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Trade Show Giveaways – iPads versus Rational Offers

By Candyce Edelen

PropelGrowth Blog
Do iPads really generate relevant sales leads?Free iPads and other cool stuff

At nearly every industry trade show and conference, vendor booths offer drawings for cool prizes. Visitors just drop a card in the bowl to have a shot at winning an iPad or some other cool prize. Marketers use trade show giveaways to collect “leads”, which help justify the cost of the event.

But Wait a Minute

Let’s think about this. Are these people really leads? Definitely…if you’re selling iPads or cool gadgets. But generally, the contest offer has absolutely nothing to do with the company’s offerings.

Are They Really Qualified?

Remember, the goal is to attract qualified leads – not random names. You’re looking for people who have a business need and an interest in your offering. But most of the drawing entries are from vendors, consultants, job hunters, conference staff, etc.

People who are really qualified will talk with your booth staff, show an interest, and provide their contact information for follow-up without any need for the “bait” of a trade show giveaway.  At most booths, when a qualified lead shows up, Sales solicits two cards – one for themselves and one for the drawing. But they’d have gotten that card regardless of whether you were offering a drawing.

Choosing the “Winner”

After the show, Marketing and Sales “choose” the winning card from those contacts representing the most potential for future revenue. Then a sales person gets to deliver the gift to their “lucky” lead as a nice way to nurture the relationship.

I’m all for nurturing relationships, but has this really accomplished anything? Or did it serve as a distraction? In most cases, the visitor has very little time for a discussion at the booth. So your team is wasting valuable time and mental energy getting them to enter the drawing rather than asking questions and explaining the value proposition offered by your company.

There is a Better Way

Instead of giving away free things that have nothing to do with your products and services, consider giving away something that will be meaningful to a visitor with a business problem your company can address. Align the give-away with your content marketing strategy. Here are some suggestions for useful offers:

  • Free educational white paper or research report.
  • Free consultation to evaluate their current situation and provide recommendations. (Really, this just formalizes the needs analysis process that is vital to effective sales.)
  • Free hour with your engineering team to discuss ideas around solving some sort of common technical problem.
  • Free trial of your product. (Offer this ONLY if your product’s use case is self-explanatory and the product requires no implementation time.)

With one of these offers, you can collect cards from interested people and KNOW that they’re qualified leads unless they’re a competitor or consultant. It also gives you a much better lead-in for Sales to use when following up.

Join the Conversation

So enough of my opinions. Do you agree or disagree? What trade show offers are you finding the most effective in generating qualified leads?

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Candyce Edelen
CEO at PropelGrowth
Candyce is the founder and CEO of PropelGrowth. She brings more than twenty years of experience in managing technology companies and has founded four companies prior to PropelGrowth. For the past ten years, Candyce has focused exclusively in the capital markets industry, launching two financial technology companies. Now, she helps financial technology vendors improve their marketing strategy, publish compelling content, and drive revenue through marketing and sales enablement. Contact Candyce at +1 970-300-2280.
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Latest posts by Candyce Edelen (see all)
  • 4 Steps to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Sales Prospecting
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Filed Under: Marketing Strategy, PropelGrowth Blog Tagged With: industry trade show, marketing and lead generation, trade show giveaway

About Candyce Edelen

Candyce is the founder and CEO of PropelGrowth. She brings more than twenty years of experience in managing technology companies and has founded four companies prior to PropelGrowth. For the past ten years, Candyce has focused exclusively in the capital markets industry, launching two financial technology companies. Now, she helps financial technology vendors improve their marketing strategy, publish compelling content, and drive revenue through marketing and sales enablement. Contact Candyce at +1 970-300-2280.

Company Profile

PropelGrowth helps companies improve their marketing and sales. We start with in-depth buyer research. Then we develop a marketing and sales strategy and customer-centric messaging. Then we coach your team and help you execute on the strategy by developing thought leadership programs, content for every stage in the buying process, sales collateral, and tools to help buyers buy.

Figure out why and how your buyers buy

Develop a customer-centric marketing strategy

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Recent Posts

  • 4 Steps to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Sales Prospecting
  • The Reality of Cold Calling for B2B Sales
  • Can Inbound Marketing Generate Enough Leads?
  • How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Using LinkedIn for Prospecting
  • Tips from 8 ERP Resellers on How to Leapfrog Your Competition​
  • How to Win 74% of Your ERP Deals
  • Buyer Persona Research, the Key to Niche Marketing
  • 8 Ways a Niche Strategy Improves the Value of Your Practice

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  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Why PropelGrowth?
    • Management Team
    • Acumatica Marketing Team
    • Privacy Policy
    • Back
  • What We Do
    • Marketing Strategy
      • Buyer Personas
      • Strategy Development
      • Acumatica Partner Marketing
      • Integrating PR
      • Creative Design
      • Back
    • Marketing Programs
      • Content Marketing for the Buying Process
      • Content Marketing Programs
      • Thought Leadership In The Buying Process
      • Thought Leadership Programs
      • Lead Generation and Lead Nurturing
      • LinkedIn Sales Prospecting
      • Marketing Coaching Program
      • Back
    • Marketing Content
      • Marketing Automation
      • Email Marketing
      • Website Content
      • Blogging and Article Marketing
      • Case Studies
      • White Papers and E-books
      • Research Studies
      • Live and Online Events
      • Back
    • LinkedIn LeadGen Master Class
    • Back
  • Who We Do It For
    • Who We Serve
    • Client Case Studies
      • What This CEO Learned From Buyer Persona Research Transformed Her Company
      • Back
    • Back
  • Resources
    • Sales Resources
      • Solving the No Decision Problem
      • Back
    • Marketing Resources
      • B2B Lead Conversion Rates
      • Back
    • The TrendSpotters Podcast Series
    • Back
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Search
    • Back