A Trade Show Recap – #BEA15

trade show book showcaseFor the first time in many years, the Mom’s Choice Awards did not host a booth at  BookExpo America (BEA), the publishing industry trade show.

One thing didn’t change: we promoted our Honorees via the MCA Showcase (and Back Buddy lounge!) co-located with the New Title Showcase. The NTS gets lots of trade show traffic and is often a first-stop for librarians, educators, and buyers.

Instead of a booth, we had a “home base” in the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) booth. Anyone who has worked with Terry Nathan and his team knows that they were phenomenal, gracious hosts! This was the perfect arrangement for us this year. [Keep reading to learn why.]

Every trade show has its own personality, and this year’s BEA was no different. Overall, the show seemed smaller (though my feet wouldn’t know it for all the walking!). Yet, the energy and enthusiasm was as high as ever – particularly for readers and those who were preparing for BookCon.

The opportunities at trade shows in general, and BookExpo America, specifically, are unparalleled. Despite this being my tenth (!) BEA, I learned new things not just about the publishing industry, but about effective ways to market at a trade show, as well.

So in addition to bringing home a few books, I brought home a few ideas.

3 Trade Show Takeaways – #BEA15

A. Look for Collaborative Opportunities

Not having our own booth meant that we had MORE opportunities to support and work directly with our Honorees.  Still, it was important that we, as a team, have a centralized space to call  home.

The MCA Team shared space with the Independent Book Publisher’s Association. Leasing space from IBPA allowed two very important things to happen.

  1. We had a dedicated, on-the-show-floor space to meet with prospective applicants.
  2. We had an opportunity to spotlight MCA Honorees whose books were part of the IBPA display.

There were other cooperative booths at the show, too.

trade show collaborative boothAriel Kao and I spent a long time chatting with the Florida Author’s and Publisher’s Association.

FAPA represented member authors and publishers in their booth. When we approached, everyone on the team was engaged with a show attendee, talking about the books on display (including some MCA award winners.

Like the IBPA booth, it was a chance for members to showcase their work and/or attend the event.

[pictured L to R: award-winning illustrator Mark Wayne Adams; Terry Doherty & Ariel Kao, MCA; award-winning author Jane Wood]

Whatever your industry, NOW is a great time to start thinking about ways that you might boost your presence at trade shows in 2016 through cooperative booths.

B. A Social Media Strategy is a Must

In years past, BEA Mobile was a ‘passive’ App. You’d download it to your phone or tablet and use it to manage your event calendar, find exhibitor booth numbers, look at the floor map, etc.

This year, BEA Mobile was interactive. Users shared photos, status updates, events, all kinds of things mostly book / trade show related. LOTS of people used the BEA Mobile app … including yours truly.

Not only did I share my own activities, but I made a virtual visit to each of our Honorees’ booths to (a) recommend that attendees visit them; and (b) highlight their MCA award-winning book or product.  Those posts were shared with all BEA mobile users.

Our social strategy for the BEA trade show included

(a) Twitter – for building buzz for Honoree products in the MCA Showcase; arrange meetings; live tweet at the show; and amplify Honoree show-related tweets.

(b) BEA Mobile – for spotlighting Honorees exhibiting at the trade show; introduce the MCA brand to attendees via display photos; and engage with Honorees who were attending the show.

Although similar, these two sharing platforms allowed us to reach two audiences. BEA Mobile targeted people AT the show. Twitter engaged people attending the show, as well as those who didn’t come to New York and were following from home.

Note that this tweet was “favorited” by 3 Twitter users and retweeted twice!

Our social media activities were not ad hoc, and would not have been successful for us if we had flown by the seat of our pants.

  • We actively engaged prospective applicants in the #BEA15 stream to set up appointments starting three weeks before BEA.
  • The Marketing Team built a tool that allowed Honoree exhibitors to tell us about their show activities so we could amplify Honorees goals.
  • Josh built a “countdown” timeline to introduce the MCA Showcase Honorees to Twitter users following #BEA15 about two weeks before BEA.
  • Prior to the show, Jane gave us a modified Exhibitors List with the booth numbers for all MCA award-winning exhibitors. That made it easy for Ariel to visit the booth and live tweet photos on Twitter.

 C. Being Present Matters

Being physically present at trade shows – even just walking the floor – is important. Yes, it is possible to get names, emails, and phone numbers from an exhibitor list, but it isn’t the same as having a face-to-face conversation.

For us, trade shows like BEA give us the opportunity to

  • celebrate our Honorees’ award-winning products and services;
  • amplify Honoree exhibitor activities via booth marketing swag and social campaigns;
  • spot new and exciting products and services that we believe would be good fits for our program;
  • introduce the Mom’s Choice Awards brand to new companies; and
  • last but not least, thank loyal customers for their commitment to creating the best for our families.

Like you, we cannot attend every show in person. A lot goes into the decision on whether / not trade show “X” is the right place to be and the best strategy for THAT show.

Thanks to our #BEA15 experience, we have some ideas on ways to better exploit tradeshows and the unparalleled opportunities they offer.