“Marketing collateral” used to refer to brochures and informative handouts that door-to-door salesmen would give to their customers in order to provide a quick overview of the products they were looking to sell. As marketing and sales has transformed with the digital age, however, the term now refers to much broader sets of advertising media that are employed in sales efforts.
Again, although from this we can understand what “trade show collateral” means, too. It’s important to pursue the same kinds of development in choosing the marketing paraphernalia that you’ll bring with you to present at your trade show booth. The greater the competition, the more everyone will be trying to stand out with the latest and greatest presentation or eye-grabbing display. So, this only means that you have to push yourself harder than the rest.
Image by SDI Productions from Canva
Scrap Paper
One thing you can do is to refuse to print huge numbers of old-fashioned paper brochures. Set up a television or monitor at your booth to display your products’ specs and your projects’ ambitions. Then you can offer to email interested potential clients the presentation and more details. This automatically enters potential clients’ data into your system while saving money and effort. You can even pat yourself on the back for doing your part to save the planet. It’s still a good idea to have physical presentations available for when you enter the stage of more serious talks.
Booth Design
When arranging your boards and banners, it can be hard to strike just the right balance between attention-grabbing and information-overload. Try to let your company’s exciting projects and quality products take center stage. You don’t want to sacrifice professionalism for attention, but at the same time a drab and gray presentation won’t sell what your company has to offer.
Collateral on the House
If you want to attract attention and potential clients to your trade booth, raffles and prizes are a tried-and-true approach to doing that. When planning a raffle, there are some things you’ll want to think about, however. Holding one big competition or several small ones, the types and costs of the prizes you’ll award, and the ways you’ll gather tickets and announce the prizewinners are all important parts. It’s also worth it to check and make sure that you’ll be in compliance with any laws or regulations.
Less exciting but just as important are the visors, t-shirts, folders, etc. emblazoned with your company’s logo. So, you’ll hand out at your trade booth. These help to break the ice with potential clients passing by, and give them something to remember you. It will differentiate you from all the various presentations they’ll have seen at the show. Maybe if the pen with your company’s name gets dropped in the office pen-cup when they get back home, the right person will see your company’s name and look you up on the Internet. Who knows?
