on YouTube.

The feedback we've received has been great - all our members/customers LOVE seeing themselves online and they end up sharing the links with all their friends and colleagues, which just gives us more visibility.

Good luck!