Marketers want to tell their trade show booth visitors so many things—what their product is, what it does, how it works. But before prospects will listen, you have to start by convincing them you're worth their time.
The way to do that is through a concise graphic message that clearly states how your product benefits them. You have to answer their top of mind question—which is "What's In It For Me?" (WIIFM).
Kudos to Nuance for creating the best benefits statement of any exhibitor at HFMA 2014. Nuance's benefits statement communicated exactly what it delivers to its customers. "4-8% increase in CMI. Guaranteed." This message hits home with Nuance's target audience, hospital CFOs—all of whom are charged with raising their hospital's CMI. (CMI is a metric that reflects a hospital's efficiency at resource allocation.) We think Nuance's statement is so strong, it could have been a stand-alone graphic. Do your benefits statements make the grade?
Five characteristics that create a strong trade show exhibit benefits statement:
- Concise. Benefits statements should be single phrases or single, short sentences—so visitors can digest your message instantaneously. Shoot for 4-6 words on a single line. If visitors have to move their head—or even their eyes to read it—your statement is too long.
- Stand-alone. Your benefits statement should make sense without any supporting copy or explanation. Understanding has to be intuitive and instantaneous.
- Articulates an outcome. Tell your audience exactly what their advantage or results will be if they use your product or service. "Easy to use" is a feature. "Up and running in 10 minutes" is a benefit.
- Specific. Whenever possible, amp up the message by including a metric to indicate the level or rate of the benefit. I.e. "Increase CMI" is good, but "Increase CMI 4-8%" is even better.
- Elicits action or dialog. The ideal benefits statement makes the visitor want to know more. It sparks questions such as how? when? who? and why?
What great benefits statements have you seen on the show floor lately?
