Use These Tools to Promote Your Booth

Now that you’ve reserved your booth space, let your clients and future contacts know how important it is that they be there, too. The staff at the American Meat Institute (AMI) wants your exhibit experience to be successful. With that goal in mind, we have created this toolkit to help you increase visibility, awareness, traffic, leads, and sales before, during, and after the show.

This exhibitor toolkit will help you promote your presence at AMI Expo 2012. It’s loaded with everything you need to spread the word, including promotional copy, print and banner ads, fliers, example tweets, e-mails, press releases, and more. AMI will also be implementing a comprehensive marketing campaign to increase attendance at the Expo.

What’s in the toolkit?

Checklist and Calendar

• Use the checklist maximize your marketing
• Use the calendar to plan your marketing for better impact

Pre-show Marketing

• Advertise in Focus on Innovation
• Print ad (quarter page)
• Banner ads (250 x 250 square button, 120 x 240 vertical banner, and 468 x 60 horizontal banner.)
• Create a custom logo!
• Promotional copy for newsletters, blogs, social media pages, and an e-mail signature.
• Phone script
• AMI Expo logos
• Sample e-mail copy
• Sample press release
• Sample letter
• Sales sheet—offering design and printing options for ads, flyers and more
• Tips and advice for additional promotions

Onsite Marketing

• Sponsorships
• Ads in show program
• Booth tips
• Greeting attendees
• Attracting visitors

Post-show Marketing

• Follow up

Pre-show Marketing

Many attendees come to trade shows with pre-determined agendas and knowing which exhibits they plan to visit. Your goal is to be one of the companies on their must-see list. In order to secure a position on this must-see list, let buyers know in advance who you are and what you will offer at the show.

Pre-show promotion has a positive, direct and measurable effect on your bottom line because it:

• Keeps your current clients, as well as potential customers, abreast of your latest developments,
• Increases your booth's traffic, and
• Provides an opportunity for attendees to preview products and/or services, and is a helpful tool to receive the ultimate return on your investment.

Reports consistently show that invitations from exhibitors are one of the most important reasons buyers attend shows and visit certain exhibits. The best way to build on-site excitement is to send a direct mail piece to potential customers inviting them to stop by your booth. To conduct a more productive on-site meeting, make them aware of your products in advance.

Additionally, initial contact with attendees provides you with an opportunity to pre-qualify leads. It allows you to discover your customer’s goals, the types of products that interest them and any purchasing constraints they face. Establishing contact in advance of the show builds excitement for your exhibit and showcases how you can meet your buyers’ needs.

A strong direct mail approach incorporates both creativity and repetition. A series of mailings is always more effective than a single mailing. An integrated promotional campaign ties together your pre-show mailings, advertising, the exhibit design, presentation or demonstration content, on-site promotional materials and the product itself.

Note: If you plan to target the international market, be sure to select themes that are universally recognized, understood and appreciated in all countries.

There are a number of tactics that can be implemented pre-show. Feel free to download any or all of these samples, templates, ads, and copy. Customize it as appropriate and add them to your own marketing tactics.

• Advertise in the Focus on Innovation - a pre-show magazine (extra copies also distributed onsite) loaded with useful features including detailed exhibitor listings.
• Print ad (quarter page)
• Banner ad (250 x 250 square)
• Banner ad (120 x 240 vertical)
• Banner ad (468 x 60 horizontal)
• CREATE A CUSTOM LOGO - personalize a banner ad with your booth number and company namee
• Promotional copy for newsletters, blogs, and social media pages, and email signatures
• Phone script
• AMI Expo Logos
  • AMI Exhibitor Logo (JPG)
  • AMI Expo Logo
• Sample e-mail copy
• Sample press release
• Sample letter

Media

Use this sample press release or your own preferred format and contact the AMI Expo Press List about your company announcements and new products.

Attendee Demographics

Study the demographic information on the AMI Expo attendee audience to help you market to your potential customers

Tips and options for additional pre-show promotions

• Social networks
• Ads, flyers, and other marketing options
• Additional Tips

Use Social Networks

Post copy on your company’s social network pages about your participation in AMI Expo Post your own AMI Expo event and invite your customers to attend. Download sample copy to use for social networking sites, e-mails, and more.

Want to see what AMI Expo is doing? Visit us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

Send flyers and post ads

A great way to advertise your participation and invite your customers to your booth is by designing and inserting a flyer with your invoices, letters or correspondence you send out to prospects. You can also place ads in trade publications and on your Web site. AMI Expo’s creative agency, CSG Creative, can handle all the logistics of design, copy, and printing if you need help. Contact Carrie Jolly at 703-706-8217 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information or download a sales sheet .

Additional Tips
Discover additional ways you can market your participation at AMI Expo via incentives, phone calls, e-mail, and more in this document: Tips to Enhance Your Marketing Campaign.

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On-Site Marketing

Sponsorships

Raise your company's profile in front of thousands of buyers. View available sponsorships here. Interested in a customized sponsorship? Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Advertising

“Come See Us” Ads: These ads are very powerful because they have high reader impact and they give potential customers a good reason why they should visit your exhibit. This type of ad should always offer the visitor something exciting at the booth—a new product, a new technology, a new way to solve an old problem. The best “Come See Us” ads motivate the attendee to take action.

In addition, with new technology such as QR codes, you can embed a code into your ad. Attendees with Smartphones can scan the code and be directed to your Web site or a special offer from your company. This is an excellent way to drive traffic to your booth.

To reserve space in the show directory, contact Meatingplace directly. To learn more about the opportunities available, download the media kit .  

Put your brand in the show daily - distributed May 1-3 onsite in Dallas and bonus exposure via National Provisioner Show eDaily Advertising.

Download Some Tips to Make the Most of Your Exhibiting Experience

• Read Ten Easy Ways to Attract Visitors to Your Booth
• Read Greeting Attendees (Or, 10 Ways Not to Greet Attendees)
• Read Booth Tips

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Post-Show Marketing

In addition to the direct mail follow up, remember to:

• Reserve your space for 2013 during the 2012 onsite booth selection process.
• Have a post show meeting when everyone is back in the office. Have key staff write up a post show summary.
• Send all leads to sales staff for follow up.
• Follow up with new media contacts. Supply them with any supplemental material that may assist with a story.
• Recognize staff members who did an excellent job at the show.

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