Marketing at trade shows

SUMMARY: Event marketing is a prime target for budget cuts in a down economy, but some marketers have at least one big, annual show they just can’t skip. How do you make the most of your investment in a big trade show presence?

See how an insurance company revamped their trade show strategy on its head by creating a booth and events that talked primarily about clients -- not the company. Includes concepts and strategies you can adapt for a smaller event budget. read the complete case study

SUMMARY: Speaking gigs offer better ROI and cost a lot less than mounting an event of your own or making a full marketing push at an industry event. But landing that speaking engagement is the tricky part.

In this new MarketingSherpa Tutorial, discover:
- 5 factors in putting together a terrific proposal
- 4 tips to improve your PowerPoint presentation
- 4 follow-up strategies (now comes the real work)

Plus, how to use your speech to get more clients without delivering an annoying pitch from the podium. read the complete article

SUMMARY: "In the first half of 2008, b-to-b trade shows showed a minimal decline of 1%, while b-to-b magazines declined 6% during the same period." "While there was an overall decline of 6% in the magazine business during the first half of the year, 5 of the 21 BIN categories showed growth." "These categories include: Agriculture (6.08%), Architecture, Design, Lighting (1.99%), MFG, Processing (0.61%), Miscellaneous (1.53%), and Professional Services (1.82%)." view the complete research record

SUMMARY: Driven by economic circumstances, the buying process for large and complex purchases is changing. Marketers who are aware of changing buyer behaviors, such as the use of information resources, will be better able to align their selling process with the buying process to improve effectiveness. read the complete article

By Anne Holland, Content Director

Admittedly, our B-to-B Marketing Summit Brochure was brochure-from-hell from a proofing standpoint. The marketing department had to get 29 different speakers' names spelled properly (this must be very easy in places, such as Sweden, where you have a limited pool of names to deal with, but in multicultural America you always have to double-check.) And we had to make sure the right headshot went with the right speaker, which can be... read the complete blog post