Tokens of your esteem: how premiums help promote your trade show sales message.

Maximize your trade show investment through the careful selection of premiums. Junk, trinkets or throwaways? Giveaways (premiums) can be one of the most powerful ways to create awareness and name retention for your company. Your main objective should be to choose an advertising specialty that's a giveaway, not a throwaway.

With literally thousands of possibilities, this can be a tough decision. To help you navigate the maze of premium clutter, here are some criteria for you to use as a guide. When selecting a trade show premium, here are some points to keep in mind.

* Is it functional?

* Does it serve some useful purpose?

* can it be imprinted with your advertising message or logo?

* Will it build company recognition?

* Can you make the item tie into your pre-show promotion campaign?

* Is it reasonably priced? Many premiums or advertising specialties can be purchased for pennies. Obviously, price is an important consideration when you have to purchase several thousand pieces.

* Can it be personalized? People will rarely discard an item that's been imprinted with their name, whether it's hot-stamped, engraved or silk-screened. Since personalizing must be done on site, the process should be fast and simple.

* Will it stand out in the crowd? Golden Rule: If your premium satisfies all the other criteria and it's unique or unusual, it will be a surefire winner at trade shows.

If you have a limited budget, you can always go for the trusty old stand-by, the pen. Pens are still one of the most desirable and effective trade show premiums. Better yet, look for a pen with an unusual feature that sets it and your company apart from all the other pens in the crowd.

Does it write when you hold it upside down? convert to a pencil? Write in three or four colors? Have an unusual shape? Use erasable ink? Double as a letter opener? There are dozens of possibilities and a little research goes a long way.

If you are lucky enough to have a more generous budget, widen your criteria selection to include one of the following:

A HIGH PERCEIVED VALUE

Instead of a inexpensive pen, give away Waterman or Mont Blanc pens. They are probably the two finest pens made anywhere in the world (with a reasonable price point!) They provide an element of class to an otherwise ordinary premium. Visitors appreciate receiving it, and they'll remember your company long after the show. I have one client who still remembers eight years later! How's that for name retention and memorability?

A CREATIVE TWIST

Trade show author, Steve Miller, tells the story of a medical show where one company offered free teddy bears to pediatricians who viewed their sales presentation. More than 90% of the doctors lined up to get their teddy bears! Steve himself uses a pocket shoe polisher as a giveaway, because he believes in the importance of well-shined shoes at trade shows. He actually receives calls for replacements.

EXCLUSIVITY THROUGH LIMITED DISTRIBUTION

Find an item that everyone wants, then provide a limited supply of that item. I know of one company that uses a special jacket for this purpose. And it's become a prized, semi-status symbol among that company's customers.

CELEBRITY STATUS

Choose an item that's been publicly endorsed by a sports, business or movie celebrity and you have an instant symbol that people will stand in line for.

Whatever giveaway you decide on, remember to present it politely, and with sensitivity to the recipient. Forcing a gift defeats its purpose. The last thing you want to do is stick a tacky-looking pin on someone's thousand-dollar suit. And remember, you will get more mileage from your trade show premium if you tie it into a pre-show promotion campaign that reinforces your primary sales message and meets your trade show marketing objectives.

"How do I stop traffic at my exhibit?" That was the number one concern of more than 80% of trade show exhibitors in a recent independent survey.

One of the most effective ways for building trade show traffic is through the use of daily prize drawings. Prizes can include anything of value, from office equipment such as fax machines and lap top computers, to less expensive items such as walk-about stereos. If you can tie the prize itself into your show objective and selling theme, all the better.

Another very effective way to build traffic is with coupons. If possible, include a coupon in your show's daily paper. The coupon can be redeemable for giveaways, drawings, drawings for high price ticket items or discounts on orders. A company I know had great success by offering a free foot or neck massage to the first 25 people who brought the coupon to their booth. If your budget permits, you can expand on this by offering a free eight-minute massage to all attendees who bring the coupon to your booth.

While they're having their neck and shoulders massaged, you have eight minutes to qualify them.

To truly understand how traffic builders can work, put yourself in the visitor's place. As they wander the aisles, they're probably thinking, "Do I need this?" or "Do I want this?" or "Should I know more about this?" or "can this solve my problem?" Your traffic builder should be designed to help trigger a "yes" response. Are visitors motivated by cost-savings, time savings, quality, service or fast delivery? Find out what attendees' hot buttons are, then push away on them. In case your early attempts don't succeed, be prepared to refine them until you find something that works.

Surveys are also effective traffic builders - especially if you make them interesting and the results available for follow-up to attendees who stop by your booth. A good survey is fairly short, requiring less then six minutes to complete. Design your survey to double as a lead qualifier...then when the attendee stops by your booth, they'll already have been pre-qualified. This will save the attendee and your booth staff valuable time.

Advertising tie-ins are also effective traffic builders. They run the gamut from a single line of copy in all your pre-show advertising that invites attendees to stop at your booth to elaborate direct mail programs. Whatever you decide on, make it even more effective by relating your advertising message to your trade show theme and objectives.

Have a great show and see you next month when we'll discuss post-show activities.