Trade Shows are DEAD! (Or, are they?...)
Ace Luciano • April 13, 2022
You can not only gain new customers, but absolutely KILL your competitors by following this advice...
No, trade shows certainly aren't "dead," but most of the marketing departments for companies in the gun world sure act like they are. If their campaigns aren't on life-support, then they act like ZOMBIES, grunting, "UUhhhhhh...send more emails."
"Uuuhhhhh...we don't need to market"
"Uuuhhhhh...we're sold out of inventory for 18 months..."
"Uuuhhhhh...BOOTH BABES!" (Actually, those still work- if you find ones that are intelligent. I met 3 at this year's SHOT Show."
So, what makes ACE Public Relations qualified to give advice here?
Over the past 20 years, we've attended, executed, and planned for THOUSANDS of shows and events.
We've seen good and bad. We've seen things work and things FAIL MISERABLY.
This information can be very valuable for future shows, and the good news is that they are easy enough to implement that there's really no excuse (except for the typical, "but my business is DIFFERENT," or "we don't have the budget," or "we thought about that but didn't think it would work...") to not do it.
10 Tips for Trade Show Success
1. As in ALL real estate, what really matters in LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.
Where your booth is can be more important that what is in your booth. Try and choose a location that is near high traffic areas- the entrance, the presentation space… even near the restrooms are better than being on a middle of the outside row. (Avoid those unless it’s your only option.)
2. Buy and get access to any possible list of attendees prior to the event.
Those lists with contact information are well worth any money spent. You’ll need this list to “pre-market” your presence at the show. From this list, make your “Hit List.” This can be 10-20 or so people that you would happily attend the show if you only saw two of them. If you can’t get a list, you’ll have to work a little harder by contacting, at a minimum, your top prospects in your field to find out if they will be attending- then put them into the marketing plan.
3. Start marketing before, but not more than 2-2.5 weeks before, the trade show.
You want them to know you are there, that you know who they are, and that you want/expect to see them there. This is enough time to catch their attention, but not enough time for them to forget about you.
4. Limit yourself to something interesting and attention-getting,
...and only send one of them per week- which brings us to the next tip…
5. DON’T Overwhelm Them with communication.
SHOT Show and NRA are both notorious for this- as are a handful of companies and independent marketing agencies.
Once a week is good. Twice a week is better. 3 times or more is TOO MUCH and a great way to make them not only not visit you, but to possibly avoid you in the future.
Once a week is good. Twice a week is better. 3 times or more is TOO MUCH and a great way to make them not only not visit you, but to possibly avoid you in the future.
6. Avoid “burning your list” by using multiple methods of communication to reach your prospect.
Don’t - and I mean DON’T- ever use only "email" as your way to solicit attendees.
If you send "generic" emails multiple times over a short period, some email servers will automatically flag you as spam, which is very hard to undo after it’s done.
You might not even know your emails aren’t getting through.
Send them a piece of “lumpy mail” in a padded envelope or a FedEx.
Never send a plain envelope for these correspondences, as they will typically be opened by someone else or thrown out. Make sure every one is HAND ADDRESSED in ink. Several days before the show, make 20 phone calls. If you don’t reach them the first time, call again. As a last resort, leave them a message that you have something for them at the booth. If you are restricted as to what you can give, make up a nice packet of your promotional materials in a high-quality, full-sized envelope.
I'm shocked at how lazy most companies in the gun world are these days- they send an email a day for a week and think that's actually EFFECTIVE.
You might not even know your emails aren’t getting through.
Send them a piece of “lumpy mail” in a padded envelope or a FedEx.
Never send a plain envelope for these correspondences, as they will typically be opened by someone else or thrown out. Make sure every one is HAND ADDRESSED in ink. Several days before the show, make 20 phone calls. If you don’t reach them the first time, call again. As a last resort, leave them a message that you have something for them at the booth. If you are restricted as to what you can give, make up a nice packet of your promotional materials in a high-quality, full-sized envelope.
I'm shocked at how lazy most companies in the gun world are these days- they send an email a day for a week and think that's actually EFFECTIVE.
7. Always have an event/hospitality suite/gathering off-site but near enough to the event that it’s easy to get to.
Everybody loves a party.
Make it classy. A nice dinner or a hospitality suite with an open bar are a good start. A celebrity speaker or attendee can help a LOT. Fun places like "Top Golf" or a local range to test out products are great choices. This past SHOT, we attended an event at the Palmyra Mansion, The Paris Resort, Top Golf and others.
8. Give your prospects an overwhelming and compelling reason to come and see you.
This goes for all your communications, your interactions, and your time on the floor. If you have promotional items, make them high-quality. If you can't give everyone something nice, at least have enough to give to your top 30% or so prospects, customers and MEDIA (yes, MEDIA.) Have a contest, a speaker/celebrity, or a unique experience or contest at your booth in order to draw attention. Make it fun.
I once saw a company that had a putting green contest with some awesome prizes that went on for the duration of the show. They had a “Leaderboard” and held wacky “interviews” that they ran on video with some basic (and funny) editing, people would gather around and watch, laugh and engage.
You might laugh at that, but they made money.
You might laugh at that, but they made money.
Most companies, and especially the larger ones, MISSED A HUGE OPPORTUNITY at the 2022 SHOT Show.
If ever there was a time to do something BIG, that was it. Rather than buy only cheap giveaways, you could have doubled your spend and ordered half as much. There was a distinct lack of swag this year, and, quite frankly, whomever came up with that bright idea should be FIRED. If it was you or you own the company, be better.
9. Design your booth for optimum space and flow.
People in the booth bring more people to the booth, as they are curious as to what is going on there. That being said, a bigger booth is almost always better than a smaller one. Don’t block the booth with a table. Don’t divide it so that people have to go out to see all of it. Make the carpet a dark or light color that matches the aisle. The division between a light and dark carpet line can have a psychological effect on people to not want to come to “your territory” and stay in theirs. Encourage socialization in your booth and meet in a separate area.
10. Have fun, but behave in the booth.
Everyone on your team should be dressed professionally (you are, after all, there to do business) as it is always better to be OVER rather than “under”-dressed. Make sure that you are always aware of what is going on near, in, and outside the booth. There are 51 OTHER weeks for you to party so hard that you're hung over the next day. Your trade show isn't the time for that. (that is, if you want to make money). If you are checking emails, looking at your phone, etc., make sure you glance up every few seconds so that you don’t miss an opportunity to see a prospect.
You owe it to yourself to make the most of the money you spend. It's worth it to spend a little more to DO IT RIGHT!
We're here to help if you need it. New Paragraph
This year's SHOT Show was another excellently produced and executed show by both show management and vendors, but there was still some room for improvement.
Buying a car should be an exciting experience. Unfortunately, thanks to a host of sleazy sales tactics from poor salespeople with a "take advantage of the customer" attitude, most people walk away not as happy as they could be.
PR Can be Tricky, but with some discipline it doesn't have to be tedious or expensive.
Check Out The New Podcast
From "The Daily Beast".. Full article can be seen HERE. In a majority opinion authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court has cleared the way for even looser gun laws as the nation continues to reel from near-daily mass shootings that have claimed 312 lives in 2022 alone. Thomas, a President George H. W. Bush nominee, wrote in the 6-3 decision that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to carry a gun outside the home. The court struck down New York’s “proper-cause” requirement to obtain a concealed-carry license, saying it “violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.” In concurring, Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “The police cannot disarm every person who acquires a gun for use in criminal activity; nor can they provide bodyguard protection for the State’s nearly 20 million residents or the 8.8 million people who live in New York City. Some of these people live in high-crime neighborhoods. Some must traverse dark and dangerous streets in order to reach their homes after work or other evening activities. Some are members of groups whose members feel especially vulnerable. And some of these people reasonably believe that unless they can brandish or, if necessary, use a handgun in the case of attack, they may be murdered, raped, or suffer some other serious injury.” Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented. “Consider, too, interactions with police officers,” Breyer wrote. “The presence of a gun in the hands of a civilian poses a risk to both officers and civilians.” Breyer pointed out that laws regulating “the public carriage of weapons” in England date back to the 13th century, and existed in North America since “before the founding.” “Similar laws remained on the books through the ratifications of the Second and Fourteenth Amendments through to the present day,” Breyer wrote. “Many of those historical regulations imposed significantly stricter restrictions on public carriage than New York’s licensing requirements do today.” Speaking to reporters after the ruling was handed down, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vowed to hold the line on gun safety. “We are not powerless to respond to this,” she said. Constitutional lawyer Jeff Lewis told The Daily Beast the decision does more than simply strike down state concealed-carry laws. “The court today establishes a very high bar for all gun restrictions,” he said. “Unless a legislature or court can establish that the regulation existed or was consistent with a regulation that existed at the time the Second Amendment was enacted, a gun restriction will no longer survive a Second Amendment challenge. Very few state gun laws will be able to survive such a high standard.” Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, said he was “appalled” but “not surprised” by the ruling. “This was expected from the Court’s conservative supermajority who have long sought to define the Second Amendment expansively,” he said in an emailed statement. “Their decision was not constitutional, but purely political. Just as the nation grieves children and others who needlessly die from firearm violence, the nation’s highest court is making it much harder to protect the vulnerable.” At the same time, the Legal Aid Society said in its own statement that the decision “may be an affirmative step toward ending arbitrary licensing standards that have inhibited lawful Black and Brown gun ownership in New York.” The ruling, which stems from a Dec. 2020 challenge by the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association (NYSRPA), is set to upend the ability of individual states to require concealed carry applicants show “proper cause” for being allowed to leave home armed. The plaintiffs, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch, from Upstate New York, were denied carry permits in 2016 and 2018 by county authorities because they did not “face any special or unique danger” to their lives. After instead being granted permits for hunting and target shooting, the two sued—under the umbrella of the NYSRPA, the NRA’s New York affiliate—George P. Beach II, the then-superintendent of the New York State Police, and New York State Supreme Court Justice and Rensselaer County Licensing Officer Richard J. McNally, Jr. “Up until now, the court’s been pretty clear that somebody has the right to have a gun in their own home,” Lewis told The Daily Beast ahead of the ruling. “But what the high court has never weighed in on is…do you have the right outside of your house to have a gun? … The people that challenged this law said, ‘No, the Second Amendment’s absolute—the presumption should be [that] we have the right to a concealed weapon, and should be up to the government to take it away from us on a case-by-case basis, not establishing the right to weaponry on a case- by- case basis.’”
For more information, contact Pete Muller at (803) 637-7698 or pmuller@nwtf.net NWTF Announces Funding for New Wild Turkey Research Projects More than $360,000 will help fund seven projects in six states. ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The National Wild Turkey Federation announced more than $360,000 in funding for seven new research projects in six states addressing the needs of wild turkey populations. The announcement comes during the 12th National Wild Turkey Symposium, a gathering of state and federal wildlife agencies, wild turkey researchers, land managers and enthusiasts focused on wild turkey habitat and population restoration. “Supporting research is a key element to the future of the wild turkey and the NWTF,” NWTF Co-CEO Kurt Dyroff said. “We are excited to support these critical projects made possible through the generous support of Mossy Oak, the NWTF Foundation, various NWTF donors and the NWTF’s Help the Yelp Project.” Dedicated funding will be leveraged multiple times resulting in more $2.5 million worth of research to benefit the wild turkey. In addition to the most recent allocation of more than $360,000 in funding, the NWTF has dedicated $8.3 million to research during its nearly 50-year history. Wild turkey researchers submitted project proposals through NWTF’s Wild Turkey Research Request for Proposals, a program that facilitates and makes large investments in support of priority wild turkey research. This year NWTF invited proposals that investigate the dynamics and drivers of the “post-restoration era.” Applicants must address one or more of the following research priorities: disease, habitat, hunter influence/relationship, population estimates and survival. The proposals were scored and ranked by NWTF staff and the NWTF Technical Committee on the applicability of the projects, scientific rigor, partner engagement and secured matching funds. The projects approved for funding are: “Estimating Survival and Productivity of Translocated Turkeys in North Dakota” studies survival and reproduction of translocated nuisance turkeys compared to control birds in western North Dakota. Nesting activities, mortality causes and infection and exposure rates will be explored. “Impacts of Woody Understory Vegetation and Invasive Species on Roosting Habitat Potential for Wild Turkey” will complement a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department priority to examine changing roost site habitat in the Rolling Plains region of Texas. The study will classify vegetation and non-native, invasive species and then conduct a change assessment across the Edwards Plateau to determine impact. “Vital Rates and Population Growth of Merriam’s Turkeys in South-Central South Dakota” will estimate annual survival and reproductive probabilities for adult and yearling age-classes of wild turkeys. Data will estimate population rates with results being compared to mid-1980s conditions. “Novel Approaches to Estimating Wild Turkey Population Parameters” will use non-invasive techniques to gather DNA specimens from eight sites throughout Mississippi. Part of the study areas will work in conjunction with wildlife management areas in an ongoing experiment investigating the influence of a delayed and reduced spring season framework on turkey populations and harvest. “Rio Grande Wild Turkey Habitat and Genetic Connectivity, Disease Prevalence and Survival in the Texas Edwards Plateau Ecoregion” will explore turkey abundance against a decreased number of hunters and turkeys harvested in recent years. Environmental factors such as flooding, unmanaged grazing and damage to vegetation are some study areas. The impact of parasites and disease also will be reviewed. “Development and Application of Diagnostic Techniques to Better Understand Impacts of Tumor-Causing Viruses (LPDV and RV) in Wild Turkeys” will look at where and to what extent diseases are distributed throughout the body of infected wild turkeys. “Ecology of an Unhunted Wild Turkey Population” provides research on an unhunted population of wild turkeys across a large study site in South Carolina. Collected data will analyze wild turkey behavior in the absence of hunting activity, hunting pressure and harvest of males. Data will be compared to other populations in the Southeast and beyond. “The projects that we are supporting demonstrate the partnerships and collaboration that is needed to understand what is impacting wild turkeys across the country,” said Mark Hatfield, NWTF national director of conservations services. “I have confidence that the network of researchers and managers from around the country are going to utilize the same ingenuity that helped restore wild turkeys in North America to understand what is driving the health of the wild turkey population.” The 12th National Wild Turkey Symposium is co-hosted by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and National Wild Turkey Federation, through June 10, in Asheville, North Carolina. About the National Wild Turkey Federation When the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in 1973, there were about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. After decades of work, that number hit a historic high of almost 7 million turkeys. To succeed, the NWTF stood behind science-based conservation and hunters' rights. Today, the NWTF is focused on the future of hunting and conservation through its Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative. Since 2012, this 10-year initiative has already eclipsed goals of conserving or enhancing more than 4 million acres of essential wildlife habitat, recruiting or retaining more than 1.5 million hunters and opening access to more than 500,000 acres for hunting and other recreation opportunities. This critical work will continue to impact wildlife habitat and our great outdoors in the final years of the initiative. National Wild Turkey Federation PO Box 530 Edgefield South Carolina 29824 United States
Wildlife Research Center® introduces the new and improved Scent Killer® Gold® Bar Soap in an updated ultra- premium, odor fighting formula. The New Scent Killer® Gold® Bar Soap has a special unscented, anti-odor formula that goes after human odor at its source. This deep cleaning Anti-Odor™ formula is formulated with special moisturizers and Aloe. This high-quality odor fighting bar soap is just what you need to prepare for the hunt and is great for use all year long. It is The Gold Standard®. For best results, take advantage of the entire Scent Killer® System. Every step you can take to eliminate human odor will improve your odds of success and help get you closer to that trophy buck. Wildlife Research Center® is known for its innovative products in Scents and Scent Elimination. This is Wildlife’s 40 th year in business: it’s their extreme passion and superior quality that has propelled them to be the leader in the category. “Helping Hunters Fill Tags for 40 Years!” The products are 100% Money-Back Guaranteed – direct by Wildlife Research Center®. For more information on the entire line of scent elimination products and hunting lures from Wildlife Research Center, inc. visit www.wildlife.com .
There are several steps that you should take to prepare for the tumultuous economy ahead. It looks like we will be headed for recession and massive inflation. Prepare yourself by having a plan to make more money. Ace Luciano and the professionals at Ace Outdoor PR can help.
Regardless of how good your marketing and sales are, you can always sell more and make more. If you're selling out, raise prices. If you are seeing success from one marketing area, start another. If your advertising is working, buy another or put that one in more places. Regardless of how well your business is doing, Ace Luciano and Ace PR & Marketing can help you to do more.
There's a lot to consider before joining the ranks of the firearms industry. Chances are, it's not what you think. If you want to work in the gun industry, become a firearms sales representative, or work for a company in the firearms world, you may want to think it over and ask yourself these questions. Ace Luciano has worked in the hunting and firearms industry for over 20 years. BGA Enterprises is a company that does marketing, sales, and firearms and outdoor industry consulting.