Direct Mail Prior To Trade Show?

[dimesoftjohn]

We hosting a booth at an industry trade show in June and we are thinking of sending out a direct mail piece, announcing our presence, etc. I'm concerned that this could be a waste of valuable marketing dollars as we'll have some cool gimmicks to stimulate traffic to our booth anyway (think sexy model and putting green).

I'd like to know some other opinions.

Thanks.

[Samuel Craig]

First off, sexy models never look half as good in person as in print. So, go with a cheaper model

The putting green is better than the model....

I don't know your market friend but the most responsible way to go is to develop a good offer. Give them a solid business reason to drop by. If they are business owners or principals they are in it for the money. They don't have time to fool around. Make it worth their while. Make them an offer they can't refuse... or at least one they have to check out.

The sexy model is lazy thinking. And where will your business relationship go from there? Do you want to be a pimp?

[up.louise]

Postcard mailing may help. If you are worried about the cost, try looking for printing companies that offer affordable printing prices. And ordering in bulk can give you more value for your money. Just make sure to send it to clients who will surely be there on the trade show.

[webmaster8753]

I'd say test it out. Offer a free gift to anyone who brings in the mail piece you send out, so you can track exactly how many people it brought in and you will be able to determine whether or not it was worth the investment for future trade shows.

[smallbizmkter]

Have you considered sending out an html email using Aweber, Constant Contact or similar? I have used this to promote trade shows before - virtually free, just got the design costs if you outsource this.

The beauty of this is you can also track your results - opens, click-throughs etc. - I used to then direct salespeople to make contact with prospects who seemed to be actively clicking on the links in the email - i.e. they are a good warm prospect. Invite them to the booth, dinner or drinks etc. (or just do some putting!)

[mattcarpet]

It a general rule that with direct mailing if you can't afford to do three separate mail outs the ROI is negligible at best, basically people get annoyed enough to actually read what you sent and then go, "Oh, well I could use someone to do that for me."