A 2008 study of business-to-business marketers by MarketingProfs.com and Forrester Research found trade shows rank among the top three most frequent marketing tactics for cost-effective lead generation, customer loyalty and prospect awareness. A year later, the 2009 iteration of the survey found 58% of the same marketers are considering a reduction in their trade show budgets.
Trimming budgets may be an economic necessity in trying timers but trade shows remain one the most valuable and effective opportunities for face-to-face interaction with customers and prospects. Trade events additionally provide essential continuing education and networking opportunities for employees to help them excel.
By all means, review the trade shows you attend to be certain each event is targeted to and well-attended by your audiences. Make sure you’re getting the most ROI out of your trade show investment. Conduct pre-show outreach to attendees and give them a reason to visit your booth. Leverage the significant public relations opportunities by contacting trade media attending a show to schedule interviews with your spokesperson at the event. Make sure exhibit booth staff are well-trained in key presentation, sales and marketing messages as well as the goals of event attendance.
I agree with John Baldoni, author of Leadership at Work, who points out that “meetings are far more than a collection of speeches or talking points. They are an opportunity for people of similar interests to come together and share their stories about how they are coping as well as what they are doing to increase business.” The opportunity for idea sharing Baldoni refers to is the heart of many American businesses, and may very well hold the key for pulling struggling companies out of economic turmoil.
Trade shows mean business, and business means revenue. The bottom line—scaling back on costs might be necessary, but cutting off employees and your company from sales, networking and educational opportunities is not.
Erin Higgins
Manager, Client Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Multiple Events Prove to Be No Problem for CMA Event Planners
Multiple Events Prove to Be No Problem for CMA Event Planners
This week, several members of the CMA staff worked diligently out of the office to provide the expert on-site event management our association clients have come to expect. The fall conference and tradeshow season is officially underway!
PAICR’s 11th Annual Conference
CMA started off the week with a two-day conference in New York City for PAICR (the Professional Association for Investment Communications Resources). The CMA team created an atmosphere perfect for the essential networking and education this niche of the financial industry depends on, even amidst the slight commotion in the Wall Street area due to a visit by the President on Monday. CMA’s PR team coordinated media attention from key industry publications who reported on the lively discussions on the future of financial marketing.
IFPUG’s 4th Annual ISMA Conference & Workshops
Three other members of the event management team spent the week in Chicago with some of the most technically-advanced minds in the nation at the International Software Measurement and Analysis (ISMA) Conference, hosted by the International Function Points Users Group (IFPUG). At Chicago’s historic Palmer House Hilton, CMA’s IFPUG account team coordinated a series of workshops and presentations for the best of the best in software development. Attendance was boosted by CMA’s effective marketing campaign prior to the conference that played on the skyscrapers of the city.
ICMA’s Green Summit II and Fall Academy Workshops
The International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA) held back-to-back events this week, also in the Chicago area, starting with the association’s Green Summit II: The Greening of the Factory. Attendees felt they benefitted tremendously from the perspectives of major lighting manufacturers, waste management experts and environmental packaging professionals. All speakers were arranged and promoted by the CMA event management staff, keeping in mind the association’s newly-created Green Task Force’s quest to determine an ecolabelling system for the industry. Later in the week, ICMA conducted its annual Fall Academy Workshops, which examined multiple trends in the card manufacturing industry. Next week, the seasoned CMA event team will travel to Dubai for the association’s first-ever Middle East Workshop and then on to Rome, Italy for the European Workshop in mid-October.
This week, several members of the CMA staff worked diligently out of the office to provide the expert on-site event management our association clients have come to expect. The fall conference and tradeshow season is officially underway!
PAICR’s 11th Annual Conference
CMA started off the week with a two-day conference in New York City for PAICR (the Professional Association for Investment Communications Resources). The CMA team created an atmosphere perfect for the essential networking and education this niche of the financial industry depends on, even amidst the slight commotion in the Wall Street area due to a visit by the President on Monday. CMA’s PR team coordinated media attention from key industry publications who reported on the lively discussions on the future of financial marketing.
IFPUG’s 4th Annual ISMA Conference & Workshops
Three other members of the event management team spent the week in Chicago with some of the most technically-advanced minds in the nation at the International Software Measurement and Analysis (ISMA) Conference, hosted by the International Function Points Users Group (IFPUG). At Chicago’s historic Palmer House Hilton, CMA’s IFPUG account team coordinated a series of workshops and presentations for the best of the best in software development. Attendance was boosted by CMA’s effective marketing campaign prior to the conference that played on the skyscrapers of the city.
ICMA’s Green Summit II and Fall Academy Workshops
The International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA) held back-to-back events this week, also in the Chicago area, starting with the association’s Green Summit II: The Greening of the Factory. Attendees felt they benefitted tremendously from the perspectives of major lighting manufacturers, waste management experts and environmental packaging professionals. All speakers were arranged and promoted by the CMA event management staff, keeping in mind the association’s newly-created Green Task Force’s quest to determine an ecolabelling system for the industry. Later in the week, ICMA conducted its annual Fall Academy Workshops, which examined multiple trends in the card manufacturing industry. Next week, the seasoned CMA event team will travel to Dubai for the association’s first-ever Middle East Workshop and then on to Rome, Italy for the European Workshop in mid-October.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
CMA Launches Second Seminar in Power Series
Check out CMA’s upcoming Power Series! - A free interactive seminar taking place for business owners and marketing executives in the Central New Jersey area. In the "Tricks of the Tradeshow” series, CMA Manager Client Services, Erin Higgins will discuss how to get the most out of the overall tradeshow experience.
What: Tricks of the Tradeshow
When: Tuesday, October 20 or Thursday, October 22
8:30-9:30am
Where: CMA’s Headquarters
191 Clarksville Road
Princeton Junction, NJ 08550
Why: The series will discuss how to optimize the way you plan and implement your next tradeshow exhibit by learning to avoid the money-wasters that may be keeping you from freeing up budgeted dollars. Attendees will also learn: what to do before, during and after the tradeshow, how to create a welcoming booth, understand rental, labor and shipping costs and how to maximize them and the importance of consistent branding. Join CMA's marketing team for this event and find out how CMA can help you maximize your tradeshow experience.
Email info@cmasolutions.com or call 609.297.2235 to sign-up. Since space is limited, pre-registration for the event is required. Do not miss out on this valuable marketing opportunity!
Erin Higgins
Manager, Client Services
www.GoToCMA.com
What: Tricks of the Tradeshow
When: Tuesday, October 20 or Thursday, October 22
8:30-9:30am
Where: CMA’s Headquarters
191 Clarksville Road
Princeton Junction, NJ 08550
Why: The series will discuss how to optimize the way you plan and implement your next tradeshow exhibit by learning to avoid the money-wasters that may be keeping you from freeing up budgeted dollars. Attendees will also learn: what to do before, during and after the tradeshow, how to create a welcoming booth, understand rental, labor and shipping costs and how to maximize them and the importance of consistent branding. Join CMA's marketing team for this event and find out how CMA can help you maximize your tradeshow experience.
Email info@cmasolutions.com or call 609.297.2235 to sign-up. Since space is limited, pre-registration for the event is required. Do not miss out on this valuable marketing opportunity!
Erin Higgins
Manager, Client Services
www.GoToCMA.com
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Big Chill
Like every President of their own business, it’s hard not to feel puzzled by the uncertainty in today’s business world. The truth is today’s business environment is different than it was a few years ago because of the consolidation of roles and possibly, the creation of new positions. Many executives and managers new to this level of power feel paralyzed, FROZEN even, by uncertainty, leading to long periods of indecision.
Aldonna Ambler, The Growth StrategistTM who has helped literally hundreds of companies live up to their potential over the course of her career, recently became CMA’s strategic partner as we advise our clients on the right path to take. She says: How can you be an effective leader if you don’t want to take a chance, risk failure or disappoint anyone? And she’s right.
Businesses are fluid and always changing due to outside forces you may be unable to control. CMA’s MarketectureTM process, analyzes the best ways to position a company through marketing and advises company executives how to deal with outside forces such as technological advances, political/policy changes and socio-cultural implications. This strategy is needed now more than ever as the recession causes us all to rethink the way we approach marketing and redefine our value propositions.
Ask yourself this—will you ever know when the right time is to take a risk? Is being proactive really a risk anyway? Maybe forgetting about the “all or nothing” approach to marketing your business is the key to thawing out your business’ big freeze.
Jeffrey Barnhart
CMA President and CEO
www.GoToCMA.com
Aldonna Ambler, The Growth StrategistTM who has helped literally hundreds of companies live up to their potential over the course of her career, recently became CMA’s strategic partner as we advise our clients on the right path to take. She says: How can you be an effective leader if you don’t want to take a chance, risk failure or disappoint anyone? And she’s right.
Businesses are fluid and always changing due to outside forces you may be unable to control. CMA’s MarketectureTM process, analyzes the best ways to position a company through marketing and advises company executives how to deal with outside forces such as technological advances, political/policy changes and socio-cultural implications. This strategy is needed now more than ever as the recession causes us all to rethink the way we approach marketing and redefine our value propositions.
Ask yourself this—will you ever know when the right time is to take a risk? Is being proactive really a risk anyway? Maybe forgetting about the “all or nothing” approach to marketing your business is the key to thawing out your business’ big freeze.
Jeffrey Barnhart
CMA President and CEO
www.GoToCMA.com
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