Trade Show Guru

Successful trade show marketing is based on the same basics as any other form of marketing. In this post I will cover what I consider to be the basics of general marketing. I mix examples of selling and marketing even though I know they are different things because I think they have common rules of thumb.
1) Know your product
The first step to Marketing Success is that you’ve got to know your product (or service) inside and out. You’ve got to know how it works, what’s good about it, and what’s bad about it. I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that “a good salesman can sell a refrigerator to an eskimo.” To me, if you do that, you’re not a good salesman. While I think it’s important to be personable and not smell bad, you’ve go to know your product! The last time I went to buy a new car, I researched the model I wanted first, and then went to the car lot. The vultures (I mean car salesmen) immediately descended on me. I talked to the first one to reach me and told him the car I was interested in. His first question, though, was how much I wanted to spend and how I’d be paying for it, but that’s another story. We went over to a white version of the car I wanted, and he proceded to tell me “all about it”. I then asked him what the horse power was, already knowing the answer (180hp). He proceded to tell me with the utmost confidence that the car had 250hp. Needless to say, after that, I didn’t hear anything else he said, and I ended up buying my car elsewhere.
If you don’t know about your product, I don’t know why you’re talking to me…
2) Know your customer
You need to know who your customer is and what they need. You can then determine if and how your product meets their need or needs, and tailor your “pitch” to them. The key is to (honestly) tell them how your product (or service) will help them. If it won’t help them, you shouldn’t be marketing or selling it to them (yes, I believe in ethics). You also need to know what your customer can afford, and if your product is too expensive for them, well, they aren’t really your customer. I firmly believe that you can’t start effective marketing until you know your PRODUCT and your CUSTOMER.
3) It takes hard work and patience
Last, but not least, marketing takes hard work and patience. If you aren’t ready to put both into your marketing campaign, I don’t think you should start a marketing campaign… at least, you shouldn’t spend your time reading this blog.