Last week, we wrapped up our annual "ILTA Marketing Plan" webinar, which we co-host with Peggy Wechsler, ILTA's program director. While this session is geared at any and all details related to exhibiting at the August educational conference - you can download the recorded webinar here – there are some points, especially on the promotion and marketing/PR front, that fit into the bigger picture category. Specifically, we always talk about how legal vendors can best prepare themselves pre-event and truly reap the rewards of their investment post-event. While you can listen to the entire conversation via the webinar recording, the highlights worth repeating include: 

Know your audience: ILTA projects 1,000 member attendees for the August 22-26 educational conference at the ARIA Resort in Las Vegas, a 20+% increase from 2009. How well do you know the attendees? their firms? their IT & technology purchasing priorities? Which ILTA regions do they belong to? How active are they in their local ILTA chapters? Educate yourself: If you are a registered exhibitor, review the registration list emailed to you pre-show (you should have the first 'version' by now); cross-reference this with existing clients and firm contacts;  pull up ILTA's regional groups and see if you know any of the regional VPs or city reps. Also, when is the last time you looked at ILTA members' technology purchasing habits and influences? Go back to the 2009 InsideLegal/ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey (of law firms with 50+ attorneys), and review firm purchasing patterns and what they are planning to buy this year.

Did you know? According to ILTA's preliminary demographic statistics, 79% of all attendees are with 50+ attorney firms and 82% have manager titles and higher (10% C-level, 35% directors, 37% managers). 

Set objectives (beyond lead generation): Most of us will attend a trade show with one goal in mind – generating sales leads and developing new business contacts. Well, as anyone who has attended an ILTA event will be quick to tell you, the conference is NOT a trade show. It's all about education and peer as well as social networking. Re-think your event goals and expand your objectives to include meeting the ILTA board; linking up with your region's RVP; introducing yourself to an editor you have heard about and who's articles you might enjoy; having coffee with a blogger or technologist who covers your application area or service specialty; walking over to another vendor's booth to chat about potential partnerships or alliance building opportunities. The list goes on an on. And, when you are not busy with expanding your network, attend one of the 150 educational sessions spanning the 4 main areas of discipline (info management, organization management, applications/desktop, and technology operations).   

Check yourself, before you …: How well do you know your company? the value you deliver your clients (perceived vs. real)? why your different from others? And, can you deliver that 'elevator pitch' without having to ride up to the top of the Empire State Building? The point here is to review your sales pitch, your marketing boiler plate language and your collateral before you unleash them on innocent ILTA-ites. If your CEO  can't make a believer out of me, how will others lower in the food chain manage?

Target-aim & fire: Based on your intimate knowledge of your target audience (we assume you took our earlier pointers to heart!), customizing offers for each set of prospects should be straightforward. Channel your creativity and come up with new ways of promoting yourself, company and products. Seek advice from clients you trust or industry insiders about what they would like to see and how you can grab their attention. And finally, don't neglect balance and make sure you are reaching out across multiple channels (think integrating exhibits, web, ads, direct mail & promos, social media and PR).

Follow-through and up: Your nifty ILTA plan and strategy is only as genius and effective as your ability to follow-though and implement it, so don't overshoot. More importantly, your ability or inability to follow-up post-show will set the tone for future plans. According to various trade groups, 85% of trade show leads and contacts are not followed up on. Can you believe it? Don't become a statistic. Implement your follow-up program before you even get home from Vegas. Assemble a post-show report card so you can grade and rank all your activities and provide some data and fodder for the next go-around.

Stay tuned for further tips on maximizing your ILTA experience. Next up: A closer look at the 2010 ILTA vendor education program and why vendor CEOs and marketing directors must attend. 

Vote now on the content you would like us to offer at the ILTA Vendor Education Program produced by InsideLegal! Poll is open until the end of the day July 19th.