Three Tips to Winning With Effective Tradeshow Video

effective tradeshow video on display at event

Often times, digital presence is intertwined with business success and tradeshows remain a pivotal platform for direct engagement and networking. Making a highly effective tradeshow video becomes critically important. Between all the bustling aisles and countless booths, standing out becomes a challenge that many businesses face. Enter the game-changer: tradeshow videos. These dynamic tools are not just about showcasing products or services; they are a strategic medium to tell your brand’s story, evoke emotions, and engage potential clients in a crowded tradeshow environment.

The power of video content at tradeshows cannot be understated. It combines visuals, sound, and narrative to capture attention in a way that static displays or printed materials cannot. An effective tradeshow video goes beyond  promotion; it creates an immersive experience, inviting attendees to learn about your business in a compelling and memorable way. From highlighting product features and benefits to sharing customer testimonials and company values, they can significantly impact your tradeshow success.

However, creating a video that resonates with your audience and achieves your business objectives requires more than just hitting the record button. It demands a thoughtful approach to content creation, from understanding your audience and defining clear objectives to crafting a message that stands out. In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of planning, creating, promoting, and measuring the success of your tradeshow videos to ensure you’re not just participating in the tradeshow but winning it.

Planning Your Tradeshow Video

The planning stage is critical in creating a tradeshow video that not only captures attention but also conveys your message effectively to your target audience. This phase lays the foundation for success by aligning your content with your business goals and audience needs. Here’s how to plan your for maximum impact:

1. Define Your Objectives: Start by defining what you want to achieve with your tradeshow content. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, showcase a new product, generate leads, or educate your audience about your services? Your objectives will guide the content, style, and messaging of your video.

2. Know Your Audience: Understanding who your audience is and what they care about is essential. Research the demographics and interests of tradeshow attendees and tailor your content to meet their needs and preferences. This ensures your message resonates and engages the right people.

3. Craft a Compelling Message: Your video should tell a story that connects with your audience. Focus on the benefits of your products or services, not just the features. Use emotional and relatable elements to create a narrative that viewers will remember long after the tradeshow ends.

4. Decide on the Video Format: There are several formats to choose from, including product demonstrations, customer testimonials, behind-the-scenes looks, or company overviews. The format should complement your objectives and be suitable for the tradeshow environment, where noise and distractions are common.

5. Logistics and Technical Considerations: Plan for the logistical aspects of displaying your video at the tradeshow. Consider the equipment you’ll need, such as screens and sound systems, and ensure it is optimized for viewing in a busy, often noisy, environment. This might mean focusing more on visual elements and using subtitles if necessary.

6. Budget and Resources: Allocate a budget for your production, keeping in mind costs for scripting, filming, editing, and equipment rental. Consider what resources you have in-house versus what you may need to outsource to professionals.

Through proper planning, you set the stage for a piece of content that not only draws attention but also effectively communicates your message and achieves your business objectives.

 

Creating Compelling Tradeshow Video Content

After laying the groundwork with thorough planning, the next step is to create content that not only draws attention but also leaves a lasting impression on your audience. Engaging tradeshow content can significantly enhance your booth’s appeal and effectively communicate your message. Here’s how to create compelling content for your tradeshow:

1. Focus on Storytelling: Humans are naturally drawn to stories. Structure your video around a narrative that showcases your product or service in action, highlights success stories, or conveys your brand’s journey. A well-told story can evoke emotions and create a memorable connection with your audience.

2. Keep It Short and Sweet: Attention spans are limited, especially in a bustling tradeshow environment. Aim for a video length of 1-2 minutes to convey your key messages without losing viewer interest. Every second counts, so make sure each moment is impactful.

3. High-Quality Production: Invest in a high-quality production to ensure your content looks professional and is engaging. This includes clear visuals, crisp audio (with subtitles for noisy environments), and a seamless flow of information. Quality production values can significantly impact how your brand is perceived.

4. Make It Visually Engaging: Use dynamic visuals, animations, and text overlays to make it stand out. Visual elements can help explain complex information in an easy-to-understand way and keep your audience engaged from start to finish.

5. Include a Call to Action: Your video should not only inform and entertain but also inspire viewers to take the next step. Whether it’s visiting your website, signing up for a demo, or simply learning more about your products, a clear call to action (CTA) is crucial for converting interest into action.

Creating compelling content that involves a blend of creativity, strategy, and technical execution. By focusing on storytelling, high production values, and keeping your message is clear and concise, you can captivate tradeshow attendees and elevate your brand presence.

Effective Promotion and Engagement Strategies

Creating a compelling tradeshow video is just the first step; promoting it effectively to reach your audience is crucial for maximizing its impact. Here are strategies to ensure it engages attendees before, during, and after the tradeshow:

1. Leverage Social Media: Utilize your company’s social media channels to tease your content prior to the tradeshow. Post snippets or trailers to build anticipation and drive traffic to your booth. Continue to share your snippets on social media during and after the event to reach those who couldn’t attend in person. Get viewers engaged. Have them tag themselves at the event.

2. Email Marketing: Incorporate your content into email campaigns targeted at tradeshow attendees and your broader audience. A well-crafted email can pique interest and encourage recipients to seek out your booth or learn more about your offerings.

3. Utilize QR Codes: Make your video easily accessible at the tradeshow by incorporating QR codes in your booth design. Attendees can scan the code to watch it on their mobile devices, providing them with an immediate and interactive way to engage with your content.

4. Engage with Live Demonstrations: If possible, integrate live demonstrations of your product or service with your video content. This combination can significantly enhance attendee engagement, providing a tactile experience that complements the visual and narrative elements of your content.

5. Follow-up After the Event: Use your tradeshow video as a follow-up tool after the event. Sending a thank-you email to booth visitors and including the video can reinforce your message and maintain interest in your brand. Take it a step further and personalize the email by mentioning things you spoke directly with them about and incorporate a short personal video message.

By implementing these promotion and engagement strategies, you can extend the reach of your video beyond the event itself, fostering ongoing engagement with your target audience and maximizing the return on your investment.

Measuring Successful Tradeshow Video

After investing time and resources into creating and promoting your tradeshow video, it’s essential to measure its success to understand the return on your investment and gather insights for future projects. Here are key metrics and methods to evaluate the effectiveness of your content:

1. Engagement Metrics: Track how many people viewed your video during the tradeshow and afterwards online. Look at engagement metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and watch time to gauge how your content resonated with the audience. You might track how many people visited your booth or how many watched the content as part of the sales process.

2. Lead Generation: Measure the number of leads generated directly from your video. This can include QR code scans, website visits, unique phone numbers, unique emails, sign-ups for more information, or direct inquiries about your products or services.

3. Conversion Rates: Evaluate how many of the leads generated from your video turned into actual sales or business opportunities. This will help you understand it’s effectiveness in driving tangible business results.

4. Audience Feedback: Collect feedback from tradeshow attendees and online viewers about your video. This qualitative data can provide valuable insights into what worked well and what could be improved for future video content. Be sure to ask specific questions about what they learned after watching rather than, “What did you think?”

5. Social Media Reach: Analyze the reach and impact of your content on social media platforms. Metrics such as shares, views, and engagement on these platforms can indicate it’s broader appeal and effectiveness in extending your brand’s visibility beyond the show.

Carefully analyzing these metrics can provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the video’s performance. This not only helps justify the investment but also informs your strategy for future content, ensuring continuous improvement and greater success in your marketing efforts.

Conclusion

Tradeshows provide a unique opportunity for businesses to showcase their offerings and connect with potential customers in a dynamic environment. In this competitive landscape, videos emerge as powerful tools to capture attention, convey messages, and engage audiences effectively. Through careful planning, creating compelling content, employing strategic promotion and engagement tactics, and measuring success, businesses can elevate their tradeshow presence and achieve remarkable results.

“Winning with Tradeshow Videos” is more than just about having a video play at your booth. It’s about crafting a narrative that resonates with your audience, stands out in a crowded space, and ultimately drives your business objectives. By following the guidelines and strategies outlined in this article, you’re not just participating in the tradeshow; you’re setting the stage for success.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the role of video at tradeshows will only grow more significant. Investing in high-quality, engaging video content is an investment in your brand’s visibility and impact. Remember, the goal is not only to attract attention during the tradeshow but to leave a lasting impression that continues well beyond the event.

 

Related Articles: 

Manufacturer Product Videos & Increased Sales

Why Your Trade Show Booth Needs a Video

Secret Weapon To a Successful Trade Show Exhibit

Walk Through of Good and Bad Trade Show Booths

 

Keywords: tradeshow video, video marketing, tradeshow success, engaging video content, tradeshow promotion, video engagement strategies, tradeshow planning, video content creation, tradeshow ROI, business networking

Manufacturer Product Videos & Increased Sales

Manufacturer Product Videos, image of manufacturing (milling cutters)

Manufacturer Product Videos

At Plum, we’ve shot and edited several Manufacturer Product Videos to help them market their products to retailers and end users. While most manufacturers use a wide range of techniques to market and sell their products, only a few use video as a driver for business.

We believe in creating high quality video that tells a story about the manufacturing process and the benefits of the finished product. For the purpose of this blog, we’re sharing a few ways a manufacturer should be using video to show what their product is, how it’s produced, and how it’s used.

Process Video. This type of video is created to illustrate the full production and manufacturing process is completed. Usually this means showing manufacturing from start to finish and how the product is put together. This is also where you’d highlight that your products are made in the USA or illustrate how the production line works together to create a high quality product.

We recommend this video be approximately 90-seconds in length to ensure you show all the important qualities of your process and product. Keep in mind, the best marketing campaign videos tend to be shorter in nature, yet adequately inform the viewer.

Social Media. Manufacturing companies also need to feed their social media funnel. Plum will work with the marketing team, sales team, and management to ensure the messaging matches the appropriate branding components for consistency.

Most manufacturers don’t think of social media as a way to sell, but by selling to the end user about their unique selling proposition and the benefits of their product, manufacturers can pull sales through the distribution channel without relying on retailers or distributors. By using social media, manufacturers can create a strong first impression and increase engagement.

Hiring? Whether the company is just starting out or has been around for awhile, capturing and retaining the best employees is critical to its success. Whether the company finds new employees through email marketing or various hiring websites, it’s critical to craft the perfect message to the target audience. We recommend featuring a career video on the company’s career page that can differentiate you from other manufacturers.

Demos. If you’ve already shown the production process, the next step is to show how the product works. That’s where manufacturing marketing works best. We recommend creating a video marketing campaign that illustrates how the product works and the benefits it solves. We also recommend that it highlights the pain points that relate to the end user, even at a high level. By digging into the pain and costs of not purchasing the product, a video can help the buyer know whether the product is right for them.

If possible, when seeking any type of video production services, we recommend you ask to see how they’ve helped other manufacturers describe the most important pain points the buyer might face and show how each one is solved after purchase. This can be shown on a website, direct marketing, emailing, or trade shows. Here’s an interesting example of a demo video.

Video Reviews. Our clients have shared with us that there seems to be a point of differentiation when someone buys. When a product has a supporting video, they tell us that sales are greater than those products without video. On the other hand, when a product has a testimonial video, sales increase even more.

What they tell us is that video helps a buyer understand what a product is and how it works, but a testimonial will help a buyer know that someone was happy after their purchase and was comfortable sharing their experience with others via video. While we’d love to shoot that testimonial professionally, it can be just as powerful when shot by the customer him- or her-self on their phone or webcam. The results are positive either way… it’s just a matter of how professional the manufacturer wishes to appear. Below is a nice video review for a legal office…but same rules apply for any manufacturer.

Referral Requests. Many times it’s helpful to ask an existing client for a referral. Why not ask via video? As a manufacturer, you could shoot a short video asking an existing client for a referral. It might sound something like, “Hi there! You recently shared with us that you felt your purchase was a positive experience. Why not share that experience with others? We love referrals! In fact, great referrals are someone like…(describe who). If you can think of anyone who fits this description, would you mind emailing me their contact information? I can mention your name, or go without mentioning it, just let me know.” This is a simple, consistent message that can be sent out after every positive customer experience.

 

Related Posts:

Key Marketing Videos for Sales Funnel

How to Generate Sales Leads with Video

South Florida Manufacturers Association

Secret Weapon To a Successful Trade Show Exhibit

image of trade show

You are scheduled to attend a trade show as an exhibitor, and you want to get the most out of the show. What do you do to maximize the results of the time you invest in preparing? You can use video before, during, and after the show to maximize the impact of the show.

Pre-Trade Show Video Strategy

One often overlooked yet potent tool is the pre-trade show video. Understanding the attendees’ profile is key, and if you have their email contacts, you’re at a significant advantage. The impact of sending them a personalized invitation to your booth is greater than you can imagine. This strategy goes beyond mere attendance; it’s about creating a memorable experience before the event even begins.

Why a Pre-Trade Show Video?

  1. Build Relationships:  In the business world, the statement of “know, like, and trust” is powerful. A warm, inviting introduction video can set the stage for building these potential relationships. By giving attendees a glimpse of who you are, you increase the likelihood of them stopping by your booth, initiating valuable interactions.
  2. Humanizing Your Brand: Today digital interactions are the norm, showcasing the human element of your business is vital. People prefer dealing with other people, especially when it comes to resolving issues or making significant decisions (think sales). A personalized invitation video can add a human touch to your trade show presence, making your brand more approachable and relatable.
  3. Stand Out: While some exhibitors might reach out via email, very few leverage the power of video invitations. By adopting this approach, you distinguish yourself from the crowd. Creativity in your video content can further enhance your visibility and appeal, even as video invitations become more common.

The more personalized the message the better, but here’s a good example of what one client did prior to a trade show they were attending.

“Hi, I’m (insert name) from (insert company). You’ve registered for the upcoming trade show and you’re probably starting to identify which booths to visit to make the most of your time at the expo. We’d like to invite you to stop by and enter …  “

Use Video During the Trade Show

Why stop at sending them an invitation? Using video throughout the trade show can significantly enhance your impact at the show. Here are a few ideas:

  • Expo Display Videos: Create engaging content to display at your booth. It will attract and retain attendee’s attention. You’ll find attendees strolling by looking at your video, giving you the chance to engage in a conversation.
  • Don’t Rely On Audio: If you chose to create a Trade Show Video, remember that it’s going to be noisy during the event. You won’t want to feature or rely on interviews or narration to do the job, you’ll need strong visuals and engaging words on screen to capture their attention.
  • Use Pain Words: Putting a transcript on the screen is nice, but using graphics highlighting the pain your typical clients have will capture their attention.

Post-Show Videos

After the show is over it’s time for the follow up. That’s usually where others drop off and don’t perform well. Make it easy on yourself.

  1. Thank You Message: Create a post-show thank you message thanking them for attending and visiting your booth. Use the contacts you’ve gathered and send a “personalized” note. Personalized means general enough to speak to anyone who visited, but specific enough to resonant with most visitors.
  2. Contest Announcement Video: Typically, exhibitors have a giveaway or prize they’re awarding. Engage attendees with a contest and announce winners through a video, adding an interactive element to your presence.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are several more things you can do with video before, during and after the trade show but these will get you started. A key takeaway is that most people won’t do any of these things. They’re content to just talk to people and hope they call them after the show. Hope shouldn’t be a strategy. Use video to engage before, during, and after the trade show to maximize your efforts in gaining new sales.

If you need help creating ideas, creating concepts, or just want to get started creating a video for your trade show event, give us a call. We’re happy to help.

 

Related Articles: 

Why Your Trade Show Booth Needs a Video

7 Benefits of Video in Business Marketing

47 Interactive Trade Show Ideas

 

Why Your Trade Show Booth Needs a Video

trade show booth

Trade shows are tough, aren’t they?  So many vendors, so much noise; it can be hard to make your booth stand out.  In fact, we at Plum Productions just exhibited at our first trade show, and we learned a big lesson we’d like to share: video draws visitors to your trade show booth.  It’s true!  An eye-catching video makes it near impossible for someone to walk by without noticing you.  For the best impact, set up a flat screen TV, hook it into your laptop and place it on the table in front of your booth—not behind you.  In a pinch, you can play your video right off your laptop if you don’t have an extra TV handy.  Ours was so effective that we gained several new clients, one of them being a custom video for—you guessed it—an upcoming trade show! As great as trade shows are, you might approach a video for your booth differently than a video on your website.

  • First, chances are the room you’re in will be loud.  Narration on your video might get lost.  You’ll want to make sure your video includes “punch words” or short phrases about your business.  Remember, a trade show video isn’t going to get into the nitty gritty about your services. It just needs to get people to stop and talk to you.
  • Second, go for flash.  Bright colors and quick edits grab attention.
  • Lastly, keep it short.  Remember, it only takes a few seconds for someone to pass your booth.  Keep your video concentrated to the exact information you want a passerby to see.

You can check out the video we created for our new client and see a real life example of an effective trade show video.

Good Luck! If you need any help, let us know!