Reusable Tote Bags Are Ideal for Trade Shows

When it comes to environmentally friendly trade show give-aways, few items give more bang for the buck than imprinted tote bags. Trade show attendees are constantly looking for quality bags to put their catalogs and handouts into, and a heavy-duty tote bag will be used over and over again—long after the trade show has ended. Tote bags are light in weight, fold up easily and they help prevent dozens of plastic bags from ever being needed.

Robert Piller, president of Eco Marketing Solutions, notes, “Imagine the return on investment that a reusable tote bag offers, when you factor in the hundreds of people who will be carrying your billboard sign around a trade show floor promoting your company.”

With all the choices of eco-friendly promotional tote bags, how do you choose which is the best tote bag for your budget? Below are the five most popular types of eco-friendly tote bags and information to help you choose the correct tote bag for your needs.

1. Cotton/Canvas Tote Bags: Cotton/canvas tote bags are probably the strongest and most durable of all tote bags. Cotton tote bags come in various weights and offer possibly the best value, as well. For trade shows, choose a cotton tote bag made with a minimum of 6 ounce cloth in order to carry and support substantial weight from catalogs, thus ensuring that the tote bags will actually be used. You can order these in natural color or dyed, depending on the impact of your logo and message. The canvas material is not smooth, so small fonts and detailed logos should be avoided.

2. Organic Cotton Tote Bags (Organic Canvas Tote Bags): Organic cotton tote bags have all the characteristics of regular cotton/canvas tote bags, only they are made from organic cotton rather than natural cotton. Be sure to only choose natural color organic tote bags or you will be defeating the purpose and “organic” message you are promoting. Even with natural dyes available, always choose the neutral or natural fabric color when using organic cotton tote bags. Of the five types of environmentally friendly tote bags, organic cotton bags will usually be the most expensive option, but have the most appeal to the die-hard environmentally-conscious recipient. Because of the cost, organic tote bags are best for high end products or services, such as spas, real estate, salons, etc.

3. Recycled Tote Bags: Tote bags can be made from a variety of recycled materials—including denim, soda bottles and other plastics. The plastics are processed and refined and the appearance has a shiny, smooth finish and tight weave, so your logo and imprint will look crisp. Most recycled tote bags come in dark colors so these are best for a light colored imprint where your message can stand out from a distance.

4. Jute Tote Bags: Jute tote bags have become very fashionable recently. Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads and the material is often referred to as burlap. Jute tote bags often come in natural color, or can be dyed with Azo-free dyes to ensure that it remains environmentally-friendly. Jute has a loose weave with a coarse surface, so an imprint with larger graphics and fonts often work best with this material. Jute bags tend to be more expensive then cotton so they are better suited for higher end products or services.

5. Polypropylene Tote Bags: Although tote bags made from polypropylene are not natural, they are often considered to be environmentally-friendly because they are extremely durable and can be recycled. This plastic material is ideal for keeping products from getting wet or for packaging products that may “sweat” or that may leak. Polypropylene tote bags have a smooth and shiny finish and are ideal for all types of graphics and colors. In large quantities, polypropylene tote bags can usually offer the lowest cost.

Tote bags are ideal for trade show giveaways. You can have an imprint area the size of a mini billboard that will be carried from place to place – each time promoting your company to an audience. Choosing tote bags will help reduce waste and prevent plastic bags from ending up in landfills. An eco-friendly tote bag will help promote your company in a positive light and is one promotional item that will be appreciated and used immediately.

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Robert Piller, president of Eco Marketing Solutions, is experienced in green marketing campaigns and recycled promotional products.  He has worked with thousands of retailers across the country to get them to offer reusable imprinted tote bags for their customers, to help reduce the landfill waste caused by plastic bags.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

(Part 3 of a 3 Part Series)
In this third and final segment on trade show marketing ideas, I will address ideas to help improve your trade show results through proven post-show follow up. I am still amazed at the number of companies that fail to follow up promptly and diligently after their trade shows, which is surely leaving money on the table and wasted opportunity.

Have you ever waited after a trade show that you attended for literature or samples that you had asked for, but which never arrived? Here are some trade show strategies to help you to make the most from your trade show experience—post-show and to increase your return on investment.

Most companies need to have multiple contact or “touches” with prospective vendors before they feel comfortable in purchasing from them. Here are nine ideas to help you capture more post-show sales with very little effort.

1. Send in Leads Daily: Don’t get bogged down with your regular paperwork and activities once you return to the office by trying to tackle a stack of show leads at one time. Many trade shows offer a scanner where you can electronically capture the contact information of the prospect in second by scanning their name tag. Each night, send the file as an attachment to your office, where, hopefully a well-thought out after-show packet is ready to be sent out.

Note: Do not become so enamored with this scanning technology that all your staff does it scan cards and not develop rapport with prospective customers. I have been at shows where neighboring booths compete with each other for most names scanned. Do not opt for quantity over quality of leads.

If a scanner is unavailable, you can buy a business card scanner from Cardscan and attach to your laptop or cell phone, where you can instantly scan in a prospect’s business card and upload your list each night to your office. If you still want to collect business cards, bring a few FedEx envelopes and send them overnight to the office after each day. Speed is critical in showing your professionalism to your clients. It will also set you apart from your competition.

2. Rank Prospects: All prospects are not the same, so devise a method of ranking prospects on the spot. You can attach a questionnaire to their business card or give a score or ranking (on a scale of one to ten) on the back of the cards—with a comment or two. This will help you to determine which prospects should be followed up first.

3. Take Notes on Back of Business Cards: No matter how good your memory is, you will not remember every customer or prospect you meet– and what specifically you discussed, information you promised to send, etc. On the back of their business card, write a one or two line message as a reminder, such as “interested in XYZ machine” or ” wants me to email her specifications on Model B123″ or “deciding between us and Acme CO. and will get back to me in two weeks”.

4. Have Post-Show Kit Ready Ahead of Time: As I mentioned in step one, you should have a complete follow up kit ready to mail out—just waiting for the address label and postage to be applied. That way, your assistant can get the kits out while you are out of town and exude stellar professionalism.

5. Send Lumpy Mail: Flat standard sized envelopes will end up in a pile, unopened for weeks. A padded envelope with an irregularly shaped item inside will get opened immediately. Send an imprinted promotional product, such as an imprinted stress ball or imprinted pen or other unique advertising specialty with your note and catalog — and your package will get opened ahead of all the rest.

To maximize the effectiveness, get an imprinted circle label or decal and attach to the outside of the package with the headline “XYZ TRADE SHOW FOLLOW UP—SAMPLE ENCLOSED”. Everyone loves freebies – and by mentioning the trade show, the prospect will know it is not random junk mail. Choose an item that is not breakable and is not too heavy. A promotional product distributor that specializes in trade show marketing can help you or visit our website, www.ecomarketingsolutions.com to see our newly updated website that offers a free tool that allows you to select from over 500,000 imprinted and logoed promotional items, which you can sort them by price range or by theme. It is a handy tool that can save you a great deal of time and money.

6. Decide on Frequency of Contact: How often do you plan to contact with the prospect after the show and in what form of contact—newsletter, email, letter, phone call, samples? Customers may need five ten contacts or touches before they feel comfortable with you and your company. Reach them in several ways—some prefer email, some fax, some like phone calls. I recommend a multi-pronged approach, with a sample after the show, a phone call, then an email, then a newsletter, etc.

Be sure you walk the fine line of keeping your name in front of your prospects without becoming a nuisance or nag. Each “customer touch” should offer some benefit to your prospect, such as industry news, money saving offers, sales strategy, comparison to competition, etc. Don’t just keep asking for the order without becoming known as a source of industry or business ideas.

7. Stay in Touch With Your Reps: Independent reps or salespeople are often not as motivated by trade show leads as the home office is. The reason can be because too many reps are sent a stack of unqualified business cards without notes, so the reps assume these are cold leads, at best. Help your reps by breaking the list down into categories, such as “immediate need/30-60 days/60-90 days/90+ days” or break down your trade show leads to “A-B-C” accounts. Do a little homework upfront and you will create a stronger partnership between your office and your reps. Also, be sure to keep duplicates so you can follow up with your sales force in a set period of time.

One more note: don’t rely on your reps to make the immediate contact or post- show follow up. Be sure to send your information packet to the prospect so that they have some communication from you within the first seven days after a show.

8. Give a Reason to Follow up Immediately With an Email: If a prospect looks promising, tell them that you will email them something of value to them right after the show. Ask for their business card and write a note exactly what it is, whether it is to send artwork or proposal, email a white paper, information on a new service –whatever. That way, you can send them an email, which will already be in their in-box from you when they get back to their office, with the heading “White Paper You Asked for at The XYZ Show”, or something to that effect.

9. Speed is Key: As I have mentioned several times, prompt follow up is imperative in closing more trade show sales. Be sure your team is on the same page regarding the importance of prompt follow up and you will be pleasantly surprised at how you can stand apart from your competition.

Following these nine post-trade show ideas can make you more effective at your trade shows and help you to maximize your trade show success. Stand out from your competition and be known as the company that delivers on what they promised at the trade show. You will close more sales and maximize your trade show ROI.

Happy Trade Show Selling.

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Note: To view the other segments, visit http://blog.ecomarketingsolutions.com/?cat=65

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

(Part One of a Three Part Series)

One of the biggest hurdles my clients’ face is in proper trade show marketing. A trade show can easily cost from $10,000 for a basic 10 foot by 10 foot booth, with one or two people manning it, to $100,000 or more for larger booths with a full staff, state of the art booth, graphics, drayage, hotels, meals, taxis, etc.

Why spend that much money and not focus some time and energy on maximizing your return on investment? Often trade show planning and marketing falls to someone who is given conflicting goals and objectives (or no objectives at all) and that person is often without a dedicated staff, budget and little management input.

Without clear objectives, you cannot measure the success of a trade show, other an ambiguous overall grade. Are you looking to increase sales? To brand your name in the marketplace? To secure appointments for your sales team? To connect with present accounts? To meet with members of the press?

After you decide on the overall goal, break it down into a quantifiable amount, such as opening up 20 new accounts with projected first year sales of $100,000 each; securing 25 product demonstrations within the next 60 days, etc.

As a veteran of well over 300 trade shows over the past 20 years where I have been an exhibitor, and over 1,500 others where I have worked with my clients to maximize their trade show exhibiting dollars, I have practically seen it all—the good, the bad, the lame and the ugly when it comes to trade show marketing.

I have exhibited and worked some of the nation’s largest shows (National Restaurant Show, International Housewares Show, National Association of Convenience Store, New York Gift Show and the National Hardware Show, to name a few), as well many small regional, state, and city Chamber of Commerce shows, and I can attest to the importance of pre-show/at-show and post-show activities, and would like to break these down in a few simple steps.

In this column, I will be talking about the importance of Pre-Show trade show activities. In following columns, I will address At-Show and Post-Show activities and strategies.

Pre-Show Activity

There are several options in promoting your appearance at a trade show, and I have broken down a few of the most popular, in no particular order of importance.

Big Smile Approach—You can just show up, smile a lot and hope attendees walk by your booth and stop in. Your signage and name may bring them in, but remember, attendees are busy, often in a hurry and may have their head turned in the opposite direction of your booth – and miss you completely. Plus, try as they might, not everyone walks down every aisle, they may be on their cell phone or talking to an associate as they pass by – or may see your booth, give you a head nod, and keep walking by.

Many of my fellow exhibitors use this approach with mixed results. To pull it off, you will need some aggressive sales people to stop people in the aisles. A well-planned question or a give-away can help stop them in their tracks, but don’t try the “How are you doing?” or “Nice Day, huh?” approaches. Your question should be thought-provoking and open-ended, such as” Do you want to see the latest product that can improve your email click-through rate by 12%?”. The question should be designed to appeal to the right demographic.

Lucky Winner Approach: Have a drawing or contest at the booth: I have seen spin-the-wheel for savings or treasure chest hunts, where people try their key in a treasure chest lock to try to open the chest and win a prize. Anything you can to do to create movement and activity at your booth can work. The key is to find a quick way to move the unqualified people out of the booth quickly and keep the better qualified prospects in your booth for a longer period of time.

People like booths that are crowded and have people in it, so as not to miss out on the product that everybody else is looking at. It’s an interesting psychological study on human nature and the fear of missing out on something good.

Pre-Show Marketing: I would consider pre-show email, pre-show mailings, pre-show telephone calls and trade show directory advertising as pre-show advertising.

You can invite prospects into your booth to receive a free gift, special show pricing or terms and to introduce them to your new products or services. I have had success with all four of these activities, with varying degrees of success. If you can secure appointments ahead of time with your present customers and prospects, that can help to ensure a successful show.

I like a combination of email and a postcard or letter, just in case your client or prospect misses one – or forgets to bring their email printout.

The offer a quality imprinted premium for stopping by and visiting can also be successful. These days, many people are looking towards eco-friendly promotional items. I have heard the word tschotchkes being thrown around in certain circles, but when done right, a free premium or gift can get people to stop by. Some people call it swag. In fact, at Hollywood award shows, they entice celebrities to be announcers not with cash, but with a bag of goodies they call “swag”.

I have sent oil executives pre-show postcard mailings picturing the free item just for stopping by, with a redemption rate of over 18%. If it is unique, limited, and, especially a quality item, people will come by and visit your booth. People love free goods, and in a trade show environment, many are actively looking for free gifts, regardless of their professional title, salary or way they dress.

Like anything thing else, it is choosing the right item for the right demographics. At electronics and high tech shows, a free quality water bottle, MP3 download card or imprinted USB stick can be enticing. In an eco-friendly environment, it can be a free live tree seedling a tube, a garden kit or a Frisbee made from recycled plastic.

Do your research and get a fun and useful gift. You can use our free service at www.ecomarketingsolutions.com that allows you to view over 500,000 imprinted promotional items, which you can sort by keyword or price range. In fact, I often suggest having three groups of gifts — one for good prospects, one for top prospects and one to get non-qualified people to leave your booth with a smile. Keep you two top levels out of the public’s eye, and award them discreetly and with pride.

Trade shows can be your most cost-effective method of attracting and meeting with top prospects and renewing ties with present customers. They can also be a huge money-loser when not done correctly. Pre-show marketing can help guarantee you the success you and your company deserve. You owe it to yourself, and to the rest of your team and employees to maximize the show’s effectiveness.

Here’s to a successful trade show.

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Note: To view the other segments of this three part column, visit http://blog.ecomarketingsolutions.com/?cat=65

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.