Are you thinking about exhibiting at trade shows as a marketing strategy? Most organizations and associations have their schedules and exhibitor information in place at the beginning of the calendar year, so you can collect the data you need at one time to decide if, when, and where you should expend your resources in this marketing arena.

But before you start Googling for show names, answer this question:

WHY DO YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE?

What benefit do you expect to get from spending the time and money needed to plan and participate in a show? Specifically how are you going to make sure that you achieve that benefit?

There are basically four reasons to participate in a trade show:

-- Increase sales and reinforce market share.
-- Increase share of new customers and get current customers to buy more.
-- Introduce new products.
-- Position or reposition your organization, its brand, products, and services.

Your reasons will help determine the magnitude of your participation. There are any number of ways you can "do" a trade show; here are four basic ones:

1. Go as attendees, armed with business cards, brochures, and pre-set appointments with people you need to connect with--prospects, customers, potential partners, media representatives, and others.

2. Participate as part of someone else's booth--a strategic partner, an agency representing your company, or possibly a flagship customer.

3. Secure a small inline booth (10x10 or 10x20, for example) along one of the show aisles, with rented or purchased display pieces.

4. Rent or purchase a customized booth for a large island or peninsula location (sized from 20x20 on up).

Each of these is more complex than the next in terms of cost and logistics, and each will produce different results. BUT TAKE NOTE: Going with a more complex scheme isn't necessarily going to produce better results. You might get more accomplished from well-thought-out and executed attendance-only participation than from a showy but unfocused 20x40 island with complex displays and high-end giveaways.

Generally speaking, I think that if your company is well-known and well-differentiated from the competition (and it is not a Fortune 1000 firm), you don't have to go off the deep end in terms of your exhibit. An inline booth or small island/peninsula with rented equipment and nicely designed (but not glitzy) graphics that attract attention and communicate well will support your own activities nicely.

Participating in someone else's booth can be a benefit if you are budget-crunched or there is a combined sales message you can tee up. The down side is that your presence may get diluted in the eyes of attendees, and they may have a hard time separating you from your "sponsor" in their minds.

However you decide to participate in trade shows--IF you decide to participate--the bottom line is this: Know what results you are going after and match your goals with the shows going on in your target industries. Then preplan and execute to produce those results. And, finally, track your actual results against your targets to gauge the effectiveness of the effort so that you can make improvements for the next show.