It’s possible, based on feedback from a client and trade show organizer at a large industry show. Even at smaller shows, you may be able to condense two-to-three months of new business efforts into just two-to-three days. The key takeaway is having a booth at a trade show which allows your sales and business development teams to meet with an exponentially greater number of prospective clients beyond a one-on-one email, call and meet effort.

As a marketing communications firm that has been in the trade show game for more than four decades and has planned, coordinated and attended thousands of shows across multiple industries, we’ve seen and heard it all. In this issue of Fostering Ideas, we’ll address a few of the reasons why companies are reluctant to add trade shows to their marketing mix.

ASSUMPTION 1: Trade shows are a significant investment. I’m not sure if it’s worth the time and money.

Estimate the cost for three-to-four months of travel for your sales team including flights, gas, hotel rooms, car rentals and all other costs that are necessary to visit the number of qualified folks you will meet at the trade show. After calculating these numbers, compare that to the total cost for your company to exhibit, including all the above costs. This is one way to see if the trade show is worth exhibiting. More clients find exhibiting at the right trade show a win, both in cost savings and new business wins.

ASSUMPTION 2: Now that we are better equipped to meet prospects and clients virtually, in-person meetings aren’t as important.

The overwhelming post-pandemic response from many trade show exhibitors and attendees showed that there is no substitute for an in-person meeting. A customer shared the following story:

A company has a client who only communicated by email, video chat and phone. Throughout this process, there was miscommunication and it seemed as though they were not on the same page. The two parties met at a trade show and by finally communicating in person, they were able to get on the same page for the current job and develop a relationship that spawned multimillion-dollar projects in future dealings.

ASSUMPTION 3: My company is interested in exhibiting, but we feel we don’t have the marketing budget to make an impact.

Strategic booth placement (see December’s Fostering Ideas article), along with cost-effective ways to market your company’s expertise and products, will give you a great opportunity in driving quality traffic to your booth. One such opportunity to drive traffic and showcase technical expertise is to take advantage of thought leadership opportunities at shows and conferences. These opportunities include posters, roundtables, white papers and presentations. You may participate in many of these opportunities at no cost.

How it works:

• The usual process includes submitting a topic and a presentation or paper you’d like to discuss for consideration.
• If selected, you’ll have the chance to share your knowledge with an engaged group of conference attendees.
• Participating in such efforts also drives traffic to your booth where your new business team will be waiting to answer any follow-up questions.

Over the years, we’ve heard many success stories of new client relationships formed after a client speaks at a conference or participates in thought leadership efforts that effectively showcased the value of working with a company. Trade show participation also has proven to be a significant new business tool for Foster Marketing’s growing company as well.

ASSUMPTION 4: We’ve been at the same show for more than five years, and although it was great for us at the beginning, we aren’t seeing the benefits we saw in past years.

In general, we don’t advise clients to leave a trade show altogether that has been fruitful for a company in past years. Instead, an option is to decrease your presence and spend at this show, while spending to try a new show in the same or a new industry.

Why stay?

• Most shows are booked by a priority point system, and once your company stops exhibiting at that particular show, the priority point equity that was built up from those years will be lost, causing you to lose priority in choosing a booth space location.
• Although show attendance may slow in some years, you will want the option to renew once industry interest refocuses on this arena.
• It only takes one new prospect to make a huge impact in your company’s bottom line. Are you willing to pass on such an opportunity

We hope we’ve helped you debunk these common trade show assumptions and ease your mind about diving into trade show and event marketing. Contact Foster Marketing today for assistance stepping into trade show marketing. And, follow us on LinkedIn to see the many industry shows and events we attend each year. We have the scoop on most major and minor shows and conferences in oil and gas, energy, solar, manufacturing, chemical, drilling and more. See you on the show floor! Like you, we’ll be ready to meet our next future customer.

My advertising professor once told me “Don’t make ads, make something interesting.” It forced me to think differently, deeply and empathetically. I was recently reminded of this while researching TikTok. They also use this concept and promote, “Don’t make ads, make TikToks.”

Essentially, they’re saying that there’s no room for predictable, boring and disruptive advertisements on their platform. If you want your brand to succeed on TikTok, you’ve got to get interesting.

TikTok’s platform is coming in hot, closely following YouTube and Facebook in terms of viewing time on the app. They may have already surpassed YouTube in time spent per day. TikTok’s rise to power and massive success is proof of the increasing value of video content. Even if you are not directly on the app, I can guarantee you’ve seen a TikTok or two based on the number of people who reshare them on other platforms.

No matter who’s in the lead for engagement rates, it’s important to note how these platforms differ in their audience base, interests and type of video content. When addressing how you want to reach your audience, it’s important to pay attention to the pattern of video content you see on each social platform. Your brand needs to be aware of the appropriate tone and approach for each.

Think of each platform as an actual person, each having a different personality. When planning your social calendar, you should be tailoring your content to what each person (platform) would like. Figuring out what your audience wants is easier said than done, especially when your audience can vary by platform. We’ve created a general profile of four of the top social video platforms to help you understand their cliques and nuances.

Now start recording and sharing!

There’s something to be said about the effect of social media platforms on culture and the way they have organically cultivated communities. In many ways, through these apps, we define the microcosms of humanity.

While these top-dog social apps play copy-cat, releasing one feature after another, there’s a reason not one has taken full control. YouTube released YouTube Shorts soon after TikTok was launched. Yet, both have continued to grow tremendously, with no clear knock-out winner. They will always nurture different groups and offer unique experiences.

If you’re trying to figure out where your business fits on these platforms, an easy way to gauge your audience is to examine your own analytics. Then, make adjustments to your content based on the results you see. And, don’t be afraid to try new approaches. If you are just starting out, then there won’t be much data there yet. So, tailor your content to what’s trending, test post approaches and tweak your strategy. Remember, you’re only going to gain traction with videos online if you are producing original content.

Happy sharing!

Foster Marketing is here to help plan your social strategy and hone your brand’s message. Get in touch to discuss video and digital content.

Statistics and analytics credit to https://blog.hootsuite.com/

Reasons to Get to Know Your Competition

Competition is good. It drives people to work harder and perform better than they thought they could. It forces discipline and keeps us from becoming lazy or complacent. Competition in the marketplace has many benefits. It lowers prices for consumers, drives improvements in technology, provides a greater variety of products from which to choose and improves quality of service for consumers.

In business, knowing your competitors is crucial to the success of your company. You don’t want your competitors taking business away from you. Are you visiting your competitors’ websites? Signing up for their email lists? Knowledge is power. You can’t sell against your competitors if you don’t know anything about them.

“There is a tendency among some businesses to criticize and belittle their competitors. This is a bad procedure. Praise them. Learn from them. There are times when you can cooperate with them to their advantage and to yours! Speak well of them and they will speak well of you. You can’t destroy good ideas. Take advantage of them.”

– George Matthew Adams

Here are a few reasons to get to know your competitors:

• Know their pricing structures and if they’re similar to yours
• Compare their products to yours
• Know what they are saying about your business
• Get ideas on sales and marketing
• Spot trends in your industry

Before the new year begins, be sure to make your list and check it twice. Step up your game in 2023 to blow your competition away.

At Foster Marketing, we’re proud of our longevity in the energy industry and the vastness of our knowledge within it, and we want to help you stay ahead of your competition. Get in touch with one of our experts to learn how we can help.

2023 is almost here, and we are in planning and budgeting mode. As you consider what tactics are must-haves and what goes back on your wish list, consider some trends and tips from our team of marketing experts. Here is what will be on our minds for the coming year.

Strategic Planning

Are Your Goals SMART?

KPIs and ROI are the standards when tracking if your target goals were reached and your promotional efforts were worth it. This is not always an easy conversion to track, but more often than not it is because the goals were not attainable.

For the results to be defined and calculated accurately, you must properly and strategically plan your goals and objectives, setting each up for success … in other words, be SMART.

As you begin the identification process of these strategic goals, ensure the following questions are asked.  Is it …

If you implement this simple formula in your strategic planning process, we are confident you will see more results in the short and long-term. And, you will be just a little smarter for it!

Public Relations

2+ Photos / 600% More Engagement

Foster Marketing encourages its clients to include photos with press releases. We believe a picture paints a thousand words, and strong visuals help the message of the release to stay in a reader’s consciousness longer. And Cision PR Newswire agrees.

Its 2021 State of the Press Release Report analyzed levels of engagement for press releases distributed through its network and found that releases with multimedia components resonated more with readers and received higher levels of engagement (that is measured in opens and clicks) than text-only releases.

Press releases sent alongside multiple images enjoyed six times the amount of reader engagement than text-only releases. Releases sent with one video generated three times the engagement. Even the inclusion of only one photo alongside the release will double the level of engagement with a press release. Since 42% of people trust press releases over other media channels (according to the same report), it is worth doing everything possible to maximize the impact of every release you send.

Media Planning

What Does Success Look Like to You?

Considering the below questions and components during your planning could have a positive impact on your process and final schedule.

• Identify your goals to manage expectations. Are impressions, clicks, or leads the goal? Depending upon that factor, “success” looks very different.
• Know your team and their strengths.
• Are you realistically going to be able to promote a dozen whitepapers and conduct a webinar each month?  For content to be most effective, it takes time and effort to do it right. Push your team to be realistic about what capacity actually is.
• Understand your target audience. Many of our clients have niched targets and a select group of potential buyers, therefore reaching the masses isn’t necessary. Appreciate and be selective about where you put your budget dollars to avoid waste.

Trade Shows

Location, Location, Location!!!

As we see on the first day of any marketing or sales class, one of the most important factors for a successful business is location. This applies whether it be a physical store or a booth location at a trade show.

For trade shows, there are a few different strategies you can implement when choosing a booth space. Because of sponsorships, priority points and floorplan allocation, the premium locations may not always be available. However, there will usually be a space available that will allow your company to have a great return at the tradeshow.

Where is the best location for my booth? These strategies will help guide you in choosing the best location:

• Prime location strategy: Find the main aisle. Then determine where it is in relation to the main entrance. Anywhere on the main aisle that is no farther than four to six aisles down from the main entrance depending on the size of the show is a prime location.
• Determining the customer strategy: Look for where your customers and the companies they are targeting are located. Any booths around those locations will put you in front of the folks you most likely want to target.
• Meeting point strategy: Look for a gathering space. This can be a welcoming area, drink station, exhibitor lunch area, or presentation area. Choosing a booth around these areas will assist in drawing folks to your booth.

Now that you have a plan on how to choose your booth space, you must have an internal plan for tracking booth registration dates. A point person from your marketing/sales team or external marketing firm is critical to ensure that all important dates are noted and acted upon. Without knowing when to register, you may miss the opportunity to book your desired booth location.

Digital Marketing

85% / 5 Users

We are hearing about user experience, or UX, more often in today’s marketing landscape, and not just in digital marketing. UX includes every user interaction with a company, its products and services. Meaning, UX is not just about your website but also includes what happens when someone calls your company or a product is delivered to a customer’s jobsite.

UX is something we should be testing to avoid surprises and to ensure success. And, this doesn’t require a huge time or financial investment either. Did you know, research shows 85 percent of UX problems can be solved by testing just five users, according to Jeff Sauro of MeasuringU? Sauro bases his findings on uncovering UX interface issues using a mathematical probability model known as the Poisson Distribution.

An expert in website usability, Steve Krug, says just three users may be enough, adding that more frequent testing is better than including a larger number of participants once. In his book “Don’t Make Me Think,” which focuses on winning over users with effective design, Krug says the first three users are likely to encounter nearly all significant problems.

Other useability pearls of wisdom from Krug include:

• A design should be obvious, or at least self-explanatory. Why? People don’t read instructions anyway.
• Design with scanners in mind. Why? Because we are busy, we have trained ourselves to quickly absorb content that we need in the least amount of time.
• Make clicks mindless. Don’t make users guess if something is clickable, you should create an easy path to point them where you want them to end up.
• Less is more online. Enough said.
• Don’t argue, just test. When you have a committee creating a website, you will have varied opinions. No need to fight for your viewpoint, just test your theory so see what works best.

Creative Planning

“Marketing is the equivalent of asking someone on a date. Branding is the reason they say yes.” – Ren Jones.

Design is extremely important, and creativity is timeless for branding. Truelist’s Graphic Design Statistics for 2022 states that a consistent brand presentation, by applying sound design standards, could help boost sales by as much as 33 percent. Of all the moving parts that go into your marketing strategy, creative efforts stand out from the rest.

Every year, there are emerging tools and trends, but how you use those tools and implement those trends are what give you the advantage and make them your own.

Next year, we are expecting to see more dynamic design, such as 3D and motion graphics, to create a brand experience that is both immersive and memorable. Take advantage of tools such as augmented reality, or AR. Go live on social media. Bring your brand to life with engaging, interactive content including infographics and videos or hold a contest on social media.

We can certainly capture attention with exceptional design, but if there is no real substance behind your brand’s message, you won’t hold that attention for long; and it’s getting more difficult in this digital age to continue to hold people’s attention.

In an interview with Debbie Millman on her podcast “Design Matters”, marketing and brand strategy specialist David Aaker stresses that no one is really interested in what your brand has to say about itself. He urges that the “my brand is better than yours” concept does not create growth. Disruptive innovation is hard, which is why most of the content you see on social media is not engaging, or, even worse, ignored.

We live in a purpose-driven economy. Ask yourself, what is my brand purpose? Your answer may change with each new year, but what makes your brand different – your story – needs to be so compelling that people won’t even consider other brands.

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