Marketing gem and jewellery business through fairs

[IMEX Sourcing Services]

Hi,

My uncle has a jewellery business. He usually attends all sorts of fairs and exhibitions to display his products through out the world. We do several things, such as giving catalogue CD's, pamphlets, and some other things so that people at the exhibitions/potential clients can actually consider us later when they go back home.

Now I would like to have some more suggestions/ideas, on what can we do in these exhibitions to actually make these potential clients contact us for any kind of query. Why we want this to happen is, because during the exhibition its not possible to give personal attention to each and every client for a very long time, but if they follow up, we believe we might be able to give them better personal attentional, and hence convert them into clients.

P.s: I realise, its important to have good products first of all, to gain any kind of attention. Secondly, we also ask peopel at the exhibition to fill out feedback forms, with their address and info, so that we can follow up. But some suggestions or ideas, or some kind of giveaways, that will make them call us back, would be great?

Thanks

[Amber]

What about offering offering a discount on their next order, or something free with their next order? Print up some fliers with a promotion code on them (so that you can track where your sales are coming from) and hand them out at the fair?

[Jayne]

Maybe you could have some fake jewellery made, with your phone number on a tag attached. Give them away on the stall, it maybe a little bit different to usual give aways like key rings and if they were replicates of some of your pieces, even better.

Best Wishes

Jayne

[bitsnstuff]

I agree with the discount or offer suggestion, but also think it may be a good idea to set up a show case type website with a downloadable catalogue, as this would also ease your print costs and would be available worldwide. You could then mention that on all your literature and people may prefer to take a leaflet with the details and download the catalogue later rather than carry it around/risk losing it.

Kate.

[IMEX Sourcing Services]

Hi,

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. Some nice ideas these. The first one was certainly good. About the website, we already have a website, with a complete catalogue, and its always a good suggestion :) . It would be great to have some more ideas, and thanks to everyone for their suggestions so far.

[Marina Stone]

Do you have a base? i.e. when somebody sees you at an exhibition e.g. in Germany, do you have a German contact number? or is always a UK one?

The reason I ask, is this may be a problem if you are aiming at the consumer market. For e.g. I wouldn't call Germany to buy an expensive (or even cheap!) piece of jewelery.

Perhaps you could set up alliances in each country, perhaps with a designer/couture clothing outlet to represent you and act as a 'dealer' as their target market may be the same as yours? This way you would have all year publicity in any country you choose and a main contact for the consumers of that country.

I hope this helps
Marina

[Jayne]

[quote="Marina Stone"]Do you have a base? i.e. when somebody sees you at an exhibition e.g. in Germany, do you have a German contact number? or is always a UK one?

The reason I ask, is this may be a problem if you are aiming at the consumer market. For e.g. I wouldn't call Germany to buy an expensive (or even cheap!) piece of jewelery.

Perhaps you could set up alliances in each country, perhaps with a designer/couture clothing outlet to represent you and act as a 'dealer' as their target market may be the same as yours? This way you would have all year publicity in any country you choose and a main contact for the consumers of that country.

I hope this helps (quote)



You are good Marina! When I start making money you're my number one call :D

Jayne

[Marina Stone]

Jayne, I look forward to it!! :lol:

[Richard Glynn]

Promotional offers are good.

Try a business card draw for a Christmas hamper (something seasonal and / or desireable). Email everyone who enters to let hem know that whilst they haven't won they can have an exclusive offer e.g. 10% of their first order (as above) This way they feel like they've earned the offer - and are more likely to take advantage of it.

[LindseyMHC]

Hi there,

I've been in the marketing and pr business for over 15 years and have spent around half this time working for or with exhibition organisers. There are lots of tricks and tips on how to make visitors remember you.

If you contact me (T01372 274975 or lindsey@bojangle.co.uk) we can have a chat about what you can do to promote your presence at an exhibition, i.e. make the most of attendance.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,

Lindsey.

[directmarketingadvice]

Richard's idea is a good one.

That way you don't have to wait for them to contact you, you'll be able to contact them.

You can put out a regular ezine to the list which features a few interesting pieces each month.

If your uncle goes into the process - how he got the inspiration for it and how he made it - it brings it to life and creates a sense that it's something special - like a piece of art. It also creates a personal touch because they see the human side, not just the end result.

This ties into something Steve (in Atlanta) posted a couple of weeks ago.

See http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4136

You could also get online and find other people who sell jewelry (on and offline) and email them pictures of the jewelry. They might want to stock it.

Hope these ideas help.

Steve

[Kama]

Well, we are in the process of looking at a stand for an upcoming show.

What we are thinking of doing is having a wheel that they can spin for a chance to win a prize. We have seen this being used succesfully at shows. The way it would work is that they would give you their contact information. This will give them a chance to spin the wheel and win something right away. It also enters them into a draw for a grand prize. But, the winner of the grand prize is contacted through the email they have provided. So, they have to give their correct contact info to win the prize.

We plan on using this approach to get members to register to our site right at the show. So, they have to register to get a chance to spin the wheel.