PERTH GARDEN FESTIVAL MAKING THE MOST OF THE MARKETING OPPORTUNITY

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1 PERTH GARDEN FESTIVAL MAKING THE MOST OF THE MARKETING OPPORTUNITY Presented by Kath Bafile (NGIWA Business Improvement Manager) February 2015 WHY EXHIBIT AT AN EXPO OR EVENT? There is no other marketing opportunity that: Allows you to talk directly to known garden enthusiasts or those in your customer demographic in quite the same way. Allows you to demonstrate products, answer questions, overcome objections and meet your potential customers face- to- face all at one time. Lets you achieve so much at the same time - immediate sales, long term brand building, generate media interest, market research & entertain loyal customers. Helps to build personal relationships with customers so effectively. WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR PGF? If you don t set your goals, you can t measure the results and you shouldn t start planning your site until you know what these goals are. Sales: Generate sales after the event for your business. Build a contact database. Make immediate sales at the event. Building customer relationships: Educate customers on your brand, product or message. Allow them to experience your service or your knowledge base. Market Research: Test a new product. Research your current marketing strategy. Brand Building: Raise market awareness of your business/brand. Media Relations: Get on the media radar.

2 Build relationships with key media personnel. BEFORE THE EVENT The marketing value of the PGF doesn t start the first day that customers walk in the gate, it starts weeks before when you have the chance to create a buzz around your business being at this auspicious event. Doing this creates in your customers an impression of your business being forward thinking, professional and exciting. Try these methods to create a buzz about your display at PGF: Promote the fact that you will be at PGF and what will you will have at your display in- store, online & on social media. Hand out flyers to your customers inviting them to come along. Run an in- store competition where winning entries are displayed at PGF hanging baskets, kids colouring comps. Have a name our PGF mascot competition. This is a fun way to get kids involved. Make sure regular customers know of any new releases or special deals that will be available from your site at PGF, especially if they are show only deals that they might not get afterwards. Invite your very, very special customers to meet you for a coffee or PGF walking tour on one of the quieter mornings at the PGF. If you re an online business, invite your customers to come to meet you in person. That is a special treat for them and for you! If you can, organise to have someone that s good at photography take photos of your display as well as product shots on the first day, especially since you ve spent time displaying everything beautifully. These might come in handy for future media contact over the coming months as well as on Facebook, customer newsletters and communications. MAKE THE MOST OF THE MEDIA OPPORTUNITY THAT PGF CREATES The members of the Horticultural Media Association and other journalists will all be at the event at different times but you might not see them unless you invite them over. Start communicating with them several weeks out so that they know to look out for you. Before the event, send invites to key journalists or the Horticultural Media Association members to come and visit your stand. When they do visit, be prepared with a media pack for them to take away. Make sure it includes your business card, information on new releases/products, any key points about your business and perhaps a disc containing product shots of your range. Invite them for a coffee you never know, they might just accept! Send press releases to key outlets (radio, print, TV) of anything special that you have at the event. Send these in March and follow up in early April. A press release needs to be no longer than a page, succinct but with a catchy theme that grabs their attention. Share lots of information with CSA before and during the event so they can include it on their Facebook page and in press releases they are very active with these. The media will be monitoring these pages for their information as well.

3 Always follow up with any media contact after the event. Check if they need anything else from you. PREPARING YOUR DISPLAY There will be dust! The new PGF site at McCallum Park is fantastic with its shade trees and outlook over the Swan River but after two weeks of setting up, the ground is sure to be a bit dusty. This is a challenge faced by all outdoor expos whether in WA or other states so you might want to consider putting down some sort of floor on your site before setting up your display. Rubber floors can be rented which really add to the look of a display but a cheaper option might be to put down caravan annex matting available from camping stores or purchase a very wide roll of hessian which lasts with foot traffic quite well. But make sure that these are pinned down on the sides very well to stop any OHS issues. Put your name front and centre. Too often exhibitors set up amazing displays designed to sell at the event but they put up their business sign last so it gets relegated to the back of the site or in front of the counter just because that s a flat piece of space with nothing on it. It s important to invest in a decent sized branding sign that shows the name of the business, website address and street address and then put this up first before setting up the rest of your site. If visitors don t know who you are or where to find you after the show, you are missing out on the chance to get people back to your business afterwards. And remember, if you put your sign low down at the front of your counter or benches, as soon as people stand in front of it the sign can no longer be seen. Put it up high so it can be seen over everyone s heads and make it bold. Show off your best assets! If you ve got it, flaunt it. If you have any sort of accreditation, membership or special initiative about your business make sure it is obvious to the visitor as it adds to their positive impression of it.

4 Highlight new releases. Every visitor coming to the show is expecting to see or learn something new. They don t want to just see a smaller version of your own business or nursery, they want to get their hands on something that might be hard for them to source elsewhere or which they ve never seen before. If you have something new or extra special, make up a great sign that clearly says something like NEW RELEASE. It only needs to be an A4 size but it should be clear and bold. Pile em high, see em fly! This is a technique often used in retail to create excitement around a product; picture the piles of product at the end of the aisles in the supermarket. You need to be wise about which product to feature but instead of dotting them throughout your display so that they look pretty, pile them high to create interest and buzz. Keep them topped up throughout the show and have them in a prime selling position. Think Small! It s tricky for a visitor to an expo to juggle all their bags as well as big pots of plants and not everyone wants to use parcel pickup. Consider selling small plants or items in multiples. Tubestock, rhizomes bound with string, bulbs in brown paper bags, succulent pieces that can be mixed and matched for potting up at home all lend themselves to this approach. Customers tend to lose track of their spending when they get excited about collecting their bounty and will often spend more than they d realised. Just remember to have baskets or trays handy to make the shopping process easier. Sell Showbags It s hard to resist a showbag, especially when you think it contains a bargain. These are great selling tools as they allow you to sell bulk product in one purchase. These could be a bag of garden goodies or perhaps even three pots neatly packed into the bag. Make sure you include information about your business as incentive for customers to visit you after the show.

5 Show Special! Everyone loves a bargain so you should have at least one show special in your display. It draws people in and creates a call to action for visitors to purchase then and not wait to shop around after the event. It might even be a multi- buy deal such as 5 for $10. Use a big bold sign to show it off and have it clearly visible and in a prime location and remember eye level is buy level. COLLECTING A DATABASE A database of potential customers that you can communicate with over the coming few months is one of the most valuable outcomes of an event like PGF but there s a right and a wrong way to do it. Although you do want to entice visitors to give you their contact details, you need to give them a genuine reason to hand them over it s important for your reputation and in gaining their trust. Look for genuine offers that have value to the visitors to PGF knowing that they are obviously either into gardening or home owners. Here are some ideas (and they don t always have to be a prize): Sign up to our regular newsletter written by our experts. Be invited to an invitation- only, very special event at our business. We hold workshops at our store and we d like to invite you along. Win a 1hr consultation with our garden designer or expert! Win a prize (of reasonable value). Win a gift voucher (remember these are valuable to the customer but not as expensive for you, plus they bring the winner to your business who will probably spend even more!). Get a VIP card every time you shop with us (5% off, free seedling etc). However, you are taking on a great responsibility when managing people s contact details and you need to adhere to the Privacy Act A few of the key things to remember are: The individual must be aware of the purpose for collecting their personal information which cannot be used for any other reason. The information cannot be handed on or sold to another party. The information must be relevant to the purpose. Eg. Don t collect street address if you are promoting an newsletter. The individual must be provided with a way to opt- out on all future correspondence. Have your Privacy Policy on hand and make sure your staff is aware of it. For more information: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner GIVE CUSTOMERS A REASON TO VISIT YOUR BUSINESS AFTER PGF They will visit if they enjoyed meeting your team and enjoyed their experience at your display. Demonstrate at PGF that you have something unique that is worth them travelling out of their normal circle for perhaps you specialise in a certain plant, product or service.

6 Perhaps you hold workshops periodically or there is someone on your team that has a specialised skill set that they require. Invite them to a special event to be held very soon at your business. Advertise a sale that s happening a few weeks after PGF. Hand out vouchers that can only be redeemed in- store. Give these to those that made a purchase at your display and ensure that the voucher requires them to make another significant purchase at your business before they can redeem it. Put a finite time on when the voucher can be redeemed to create a call to action. Vouchers are very cheap to print and create a sense of goodwill when they are handed out, even if they are never redeemed plus some people might put them on their fridge which is valuable marketing space. AFTER THE SHOW It might be tempting to pack up, go home and put your feet up but within a few days make sure that you have done all of these things: Drawn all competitions run at the event and published them appropriately. Had a debrief with your team about what was good and what didn t work make sure it is an honest review. Reviewed your goals and measured your results. Followed up on all contacts immediately, it makes customers feel valued and it hopefully leads them to visit your business. Followed up on all press releases and media contacts do they need anything else from you? Thank them for dropping in to see you. Shown photos of your displays on your own social media pages it helps cement your good reputation. Share positive reviews if you get any. Continue to be active with your new found Facebook friends. Summarise everything so that you don t forget it all for next year.