Are you missing out on sales opportunities at the fair? Integrating tradeshow plans with effective online promotions and marketing can bring you outstanding business prospects.

It’s no secret that exhibitions are the best face-to-face opportunity to catch sales leads and market your product. But a recent report released by UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, revealed that a majority of exhibitors are not optimizing their trade show investment, thereby missing out on potential business deals.

Effective pre-show marketing and promotion is where most exhibitors fall short: only 29 percent of exhibitors arrive at a tradeshow with a pre-defined set of goals and strategies, the report said. Meanwhile an astounding 83 percent of buyers actually use pre-show materials, such as product previews, to plan their fair schedule.

In times of reduced traveling budgets, visitors are optimizing their buying trips by thoroughly preparing and researching beforehand.

“Tradeshows can be overwhelming so it’s important to engage buyers prior to the show,” notes Jerome Hainz, manager of the B2B sourcing website FashionNetAsia (www.fashionnetasia.com). He observed that exhibitors who integrate other marketing media into their exhibition plans are more successful at attracting their targeted audiences and converting them into qualified sales leads.

“Buyers are very responsive to and strongly influenced by what they see and hear prior to the show. Whereas on-site, it’s all about time efficiency,” concluding that effective pre-show marketing can “amplify company presence” and “enhance product value” on fair grounds.

Optimize business opportunities through Targeted Online Promotion

The Internet is, according to Hainz, the most efficient and economical platform to promote products and also serves as a valuable marketing arm to tradeshow plans.

“Here’s a fast and easy way to engage your buyers even before meeting them at the tradeshow.  Here’s a chance to make your company more memorable,” he enthused. “This is what FashionNetAsia offers.”

Launched in mid 2007, FashionNetAsia, is, in short, an industry-specific online B2B sourcing website. While it’s been compared to trade services like Alibaba and Global Sources, FashionNetAsia is more than a smaller version of the general trade portals because of its unique vertical business model - tailored specifically to the leather and fashion accessories sectors.

“We take on a focused approach to facilitate business for both buyers and suppliers in these industries.  At FashionNetAsia, suppliers are reaching out to their targeted consumer, while buyers save time on the search front because of our streamlined product categories,” Hainz explained.

The website, also packed with useful content such as industry news, fashion trend updates and a member’s discussion forum, is comparable to a service-oriented specialty store, a go-to place for visitors to browse products, share information and connect with other like-minded people.

Attract buyers with Effective Online Marketing

The key to any successful marketing is measured in its audience response, says Hainz, but sellers can do more harm than good to the company by failing to effectively promote their products and brands on the Internet.

On a sourcing website, for example, uploading fuzzy product pictures or unhelpful descriptions can put buyers off.

“Suppliers spend time grooming their trade booths but neglect the appearance of their online showrooms, whereas maintaining both are vital. It’s about communicating a consistent message of quality, design and professionalism to buyers, from the online showroom and onto the fair grounds”.

FashionNetAsia: The media arm for tradeshows

Hainz notes that virtual showrooms are not meant to replace exhibition booths, but complement them.  Buyers who may have only quickly browsed a booth on-site can turn to FashionNetAsia as a new channel to contact exhibitors in between shows.

This, says Hainz, is where a business contact can materialize into a sales lead.  “Always exchange business cards with visitors. After the show, send prospective buyers a thank you email, with a link to your online showroom.” 

“Some buyers are concerned about the authenticity of suppliers they find online, so it helps to make that contact via email to remind them where you’ve met.” 

But Hainz is set on instilling confidence in buyers who are wary of online sourcing.  “We are the official media partners of APLF, a leading and respectable tradeshow organizer for the leather and fashion industries.  Our current members are also quality exhibitors at APLF shows so there is no question on the quality and authenticity of the selling leads on FashionNetAsia.”

In fact, partnering with quality tradeshows is part of the FashionNetAsia business model, to which Hainz summed up as “mutually beneficial.”

Hainz recently rolled out a feature that is a testament to the company’s symbiotic business relationship with partnering tradeshows.  “It’s an online exhibitor database of the March/April 2009 APLF shows, which links into our member’s online showrooms”. 

The tool allows buyers to instantly mark down suppliers’ on-site booth numbers after having first browsed their products on FashionNetAsia.

Tips: How to generate buyer interest from your online showroom