Anna Huddleston

Television has Nielsen ratings. Print ads circulation numbers. Even billboards in the middle of South Dakota can look to traffic patterns to help illustrate their value. None of these tracking units are a perfect science of course. (No matter what they tell you.) But based on sheer market maturity these disciplines have historically enjoyed more perceived measurability—and therefore more dedicated budgets—than word-of-mouth and experiential marketing programs. That is until now.

The demo in your trade show exhibit draws a crowd. Customers and prospects are mesmerized by what they see. They’re doing exactly what you want them to do: thinking about what your innovation could do for their business. Now what?

Too many trade show demos stop short. “You have to use the demo to segue to the next step or you’ve wasted your money ” says Emil Mellow visual merchandising and trade show director at Armstrong World Industries. Use these five tips to help your demo close the deal:

To connect with an African American demo Nestle Coffee-mate is hitting the road to bring its café experience to events in four markets. It kicked off its tour last month at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans followed by a stop at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta. Next it hits the African Festival of the Arts in Chicago and concludes at the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington D.C. On site Nestle Coffee-mate sets up a café shop filled with tasting stations serving hot and iced coffee flavored with Coffee-mate flavors.

Lexus has extended its agreement with the United States Tennis Association and the U.S. Open through next year; as part of the deal the brand is introducing new activations this year including an event this month that gave USTA members in New York New Jersey and Connecticut the chance to interact with notable tennis players including Billie Jean King Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova.