Video is powerful and has many uses, whether you're a B2B marketer, or work directly with consumers in the B2C world. B2C marketers often use video to convert buyers on e-commerce sites, and B2B marketers see success when using them to raise awareness and interest in their products and services.

Get creative! Put videos in your emails, on corporate sites, and social media networks. Customers can also play them on-demand, on tablets and smart phones – and don’t forget to include an eye-catching video in your trade show display

(View Nomadic Display videos here)

Here are our top 10 tips for adding video to your marketing arsenal:

1. Establish your goals.
Sure, video is great, but you should have a strategy. Be clear about what you want your video to do for you. Introduce your company? Promote a new product? Build confidence in your service? Consider how you will measure the success of your video - views, re-posts, website traffic, etc. If you don’t know what you should expect with your first video, monitor these and other metrics to create a baseline for comparison to future videos.

2. Tell your story.
The passion you have for your company, product or service can be contagious – video is great at capturing this passion unlike any other medium! Strive to educate and entertain your viewers. Create content that addresses your client’s key pain points and the factors that influence their purchase decisions. Think about the content you want to present and then decide the best method to communicate it - an interview with a member of your organization’s leadership? A how-to demonstration? Live testimonials taped in your booth?

3. Plan your shoot.
Storyboard the shots you’ll need to videotape. Thinking it through will help you generate a list of what you’ll need - from what people you'll use, to what props will work best and the location(s) you'll need. Just remember to choose a location with good lighting.

4. Need Voice?
If you plan to videotape someone speaking, provide them witha microphone. An alternative is to write a script and record a voiceover track to be added in the post production editing stage. Your script can be translated and recorded to create different language versions of your video. Be sure to record in a closed, quiet room free from noise in surrounding areas.

5. Action!
You don't need a big budget - an amateur can run the camera, but invest in a tripod to eliminate the potential for shaky results. To avoid distractions in the background, shoot close to your subjects. For how-to demos, avoid shots with anyone’s back to the camera. Instead have them stand to the side or facing the camera whenever possible.

6. Keep it brief.
In the fast-moving Internet age, most agree that a few minutes is all you need for the final edited video. A general rule of thumb is 3-4 minutes.

7. Sound of music.
Background music should enhance the presentation, but not over power it. Consider adding music to the intro and possibly again at the end. Be sure to use rights-free or royalty-free music.

8. Contact us.
Remember to title your video and include your company logo at the beginning. Close your video with contact information and/or your website URL so that viewers from viral sharing can find you.

9. Optimize your video with titles, descriptions, and tags.

10. Have fun.
According to Dale Carnegie “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” 

Trade show attendees are bombarded by stimuli at shows. A crowded show fights for attention from all of an attendee’s senses – sight, sound, smell, taste and touch.  So what can you do as an exhibitor to make your display stand out in a sea of others?

Technology is offering us new ways to engage visitors.  Flat screen monitors continue to grow bigger in size and smaller in price, so consider adding one to your display to complement your booth. Wide screen monitors offer a great way to stand out from the crowd, get the attention of passersby and communicate your marketing message in seconds.  Consequently exhibitors are incorporating wide screen monitors with motion graphics more frequently into their trade show displays.

Motion graphics presentations play continuously on a loop throughout the duration of your event. Motion graphics don't have to be a huge undertaking; they can be created using stock photos, commissioned photography, rendered art, and video. They can be strictly visual or include music and sounds.

Plus, you'll get a lot of mileage out of these graphics. A single investment in a motion graphic presentation can be used to promote your company and its products before, during and after your shows. For pre-show promotion put it on your website and include it in your email broadcasts.

At the event, create an inviting atmosphere that makes buyers feel comfortable approaching and entering your space. Monitors with motion graphic presentations can be positioned to play out to the aisles as a way to draw attendees into your space.  You can also place motion graphics within your space. A warm, even soothing, environment can extend and enhance your engagement with visitors. Click here for a relaxing example.

Another way to put your graphics to use is after the event by your sales team during face-to-face meetings. Graphics can be played on demand on their tablet or smart phone.

For more on this topic, take a look at this webinar hosted by the Trade Group.

Vincent Van Gogh said “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.”

Exhibitors dream their program and then create it, too. At a trade show your goal is to reach your target audience. Your advertising campaign, exhibit design and promotional strategies should work together to inspire your audience to visit you and learn about what you can do for them.

Simple? Not so much, which is why exhibitors depend on internal and external resources to write, photograph, design, fabricate, and build material for pre-show, at-show and post-show event marketing activities. That got me thinking about where the various contributors find their creative inspiration.  When asked, the exhibit designers I spoke to said they get their inspiration from the exhibitor; by what the company does and through conversations about what they want to accomplish.

So where do exhibit marketers get their inspiration? There are a number of sources for inspiration including peers, magazines, newsletters, other exhibitors and, of course, websites. Display solution galleries enable exhibitors to browse trade show display designs that offer their desired features, functions and details – or perhaps features that are brand new to them! While some exhibitors locate the exact design they want, many locate several examples to express the characteristics or attributes they want to combine into their own customized display design or environment.

Tell us about your sources of creative inspiration.

Although a last-minute deal was reached to avoid the Fiscal Cliff, many of the details remain to be seen, particularly at the level of individuals and privately-owned businesses. With some major decisions still to be made by policymakers in the spring, many question marks remain and the future is anything but certain.

In short, this means that when it comes to budgets, marketers will continue to be challenged to invest wisely. Exhibitions will continue to compete with other marketing channels for funding so every aspect of your program needs to be well-planned and thought out. To protect your brand and assure maximum impact with your target audience at exhibitions, it’s essential not to skimp on your trade show display. However, you do want to get the best value for your money, and trim expenses where you can.

The square foot cost of trade show space continues to increase year over year. Unfortunately you can’t avoid or negotiate booth space rates so cuts have to be made in other areas of the budget. Marketers are tightening up spending in areas like storage, freight, drayage or handling, and labor. You can still squeeze the most out of your display budget and have an impressive and effective trade show display.

Nomadic is here to help because with a series of new cost-conscious display solutions that we recently released to better serve your budget requirements. In fact, to help you get the most bang for your display buck, we’re kicking off the New Year with special offers on seven different Instand® pop-up displays. These offers are available for a limited time and represent a significant savings, which can really help save you time and money. Have a look at the details of these offers and choose the one that works best for your needs. Plus our “No Questions Asked” Lifetime Warranty provides you with complete peace of mind because you’ll receive repairs or replacements FREE even when the damage is your fault.

Our product lines integrate with one another enabling you to purchase or rent add ons that alleviate the need to continually replace your display. In addition, many of our products are designed to scale – - to expand or contract based on your space size requirements. Maximize your budget by investing in one solution that serves more of your marketing needs.

In a recent conversation on LinkedIn, a Marketing Manager asked if anyone could suggest a good company or website to purchase a 10 foot pop-up exhibit. She got over 30 replies. One supplier suggested that they try out at least four different pop-up brands to determine their strengths and weaknesses, citing the fact that many have different warranties. The supplier suggested that the Marketing Manager also find out the history and repair processes for a variety of stands because some are easier to fix than others.

Great advice!

The simple truth is that product warranties aren’t important… until you have a problem. Often the situation goes something like this: After investing in your pop-up display, you proudly send it off to the show for field personnel to set-up and tear down. Sure, instructions for installation and dismantling the booth are included with the shipment, but nobody bothers to read them. When the show is over your staff is eager to tear down as quickly as possible – again no one reads the instructions. When you receive your display back you discover it's damaged! That’s when you look for the warranty.

Many companies offer a warranty on their pop-up. They even have similar names, such as:

• Limited Warranty
• Lifetime Warranty
• "No Questions Asked" Lifetime Warranty
• No fault warranty, unconditional warranty, etc.

So here are a few suggestions for how to evaluate pop-up warranties.

Get copies. You need to get a detailed description to evaluate them. Some companies publish their pop up display warranties on their website. Others don’t make it so easy. In that case, you may have to request a copy from your display consultant or customer service agent.

Compare coverage. Understand what is and is not covered. For example, is only the frame covered? How about the mounting system – channel bars, hubs, clips, fasteners? Are accessories like lights or cases covered differently?

Determine liability. Most pop-up “lifetime” warranties have a clause that states the company must inspect the product damage in order to determine whether the source is due to a manufacturing or material defect. If damage doesn't stem from one of these two, you will be given a quote for the cost of the pop-up repair. It's rare to find a warranty, like Nomadic’s “No Questions Asked” warranty that will repair or replace your pop-up for a lifetime of ownership even if the damage incurred to it is YOUR fault.

Anticipate your needs. How frequently will your pop-up display be put to use? Will set-up and tear down of your pop-up display be done by the same personnel? Who in your organization is responsible for managing property repairs?

Field vs. location repairs. Some companies promote the ability to make repairs yourself while others require that the pop-up be repaired at an authorized location. Field repairs may work if you have the spare parts on hand and instructions on how to install them. Ask yourself who you trust to execute a lasting repair of your display properly – a staff member or factory qualified professionals?

Understand the process. Do you call Customer Service for authorization to return the product? Or can you submit a repair request online? Who pays shipping to the repair location? How long does a pop-up repair usually take to complete? Who pays the shipping to return your property?

Once you’ve made your purchase decision, remember to complete and return or submit your product’s warranty registration so that if the time comes for you to use it, your supplier will be ready to support it.

What's your experience with pop-up display repairs?

Since business to business exhibitions represent the largest share of the average marketing budget, you’ll need to plan carefully for the shows you want to participate in next year.  Consider these five steps: 

1. Review your 2012 trade show marketing expense categories and make a note of anything you want to do differently in 2013.

2. Compare your 2012 expense categories to those of other companies that exhibit. The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) updates “How the Exhibit Dollar is Spent” annually. This year’s study revealed the following breakdown:

3. Make a list of the line items within each category so no detail slips through the cracks. For example, using the chart above take into account that:

• Show services includes material handling, installation and dismantling, electrical, furnishings, Internet, A/V, floral, food & beverage, cleaning services, etc.

• Promotion includes pre-show, on-site and post-show initiatives – advertising, sponsorships, giveaways, collateral, etc.

• Lead management and measurement includes lead retrieval equipment, post-event follow up activities, tracking, etc.

4. Build your budget by allocating funds to the fixed expenses first such as exhibit space, then add in estimates for variable expenses such as promotion. To be on the safe side, you may want to add five percent to cover general cost increases.

5. Refine your projections. Look for opportunities to reduce operational expenses so you can invest more to promote your products and services! You may be able to shave some spend on items likes these:

• Pre-order show services vs. on-site

• Ship to the advance warehouse vs. direct to show site

• Buy artificial floral arrangements

• Bring your own cleaning supplies, trash can and sweeper

• Invest in one display that scales up or down for use in different exhibit spaces

• Rent a large display in your show city vs. shipping one a long distance

Funnel your savings into other existing categories – such as promotion; or new ones – like staff training and measurement.

What’s your biggest budgeting challenge?

Study after study shows that companies believe trade shows are an important part of their annual marketing plan. However, while companies are gradually beginning to invest more in marketing, they still want to know the results from that investment. After organizing a compelling trade show booth and promotion campaign marketers return from the event.  Then the time comes to demonstrate the value of their participation in trade shows and events.  This often leads marketers to express frustration.

 At Exhibitor2011 there were more than 20 sessions on trade show measurement and demonstrating ROI – something we help you do in our brochure on successful exhibiting. In fact, it’s one of the most popular topics at the annual conference. So I asked colleague and workshop presenter, Susan Brauer of Brauer Consulting Group.

Susan reports that workshop attendees often jump to wanting to measure their ROI without having any kind of closed-loop lead system in place. They describe some of the obstacles to measuring ROI as

• Lack of accountability for reporting if marketers organize and promote the show and leads are turned over to sales

• Insufficient time to collect and compile the information

• Internal system silos that make it difficult to link sales recorded in accounting with leads recorded in a database

• Lead times for actual sales are longer than can be reasonably tracked

Susan teaches that the purpose of the trade show is to accelerate the sales process. She believes the bigger issue is that exhibitors don’t understand what can and can’t be measured so helps them set measurable goals that move the sales process forward.

Leads are sales opportunities and we've provided tips on how to convert those leads to sales after a trade show. Most, if not all, exhibitors tabulate the number of contacts they make at the show. However, quantity is one data point. Drill down further to uncover key indicators that reveal the show’s impact on future sales. Some clues might include:

• Number of visitors that received a product demonstration

• Number of companies that indicated a desire to meet with your sales team or were ranked hot by booth staff

• Number of potential new partners you met

• Number of companies you met for the first time

• Number of customers that acknowledged plans to renew their contract

Build upon a baseline from your past show to formulate goals for your next show. Then be sure you have methods in place to record the results and compare them to the goal.

You can also find some additional tips by downloading our Successful Exhibiting Guide in our Resources area.

What frustrates you about trade show and event measurement?  

Social & Scientific Systems, Inc. (SSS), a longtime client of Nomadic Display Capitol, was asked to develop a 5,000-square-foot space for the Latino Caribbean Diaspora Collaborative (LCDC) in the Global Village of the 2012 International AIDS Conference, which was held in July in Washington, DC. We interviewed Beverly Valdez, Creative Director at SSS, about this remarkable space and the inspiration behind the design.

Gwen: Beverly, what were the goals and requirements for this massive exhibit?

Beverly: The LCDC members wanted to showcase the diverse HIV/AIDS community programs from five geographic regions—the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the United States. They wanted to establish a communal environment for attendees that would offer networking opportunities and cultivate regional cooperation. Panel discussions, speaker presentations, and special performances would take place in the space. The exhibit also would need to support videos and interactive displays.

Gwen: How were you able to blend the diverse stakeholders and activities into a unified setting?

Beverly: The LCDC proposed the theme Bridges Between Neighbors, because it suggested connection, interaction, harmony, unity, and solidarity. Then, early in the planning process, SSS surveyed members of the LCDC to solicit their vision. The design team conceived a visually stimulating space to encourage participation and interaction among diverse groups.

The design concept called for the overall space to be viewed as a community with a central plaza, reminiscent of a town center, surrounded by exhibits that functioned as “neighborhoods” for the regions, which were connected by bridges. The plaza would serve as the epicenter of the installation for sharing educational, social, cultural, and scientific events. The uncluttered atmosphere would be welcoming to visitors, offering informal seating areas such as park benches and colorful groupings of tables and chairs to foster networking.

Then, we worked with Nomadic’s design team to finalize the layout and individual exhibits for the regions to display information about their HIV/AIDS programs.

Gwen: The graphics for the exhibit are so exciting—the imagery, the vivid color palette. Tell us about the design process used by you and your team.

Beverly: The design team created a core graphic concept that would tie the neighborhoods together, yet allow individuality for each of the five geographic regions.

The arc of a bridge, symbolizing connectivity, was blended with images drawn from each region’s natural environment, architecture, people, symbols, icons, costumes, festivals, food, and textiles.

Next, we drew up a vibrant color palette representative of the rich cultures and flavors of the LCDC. Each region was assigned a dominant color scheme.

• Hot pink embodied the bright spirit of Mexico.
• Yellow-orange reflected the warmth and traditions characteristic of Central America.
• Green echoed the environment of South America.
• Turquoise blues evoked the islands of the Caribbean.
• Red symbolized the passions and energy of U.S. Hispanic communities.

Gwen: The International AIDS Conference drew 24,000 attendees from more than 180 countries, and more than 8,000 participants visited the LCDC’s exhibit. Congratulations!

Even in this age of technology, trade shows are thriving because they offer in-person, face-to-face communication. You meet people, learn about their needs, and show them how you can help them. So why not leverage the power of internet communication and technology, before and after the show? You may have the most enticing and interesting trade show display at the show, but its incumbent on you to drive people to your booth.

Twitter

Twitter really can’t be underestimated as a tool for getting the word out about the show and your booth, but you have to be smart about how you promote, or your messages will simply get eaten up. Hashtagging your tweets helps a lot – using the agreed upon hashtag for the event will help people filter content, and will make sure that your tweets are getting to the people you want to reach – those who will be attending the event.

As for tweet content, make your booth sound worth visiting! Tell your audience about any special promotions you’ll be running on the day of the event, especially things like prize giveaways that require them to visit your booth. You can also mention any special product launches or other information you’ll be premiering at the show, to get people interested.

Foursquare

When you get to the venue on the day of the event, make sure you check in at the venue on Foursquare, and crosspost that check-in to both Twitter and Facebook. Get the ball rolling by adding tips on the venue page that are related to your booth and will encourage people to visit you. As attendees check in, they can read your tips and add your booth to their “must see” list. Make the effort to draw them in with exciting offers, or even games. You can use tips to provide clues for activities like scavenger hunts for prizes, which are always popular.

Facebook

Facebook is a great tool before and after the show. You can use it for promotion beforehand much in the same way as Twitter, but you can also use it afterwards to post photos from the event and continue to speak with your audience in a more informal matter. Encourage your booth visitors to follow you on Facebook so they can keep up-to-date with the latest developments, or ask you any questions they may have down the line.

For more tips on using social media for trade shows, check out this post on social media platforms.