Trade Show Notes / Walking the floor

 

I Do A lot Of Tradeshows I Exhibit at them I Buy at them I Walk them I Speak at them I Scout them If you do trade shows you want to talk to me. If you are even just thinking about a trade show you really need to talk with me. There are so many reasons why.

There are lots of reasons to be at a trade show. . .  As an exhibitor Yes this one to the two main reasons to be at a show. To have a booth to sell at. An exhibitor is paying most to the bill for the show. It might be a $250 Chamber of Commerce Show or $50,000 to $100,000 at a major convention center.    As a buyer Going in as a buyer. Do your homework. Check out multiple suppliers. Ask about show specials. Press them for the best deal. Everyone is there so take advantage of it.      Walking the show floor You can walk the floor in a reverse show selling. You don't want to get kicked out and yes show managers will kick out.  There is not real magic in making a trade show successful.  You need to know the territory and you need to have a reason and a plan. Show Scouting Scouting for a new show to put on your personal show list is one of the most important things you can do in preplanning for a show. Is it as good as it looks. I the right people really there? You really need to check it out in person.   Show Speaker Yes you can become a speaker at shows. Many send out for a syllabus of your talk months in advance. If you don't get an invite call show manager and ask for one. If you can get to be a speaker at a show you start to become an industry expert. People with come, they will listen and they will respond.

Year To Date Trade Show List Here is the Larson show list to date. More will be added. Some may be dropped. Yes it is always changing so keep watch for more shows as they become available and we might be to meet with you and work with you! If you need show marketing or advertising specialty items we are here! Modex - Georgia World Congress Center – Atlanta GA - March 11-14   International Cheese Technology 2024 Expo - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Apr 16, 2024   ASSEMBLY Show South - Music City Center Nashville TN - May 1-2   Food Safety Summit - Rosemont Convention Center – May 6-9, 2024   Automate Show - McCormick Place Chicago, IL - May 6-9, 2024   Design-2-Part Show - Schaumburg Convention Center, IL - May 8 & 9, 2024   National Restaurant Show - McCormick Place Chicago - May 18 - 21, 2024   DSF - Hynes Convention Center, the Sheraton Boston – May 20-23, 2024   NeoCon - Merchandise Mart Chicago IL - June 10-12, 2024   Small Business Expo - 725 W Roosevelt Rd Chicago - Thursday June 13, 2024   IFT FIRST - McCormick Place - July 14-17, 2024   ASI Chicago - McCormick Place Chicago, IL - July 23-25, 2024   IMTS 2024 - International Manufacturing Technology Show - McCormick Place Chicago – Sept 9-14 2024   LABELEXPO AMERICAS 2024 - DONALD E. STEPHENS CONVENTION CENTER Rosemont - SEPTEMBER 10 - 12 2024   PRINTING United Expo - Las Vegas Convention Center - September 10-12 2024   World Beef Expo 2024 - Wisconsin State Fair Park, Milwaukee WI - 19 - 22 Sep 2024   FABTECH Orlando - Orange County Convention Center - October 15-17, 2024 Build Chicago 2024 - McCormick Place - October 22-23 2024   The Assembly Show – Rosemont Convention Center – October 22-24, 2024   The Quality Show – Rosemont Convention Center – October 22-24, 2024   PACK EXPO International - McCormick Place Chicago, IL - November 3-6, 2024   PLMA’S 2024 PRIVATE LABEL SHOW - Stephens Convention Center Rosemont IL - NOVEMBER 18-19 2024   IBTM World - Fira Barcelona Gran Via Barcelona Spain - November 19-21 2024   There are a limited number of coffee cups (meetings) so call or email to order your 1 on 1 meeting today. And remember if you are a Larson & Associate marketing customer, you can get up to 20% off on advertising specialties

Larson & Associates We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 www.larsonassociates.ws

Industry Tech Outlook / Admired Leaders of 2024

 

Howard Larson
& Larson & Associates

has been nominated to receive the
Industry Tech Outlook
Admired Leaders of 2024

Working out of covid, the accomplishments gained in 2023 as an industry role model with innovations for both associates and clients have showed how Howard has continued to be a leader and focused business model. 2023 has again showed that the business model of Big Fish in a Little Pond that Howard Larson and Larson & Associates starting using back in in 1996 has not only worked but brought greater job satisfaction to employees and customers.

Remaining quick to shift resources to where they are needed has allowed us to give us a faster response to the needs of our clients and our people. It has not been easy especially over the last four years between covid and high inflation not to mention supply chain issues. We thank God that in our virtual business model we are as cost contained and adept to take advantages of circumstances.  Our philosophy of the Big Fish in a Little Pond and purposefully staying small, seeking out small to mid-sized companies, the majority of our clients continue to be small businesses with revenue of $500,000 to 50 Million with 3 to 15 sales people remains in tact.  2023 with inflation our year over year clients who are using the Larson & Associates 3 Legged Stool Method of Marketing have been seeing growth above 17.9% but more importantly grabbing increased market share with bold tactics and inflation beating market share expansion programs. Those in the trade show area have seen lead follow-up and connections three times the national average. We continue to push our clients deeper into this market area because quite frankly, trade shows are where the customers are. In seminars we have attended this winter with speakers from Freeman and McCormick Place we found untapped marketing areas where we can expand into and see even greater growth for our clients Thank you for your continued support of the Larson Philosophy of Marketing as in April we start our 50th year in business. It is because of you that we are still here and continue to be a success. It is your belief in us that makes us who we are. You give us the freedom to work quick, hard and fast. You are the people who let us out run, out produce and out perform the competition.

If you are not yet a
Larson & Associates client
you should be.

Year after year we out perform other marketing agencies. Why? We are street fighters. If we do not do what needs to be done, we know where to get the experience, the knowledge and the know-how. We have been around the block a few times. You can do what we are able, you can not get what we offer without working on the front lines, in the trenches. If your marketing or advertising company is sitting behind their desk they are doing you a disservice. Things change too fast to to not be involved in the day to day work of lead generation and marketing. If you are not ready to expand I understand, enjoy. But if you are one of the few that says now is the time we have room for 7 new clients in April. Not 8 only 7. When we get our 7 we are done expanding for a while. You will just have to wait in line until we have an opening for new clients.  We are here not only about the money but life. We are looking for not just companies to make a dollar off of. We are searching for companies that have the positive image through service to their customers and their community. These exceptional companies help make the world a great place to live, work and play. If that is you, we want to talk with you, today.

Larson & Associates

We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better
Larson & Associates

3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 www.larsonassociates.ws

Using Email Marketing In Your Mix

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Emails The Second Part Of The 3 Legged Stool Plan More than 340 billion emails are sent daily. This figure is expected to reach 376 billion daily emails by the end of 2025. Email marketing strategies have changed over the years. What worked five years ago, now no longer works. But it's still a key player to any marketing strategy. In fact, for the very best online marketers’ email marketing is their go-to marketing channel. Why? It's because it brings in the results and delivers the best marketing ROI: Email Marketing Is The Next Step Just remember if you can not follow up with a phone call it is not worth doing. That’s right! Email marketing outperforms all online marketing strategies, including SEO, PPC, and content marketing! An email marketing strategy is an important part of any marketing strategy. Email is the most cost-effective way to promote your products, communicate with your customers and reach your business goals. And on average, for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect a return of $42, if the list is right! Creating personalized subject lines in emails can increase open rates by 26%,  marketers have experienced a remarkable 760% boost in email revenue by employing segmented campaigns. Not bad, right? Here, are some of the best email marketing strategies you can use or have us use for you to achieve extraordinary results through email marketing. A few ideas we use at Larson's for better email marketing campaigns These are some of the email marketing strategies in the 3 legged stool that we use, email will become your second most important channel!   1. Segment your subscribers Segmentation is the top initiatives list this year. Do you know why it is so high? It's because when you segment your database, your email campaigns become much more targeted to your audience. Let’s take a look at an example: You're hosting a networking event for small business owners located within a 20 mile radius. How can you expect to get the best turn out for your event? The answer is to segmenent. The best way to get business owners to turn up to your event would be to create a segment of people who list themselves as a small business owner that lives within 20 miles of your event and then send them an invite by email. How annoying is it to receive an email that invites you to an event that is located on the other side of the world? The segmentation results include increased performance in: If you segment your lists, you get better open rates, revenue, leads, transactions and more customers. And according to research from Campaign Monitor, segmented email campaigns lead to a 760% increase in company revenue. Another benefit is that segmentation goes hand in hand with GDPR and email marketing. does it really work? Yes! Here's an example from our own email marketing campaigns: We recently sent out two email marketing campaigns. Both campaigns had the same subject line and the same content. The first campaign was sent to our non-segmented email list, while the second was sent to our segmented list (segmented by interest). The first non-segmented email earned an impressive 42 % open rate and a 4.5% click-through rate. However, the segmented email campaign earned a 94% open rate and a 38% click-through rate!  it’s pretty valuable, wouldn’t you? And that's why so many marketers' are segmenting their emails, right? Wrong. As 9 out of 10 email marketers' do not segment their database. So, here are a few examples for you to get started with segmentation: Segment by industry: Do you offer services and products to businesses or consumers? Knowing the industry of your subscribers is a great way to segment your email campaigns. For example, a business that sells car parts would engage at a much higher rate if they receive email campaigns on car products, compared to a business that sells software. Segment by company size: Also known as account-based marketing, segmenting email campaigns by company size or annual revenue is a great way to increase response rates. A small business that employs 5 people is not likely ready for the biggest industry conference of the year, whereas a business that employs 750 people might be a better fit. Segment by sales cycle: Early stage buyers will not be ready for an aggressive sales pitch or one-to-one demo but, they will be more appreciative to receive an industry research white paper. On the other end of the cycle, buyers who are ready to buy will respond well to product webinars or free trial offers.   Spend time creating great subject lines In email marketing, the subject line plays a crucial role. Here's why it's so important: Surprisingly, 69% of people determine if an email is spam just by glancing at the subject line. Much like how segmenting your email list improves the precision and effectiveness of your campaigns, your email's subject line is the first thing recipients see. It's your initial opportunity to capture their attention. Create subject lines that pique curiosity, offer value, or generate excitement. Pro Tip: Avoid using spammy or clickbait subject lines, as they can lead to a surge in unsubscribes and damage your sender reputation. Send your emails at the right time Another tip is to think about when you send your emails.  Why? Because people check their emails at different times.  Study your subscribers' habits, including time zones, to figure out when to send your emails. A/B testing can also show you the best times to reach your particular audience. For example, consider Tuesdays as the day in which you sent out most of your emails.  Sending emails on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, especially from 10-11 am, often yields the best results. Most emails (about 53%) are opened between 9 am and 5 pm, except during lunch. Surprisingly, emails sent from 4:00 am to 8:00 am see a strong 33% transaction rate Conclusion Email marketing continues to deliver results. But email marketing has evolved. It's no longer as simple as sending the same email to all. It's time to update your email marketing strategy. Now, you need to send targeted messages. Messages that are personalized, and optimized for multiple devices. You also need to test new elements. Trends change quickly, and what worked 12 months ago may not be successful today. Be open to testing. And when you understand what works, find ways to automate it through triggered emails. Be sure to create great subject lines and send your emails at the right time.  If you implement these tactics into your email marketing strategy your customers will be more responsive, your campaign performance will improve and your business will continue to grow. Larson & Associates We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294

Telemarketing: It Still Works

 

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Telemarketing? Really? In consumer calling, robo calling, AI calling has decimated the industry but for businesses to get in the market fast picking up the phone and calling a targeted list is the best and quickest way to get it done. That is why we are here! Picking up the phone lets us generate leads, make sales and marketing activities to directly connect and interact with customers  and prospects in real time. For us if we can't follow up with a phone call it is not worth doing! Has Telemarketing Been Replaced? Don't count on it! With the invasion of digital marketing, traditional marketing tactics like telemarketing have been replaced by social media and content marketing. Really? Not where I am sitting. People are no longer interested in receiving these calls and they also have the means to ignore and block them altogether. Additionally, they can shop online, which makes the whole premise of telemarketing redundant. Let me ask you can digital marketing ad ask for the order or appointment? No. So even with all that criticism, cold calling still has its advantages. It can prove useful as a tool for nurturing leads and prospects and building high-quality databases. While it can be very annoying to receive calls from strangers compelling you to buy things, modern B2B is telemarketing has become a much more exact science. So no wonder that over HALF, yes half, of the B2B marketers still use telemarketing for effective lead generation and use it as one of the most productive tactics to generate sales. So Exactly What Is Telemarketing? The very word telemarketing brings to mind all those infuriating and inconvenient calls requesting us to buy things we don’t need. AI calling. Voice over calling. Rude and obnoxious.  However, it has been shown time and time again to be a handy tool for businesses that have limited budgets for promoting their products and services. When incorporated with other marketing tactics, (like the Larson 3 legged stool method) telemarketing can prove to be very effective at making your entire program work for your marketing campaign. Inbound telemarketing consists of taking queries or order calls generated through advertising, direct mail or any other marketing channel. On the other hand, outbound telemarketing directly targets the customer to sell products or services – cold calling. And yes your targeted list makes all the difference to your success. Why Use Telemarketing When People Hate It? Because It Works! Telemarketing can be used either as an independent tactic or in combination with other marketing strategies to help achieve their sales target. Here are some uses of telemarketing: Selling 60% of marketing managers of Fortune top 500 companies testify to the effectiveness of telemarketing when it comes to reaching out to customers and closing sales. Telemarketing is used by companies to sell their products or services, tap into new markets and customer bases. Giving satisfaction to existing customers is just as crucial to a business as the reach out to prospects – telemarketers ensure that both get the attention they require and address their wants and needs. Generating Leads Telemarketing can play a huge role in creating leads and finding new customers. Through this tactic, you can reach out to potential customers and compile the lists of new prospects. The telemarketer then passes these updated lists to the highly trained sales people who can reach these customers to generate sales. They also identify the nature and requirements of the prospective customer and relay this information to the sales force but honestly most of the time a prospect does not have enough time for the telemarketer to drill in for qualifying questions. Following up after closing a sale is also a critical aspect for a telemarketer’s because a follow up with the generated leads can increase sales opportunities by 20%. Compiling Information Telemarketing can be a very efficient tool in analyzing the success of any marketing or sales campaign. Telemarketers can call and get in contact with customers to gather reviews and gauge levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and relay it to the marketing team for analysis. Studies show that 17% of the average day for a salesman is spent in entering customer’s data. Compiling this information can then be used to target the prospective clients for the next marketing campaign or help in reconnecting with inactive clients and winning them back. NOTE: Do not use surveys as a ploy to get information for a future sales and marketing attack. Be open and honest if that is your intent. Enhancing Customer Experience Connecting with inactive clients can prove to be more cost-effective than acquiring new clients. Studies have shown that it costs five times more to gain a new client than to retain the past one. Telemarketing can really help ensure a satisfactory customer experience.  Telemarketing In A Digital Age If you want to increase your business’s sales and increase revenues while keeping costs low, telemarketing is the solution to your problem. It is a marketing tool that enables you to strike get personal with your consumers so that you can better understand their needs and requirements.  Some advantages of a good telemarketing strategy are: Deploy Marketing Automation Telemarketing gives you the ability to track behavior trends and engagement levels of the prospects, getting an in-depth understanding of how to better cater to their needs. Let market automation do what it does best, nurturing prospects with repeated messages about their interests – this lets follow-up calls from being cold but in fact, warm, timely and more appropriate. When powered by marketing automation technology, a telemarketing campaign can bring in more inquiries and qualified leads than ever before. Strengthen Quality Leads The most significant advantage of telemarketing is its ability to generate leads which is the primary objective of businesses and companies. It has proven to be the fastest way of finding new customers by allowing the companies to communicate with potential customers who cannot be reached by the company. Lead generation is all about searching for the right customers whom many companies are unable to find and fail at having a good telemarketing strategy. Saves Money Choosing to do telemarketing over other marketing strategies is a great way to promote your business cost-effectively. It saves you from the hassle of allocating a budget for larger outside sales teams. You can also outsource the marketing process to other telemarketing companies who can do the legwork for you and give you an advantage over your competitors. This further allows you to control your budget  while leveraging its marketing activities to the max.   Friendly And Accessible Telemarketers are required to engage customers, and to do this they must be cordial yet professional towards them. Try doing that when we get told no again and again, hung up on, sometimes calling interesting things. Even in a business to business call we get "slammed". If you can handle the massive amount of rejection do it yourself but for the rest of you there is Larson. Though all this you need to keep friendly and approachable, not loosing your cool it actually compels the customer or prospect to listen to you. This is the true art of telemarketing. Warm Calling Cold calling can be very aggressive and might elicit negative reactions from your customers. The art of telemarketing is to be quick, direct and show respect. This will compel your customer and prospects to listen and might even lead to a sale, which is why we are making phone calls, right? Work Smarter Businesses networking sites like LinkedIn let telemarketers become the authority on lead generation. They can use professional networking resources to ensure the quality of all their leads so that they know who they are talking to and whether they are the right contact. This makes telemarketing more efficient and effective, giving marketers all the information they need to find and nurture strong leads. But online sites can not and do not replace a person reach out.  So There You Are Telemarketing continues to thrive in a digital age, despite the bad press that surrounds it. It has found its use in generating leads, while also selling and driving revenue for a business. The effectiveness of telemarketing in this digital world lies in the level of personalization and exclusivity that it offers to the customers. 1 on 1 calling. Telemarketing not only generates leads and sales for the company, but it is also an efficient way of keeping in touch with customers who can provide feedback for the company’s products and services. This allows the business to take constructive criticism and improve their services. Apart from this, it can also prove to be very cost-effective for businesses that have limited marketing budgets but want to generate maximum results from their campaigns. This only testifies to the fact that telemarketing is a benefit for businesses and companies even in the age of digital marketing. Nothing, nothing can replace the power of one-on-one conversations with a real live person, NOTHING! Larson & Associates We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294

Copyright © 2023 Larson & Associates, All rights reserved. Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 howard@larsonassociates www.larsonassociates.ws

2023 Best Of Grayslake Awards Marketing Agency

 

Howard Larson & Larson & Associates have been nominated to receive the 2023 Best of Grayslake Award Marketing Agency Working in the recession years of 2022-23 has shown the business model of a virtual office that Howard Larson and Larson & Associates starting using back in in 2006, not just to lower our carbon footprint but to give the Larson & Associates staff greater job satisfaction and control has allowed us to give us a quicker response to the needs of our clients. Not that it has been easy the last few years. We we thank God that we have not lost 1 day or even 1 hour of work during this time. Our philosophy of the Big Fish in a Little Pond and purposefully staying small, seeking out small to mid-sized companies, the majority of our clients continue to be small businesses with revenue of $500,000 to 10 Million with 3 to 12 sales people remains in tact. Or those companies exhibiting at major trade shows needing a marketing plan that has been shown to work. In 2022-23 despite the recession, our year over year clients who are using the Larson & Associates 3 Legged Stool Method of Marketing have been seeing growth above 21.8% as well as grabbing increased market share with bold market share expansion programs.  Thank you for your continued support of the Larson Philosophy of Marketing. Now in our 48th year it is because of you that we are still here and continue to be successful. It is your belief in us that makes us who we are. You give us the freedom to work quick, hard and fast. You are the people who let us out run, out produce and out perform the competition. 2023 Best of Grayslake Awards in the category of Marketing Agency The Grayslake Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Grayslake area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value. Each year, the Grayslake Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Grayslake area a great place to live, work and play. The Grayslake Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy. Larson & Associates    We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Copyright ©2023 Larson & Associates, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way     Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 howard@larsonassocaites.ws www.larsonassociates.ws