We've talked a lot about trade shows here on the Idea Custom Solutions' blog over the past two years. One remarkable thing about the trade show industry is that now there is a wider variety of venues and occasions in which small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) can participate.

Even better is the fact that today trade show attendees transcend the traditional suit-and-tie crowd to include consumers of all different kinds, including health nuts and weekend warriors, music and pop culture fans, fashion and beauty business owners, students and even independent sales reps and entrepreneurial salespeople.

Depending on the event, you can connect and subsequently do business with tech-savvy independents, as well as higher-end customers who prefer do-it-for-me solutions. Moreover, trade shows attract all kinds of participants and businesspeople with different motivations for attending.

HubSpot points out that there are a several types of personalities you find at trade shows including:

• The Networker who is motivated to meet people and the Deal Maker who intends to build relationships, maybe even partnerships, from contacts at the trade show.
• The Spy who is attending to gather intelligence or the Sponge who is there to learn and gain knowledge — as much knowledge as possible.
• The Thought Leader and the Teacher, both of whom look to impart knowledge and possibly industry wisdom.
• The Collector who is there for business too, but wants promo products galore, including a free tote bag to carry it all.

When it comes to picking which promotional products to use at trade shows, businesses often turn to professionals for their expertise. Distributors of promotional products can guide SMBs to the right choices for their marketing strategies just by asking a few questions.

Classy or Casual, Useful or Fun?

Is your customer trying to gain business from law firms and investment bankers or auto body shop owners? What's the office environment of their target audience like and would they make use more of higher end pens or sturdy coffee mugs?

Of course, that's not to say that your local mechanic couldn't appreciate a beautiful Montblanc instrument with your customer's logo branded on it. Or that an attorney wouldn't appreciate a quirky desk toy.

The point is to ask SMB customers about the clients that they have as well as the bigger audiences they are trying to reach. Every customer is different, but may be best suited with a variety of promo products for different targets.

Stocking Up for the Show

No matter your SMB client's existing customer base, trade shows provide the opportunity to reach diverse sets of people. So as the second part of a robust trade show marketing strategy, it makes sense for your customers to stock up on staple promotional products that keep booth traffic coming. A little "something for everybody" is a good way to proliferate the brand and logo of your SMB customers.

Some perennial promotional products to consider are bottled water, branded plastic drinkware, USB drives, tote bags and convenience items such as snack food items and lip balm. Easy to grab, these round out an overall marketing approach quite well.

Make sure that you've had conversations with your SMB customers and asked the right questions before pitching products. You'll find out about who they are trying to reach and gain their promotional products business for the long-term.

Idea Custom Solutions looks forward to helping you professionally brand those products with production-ready vector artwork and embroidery digitizing files. If you haven’t heard year, we are ISO certified for quality and information security. That means your customers’ valuable designs are safe with us!