It was 9:30pm on Thursday and the air was alive with the sound of incoming email chimes.
We were seeing the first results of the most successful marketing campaign we've ever done. And the best part is that it took 2 hours to put together!
Well okay, it was years of hard work, study and practice which culminated in 2 hours…
Let me tell you the story.
Cebit is a technology tradeshow which runs in various parts of the world. The Australian show ran 9th to 11th May in Darling Harbour and is the largest exhibition run in Australia with around 600 exhibitors.
The exhibitors names and details are publicly available, so Barbara hacked the names into our database (which was a very tedious exercise) and told me in no uncertain terms that if I didn't do something with them, she'd kill me!
We brainstormed what we could offer exhibitors and came up with the first promotion…
What's the biggest issue facing an exhibitor at any tradeshow? You don't meet the right people and get a lousy or no return on your investment of time, money and effort.
Most exhibitors have no idea how to pre promote the show, attract the right prospects and then follow up effectively.
So we created a f*r.ee report on "The 7 Key Ins.ider S.ecrets To Ensuring You Get At Least 125% More Business From Exhibiting At Your Next Trade Show" which exhibitors could request from us.
The report was designed to be a lead generation exercise - we only want to talk with people who express an interest in what we have to offer (sure beats cold calling).
Once someone had requested the report, a series of follow ups would occur. Remember, it takes multiple touches before someone is likely to do business with you.
The report was sent out the Tuesday before Cebit and within hours we had over 68 people request the download. The email was sent to 469 recipients, of which 211 opened it, 100 of them went to the download page and 68 people requested the document. (If you're wondering how I know this, everything is automatically tracked and tested and measured!)
So we knew we were onto something.
We had the list, and wondered who in our circle could also benefit. And then it hit us…
A major issue with a large exhibition is theft. With thousands of people streaming past every day, stuff walks! So if you don't want to have to constantly keep one eye on your laptops while talking with prospects, some form of physical security is useful.
A client of ours, Optima Solutions imports and wholesales physical security products to secure laptops and desktops from theft.
I rang the owner, John Mealing on the Wednesday a week before Cebit and asked if he would be willing to "lend" exhibitors security devices for the duration of the show. The only requirement on the exhibitor would be to place a notice on their stand promoting Optima Solutions.
John enthusiastically agreed. We also agreed that should an exhibitor fall in love with the product, they could buy it at a show special of 30% off.
I wrote the email, and sent it off at 9pm on Thursday. And the first responses came in immediately.
We'd engineered some scarcity - only the first 50 people who responded could avail themselves of the offer.
By the next morning we'd had dozens on responses and then our web server went down! People couldn't register online! I went into a panic, but there was nothing I could do.
Imaging our surprise when we found people ringing up John directly pleading to be let in! (I'd forgotten to put John's number in the email - so they went to John's product site www.compucage.net.au and found the number!!!)
Never one to let an opportunity slip - I wrote another email apologising for the web site being down and offering another 25 places as a compensation. We got another flood!
All in all, John got publicity that was priceless. As he said to me later, he's got into markets he's been trying to penetrate for years without success.
After the show, he tells me that they've been frantic following up people, sending out quotes and product.
Yes, this exercise initially cost him a lot of time (setting up the devices for exhibitors) and money (just supplying the product on spec), but the returns long term are set to be huge.
Now the clincher… There are hundreds of tradeshows going on in Australia and Asia. Do you think John's excited as to the possibilities?
We learnt some valuable lessons from this…
Look around at the opportunities that constantly present themselves and take action.
It would have been so easy for John to say, "It's all too hard, it's only a few days to Cebit opening, no one will take us up…" But he didn't.
He grabbed the opportunity and went for it. And won! And so, by the way did we…
We went and met all the exhibitors who took him up on the promotion and introduced ourselves as the company who put the thing together. We've got some valuable leads from people who would like to achieve the same results.
So take action today - procrastinate tomorrow!
Rashid Kotwal is an international speaker and author who specializes in on-line and off-line strategies for direct response marketing and sales optimization. He works with sales organizations want to get more business, faster and with less wasted effort. You can find more information at
Sales & Marketing Consulting and
Get Clients Online Fast.
Copyright Rashid Kotwal.
