EXHIBITOR
MARKETING IDEAS
Your
participation in Fiesta Buckhorn is one component of your marketing efforts.
To make the most of it, here are some tips from our marketing experts:
Before
Fiesta
- Make up a poster to put
up in your winery or restaurant letting people know you’re going
to be at Fiesta. We can provide you with a Fiesta Buckhorn logo in jpg
format.
- Hand
out Fiesta Buckhorn rack cards – just let us know how many you
want and we’ll get them to you. They’ll be ready by the
end of April.
- Participate in advertising
opportunities. There are several local and regional magazines and newspapers
that produce special inserts or features about Fiesta Buckhorn each
year. As well, the Buckhorn Community Centre advertises Fiesta Buckhorn
on Star 93.3 radio. These are opportunities to get more exposure for
your winery or restaurant. Let us know if you’re interested and
we can put you in touch.
- Invite your best customers
to attend Fiesta. As an exhibitor, we can arrange for a special admission
rate so you can take even more advantage of your participation in Fiesta.
- Arrange
a Fiesta Preview and invite people to visit your winery or restaurant
as a “sample” of what you’ll have at Fiesta. We can
provide you with some tent cards advertising Fiesta Buckhorn that you
can use as well.
At Fiesta:
- Decorate your booth:
Bring posters, banners, signage and other decorations e to make your
booth stand out. For those who have registered for more than one booth,
think about bringing a cocktail table and chairs so people can sit and
chat. Like moths to a flame, people are attracted by colour. You’re
allowed into the park early enough in the morning – or you can
arrange to come in the night before – to set up your booth.
- Set
a reasonable token price for your samples: The tokens at Fiesta
Buckhorn are sold to visitors at $1 each. The objective of your participation
at Fiesta is that you want as many people as possible to sample your
food. And, the price you charge at Fiesta for a taste is indicative
of the prices of your menu items.
- For food, if you’re doing for instance shrimp on a skewer, instead
of putting three large shrimp, offer two shrimp for 2 tokens, but throw
some greens on the plate. That way, people have the perception of more
for their money.
- Bring brochures:
You won’t be able to tell everyone all you want them to know about
your winery or restaurant. Ensure that your address and phone number
are included!
- Engage the visitors:
It’s been proven at Fiesta, through token sales, that
those exhibitors whose staff are pleasant and welcoming have the most
visitors. When people are walking by your booth, say hello and smile.
If you’ve had a long drive and are tired already – shake
it off!
- Set up a Newsletter
Sign-up Sheet: Once you have someone interested in your winery
or restaurants, you’ll want a way to keep in touch. Set up a newsletter
or email sign-up sheet and invite visitors to give you some information
so you can send them promotional information.
- Promotional
Giveaways: People love to get things for free! Bring along
openers, t-shirts, fridge magnets, pens, pins, or other promotional
items. Due to licensing regulations, you can’t offer an incentive
for people to drink, so you’ll have to give them out to everyone,
not just those who sample your alcoholic products.
Wineries:
- Visitors want to know more
about you, and if you give them information to take home, chances are
they’ll call or visit your winery. So don’t forget:
- Wine lists
- Winemaker biography
- Price Lists
- Business Cards
Restaurants:
- Chef bios: Let them know
who’s making their meal.
- Menus: Print up some sample
menus so visitors can get a feel for the type of food you offer and
the prices.
- Coupons:
In previous years at Fiesta, one of the restaurants offered a coupon
to visitors for their next visit to the restaurant – Buy one entrée,
get the second for ½ price.
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Saturday, July 16, 2011
