December in New York City – it’s a holiday wonderland and home to the annual New York Produce Show (NYPS). NYPS offers fresh produce marketers exhibiting at the show with the opportunity to meet face to face with East Coast sales leads. From terminal and wholesale markets to foodservice distributors and retailers, New York City provides fresh produce companies with an opportunity to increase your sales and brand penetration in a highly populated and food focused area of the country.
Outside of the many evening entertainment opportunities that are available in the Big Apple, the best opportunity for exhibitors to connect with prospect buyers is by hosting them at your booth on the tradeshow floor. That said, gaining attention prior to and during the show can be challenging without a well-rounded tradeshow marketing campaign that works to attract leads to your overall presence and foot traffic to your booth. Following are seven quick tips for helping you attract the leads that you want to your booth during the NYPS in December:
Send a Personal Invitation
The art of handwritten correspondence may have been trending the way of the dinosaur, but its decline in popularity has, in some ways, increased its effectiveness. Handwritten notecards add unparalleled sincerity to an invitation resulting in increased sentiment and personalization that will have your very specific target audiences believing in your customer service efforts, before they ever enter the booth.
Give Prizes and Host Contests That Appeal to Your Targets
Giveaways can sometimes attract high volume traffic to your booth that may or may not be qualified, meaning, they may not necessarily be interested in your products or services. To curb this reality, consider developing promotions that appeal to your very specific target audiences at the NYPS. For example, you could promote an iPad giveaway by sending a pre-show email to your targeted buyers along with a salad bar donation on behalf of their company. By doing this, you strategically find a way to delight a prospect or existing customer both personally and professionally, making that next sales call a lot more fun and qualified.
Offer Show Specials
This is an old school method that can still deliver impressive results. Make this a new school technique by capitalizing on all available promotion channels – think digital and social and media – and draw in those that are on a mission…. to buy or book your order now!
Announce a New Product/Service
Distribute a pre-show press release to the trade media and invite attendees to experience your brand new offering firsthand in your booth.
Send a Personal Invitation, Part II
A segmented, qualified database enables you to create personalized email campaigns to specifically target those contacts who will be most interested in that new product or service you’ll be highlighting at the show.
Host Meaningful Meetings
Make a list of the contacts that you want to meet at the upcoming event. Employ the tactics above, but don’t rely on them alone to make these meetings happen. Booths are great as an easily identifiable meeting place, but allow you and your team’s schedules enough flexibility to venture beyond your booth and make connections during cocktail receptions and food demonstrations that also provide you with an opportunity to connect.
Sing them Karaoke Songs
OK, maybe not your best bet, but this is certainly a (shameless?) promotion tactic that we’d try for ourselves.
Incorporate one or more of the tactics above into your NYPS tradeshow promotion plan and enjoy the flood of qualified visitors to your booth! Happy Holidays!
