Trade Show Game Ideas

 

Trade shows put all your potential partners, competitors and customers under one roof.

 

Trade shows should be viewed by small business owners as an opportunity to reach new customers with unique marketing methods that just would not play elsewhere. Games are a fun and efficient way to get consumers involved with your product or service and to show some of the benefits of becoming a customer.

 

Text Drawings

Games that involve text messages have the dual purpose of bringing attention to your product and providing you with valuable marketing contacts. Set up a contest that requires trade show visitors to text the answer to a question about your product to a number you have set up specifically for the event. Select several winners at random from those who respond with the correct answer and reward them with your own products or services. Use the telephone numbers you accumulate as marketing contacts because you already know there is an interest in your product and a willingness to be contacted. Send special offers and updates to your new potential customers by text.

Raffles

Raffles are always popular with trade show crowds. The chance to win a prize for filling out a card is just the extra incentive needed to draw a willing crowd. The benefits of a trade show raffle are many and include a positive image of the brand, the collection of personal contact information from the consumer base and a focus on the company and its products for the duration of the show until the eventual drawing sometime near the end of the day. The prize can be taken from your existing product line so that the expense is low but the impact is high. The response you get to the raffle can help you determine what level of interest the consumer has for the featured product.

 

Use Technology

Technology is often a big draw and using it to bring the crowds to your trade show booth is a smart and effective way to get the attention you want. Flat screen TVs or a row of tablet computers will get people looking and interacting with your product line. When you use these props to involve your audience, the impact can be significant. Create trivia questions about your product or company and allow trade show attendees to answer them on the tablets you have set out. Make email addresses and a couple of personal preference questions about the product line a part of the game. Select a few winners every hour from the participants and use the information you collect for future direct marketing initiatives.

Roaming Games

Roaming games deliver fun and your company name to the people instead of waiting for the people to arrive at your booth to play. Send some of your personnel out into the trade show crowd with a supply of low-cost but fun products that are branded with your company name like noisemakers or balloons. Have them ask a single simple question to everyone they meet. Base the question on your company marketing phrase or the products your sell. For example, "Who makes the best widgets in America?" Everyone who answers correctly gets a prize and the game moves on. A flier is attached to the prize informing each winner that if they liked the game they just played, visit your trade show booth for more chances to win.

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