Chris Madjerich from Lexi Comp (Click to view) talks about how the company is using the show to break into a new market. HIMSS is one of three trade shows they attend to accommodate the other markets the company serves. He is approaching the show as an essential cog in the company’s marketing engine.

Ted Larkin from Dolbey (Click to view)saw HIMSS attendance being split between two halls. It’s a shear attendance evaluation which is subjective, but insightful.

These perspectives are valuable, and truthfully we all approach trade show using some of both. We want the show and the show organizers to work for us, bringing volumes of potential leads. We also recognize that showing up to a trade show is only the first step in making it successful.

More than anything else, this is a lesson to show organizers. Yes, exhibitors want traffic, but they won’t be fooled by shear numbers. They need to feel it in their booth. But don’t ignore the fact that exhibitors also have larger scale marketing initiatives that need to be addressed as well.  That may include other shows covering completely different markets.

Unfortunately, advice and what works and what doesn’t is equally hard to find.  Not that people aren’t writing about it.  Far from it.  Email marketing is a huge topic online and free advice is easy to get.  But Marketing Sherpa reviewed and judged hundreds of email campaigns and announced winners in various categories.

Every category has a winner and two or three runners-up.  There are pdf’s to download that give a summary and then image of the actually email campaign.

What works?

It seems that simplicity, tracking, and follow-up carry the day.  It sounds obvious, but campaigns in various categories have very direct goals either to close sales or to sign up new users.  Or both. The point is, if you don’t have a specific goal, you probably aren’t going to get results.

Most of the campaigns resulted in enviable open rates: 45% – 70%!

It’s worth browsing though to find the type of companies and campaigns that fit your company.  There’s no secret formula here to grab — just designing campaigns based on specific goals.

Download samples from the winner here:  http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31524

In this video, Christine Peterson, CMO from TripAdvisor, talks about marketing in tough times to consumers by highlighting value.  But what she’s really marketing in transparency.  Many of the new features that TripAdvisor offers just uncover the true price of a plane ticket and the true comparison of pricing on different items such as hotels and resort packages.

This is a very smart approach that can apply to many businesses.  If customers are asking for lower costs without really comparing fairly, they’re losing and you’re losing.  If customers are given tools to see exactly what the costs are, then they will see where true value is.  This can ultimately be more appealing than the lowest price tag.

The problem is that we usually operate in an environment where low price is king and partnerships are just a reason to bring down prices past the point of profitability (See JB’s Space: What’s A True Partnership).  Laying the groundwork for customers to compare apples to apples, be transparent in business practices may be a better strategy in tough times than simply trying to offer the lowest price.

Marketing value can be tricky, but transparency can help you avoid a commodity spiral and build business based on true partnerships.

This lengthy video posted on FORA.TV is from the The Argyle Executive Forum. It features four marketing folks from different backgrounds discussing the recession and its impact on marketing. It’s interesting that there is so much talk of software and social media. This trend seems to have coincided with the worst economic environment in decades. Does social media and online marketing shield us from an ugly reality that people are buying less? It seems that marketing could use at least some kind of historical lesson on how companies succeeded in past economic hard times without Twitter and Facebook? Some of the world’s most enduring brands, after all, survived and thrived during the Great Depression.

Social media is a powerful tool and it’s changing marketing — but so did radio, television, highways, and jet travel. Aren’t there lessons to be learned from past companies that have succeeded in tougher times without Twittering?

Summary
Austin Bankhead leads a panel of experts discussing how marketing has changed since the financial crisis. They focus on two main areas: how to retain old customers while still attracting new ones and how to leverage social media to stay competitive.

Austin Bankhead – Austin Bankhead is CMO Programs Director at Omniture.
Grant Johnson – Grant Johnson is Vice President of Marketing at Guidance Software.
Bryan Srabian – Bryan Srabian is Vice President of Marketing for the Sacramento River Cats and Raley Field.
Ellen Taverner – Ellen Taverner is Chief Marketing Officer for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Sukki Jahnke of the Rogers Company speaks at Event Expo in Cleveland on exhibit design and how Rogers helps its clients build business. There are a whole slew of videos from the event hosted on New Image Media’s website.