Medallion Labs planned to set meetings with qualified prospects during a trade show. Previous shows had been lackluster; no more than 10 prospects had signed up in the previous year. New strategies were clearly needed.
A trade show micro plan was developed that included pre-show, at show and post-show activity. It began by creating two campaign messages:
Implementation: About 80 prospects in the “A” group got a four-inch-tall canister fully branded on the outside with message No. 1. Sent as a self mailer, it got attention as very lumpy mail. Inside the canister was a puzzle with a magnetic back (which would be important later) with art and message No. 2. One piece of the puzzle was left out of the canister and the puzzle asked recipients to make an appointment to get their missing piece.
Prospects in the “B” and “C” lists (about 500) received a lenticular postcard with the same messages but with no missing piece. The message was also tailored a bit to account for this difference. The mailings were sent four weeks prior to the show. About 10 days later the client began a calling campaign, using a prepared script, to all prospects on the “A” list who had not responded and to as many “B” prospects as they could reach. About a week later the client sent an email blast to those they had not heard from with the same message.
Prospects who responded promptly received an email confirmation of their scheduled appointment and a reminder five days before the trade show started. At the show, the client’s booth displayed a magnetic whiteboard with the campaign art across the top. The puzzle pieces that were left out of the canister were on the white board. This did two things:
This very simple piece stood out in a trade show designed for geeky scientist folks.
Results: From this effort, 29 scheduled appointments were made before the trade show, and numerous prospects reached out to say they couldn’t meet at the show but did set up virtual conference meetings or physical meetings outside of the trade show.