If you read my blog about the role of public relations before, during and after B2B trade shows, you already know that a lot of trade media attend trade shows, and why it’s a great place to engage with reporters. With the trade show season in full swing, here are the top five questions to be ready for during media interviews at trade shows.
1: So, what’s new this year?
Seems like a trick question? It isn’t. The most common question you’ll get from media at a trade show is just “What’s new?” or a variation on it.
Nine times out of 10 the spokesperson is unprepared for the “what’s new” question because they’ve worried so much about the scary questions, they forgot to put their three positive points together to deliver in the interview.
So be ready to answer with two to three great things about what your company is doing:
- Growth – any kind of growth – sales, customer, install-base, etc.
- Product innovation.
- New customer announcement(s).
- Strategic alliances, partnerships and collaborations.
- Company initiatives such as a new innovation lab, or customer education campaign.
2: Who are your competitors?
Whether or not to answer this question is of debate among communicators. I advise to answer the question because it allows the reporter to frame up the market and provides them context. Trade reporters aren’t necessarily yet experts in the sector they are writing for. One month they could be writing for a healthcare trade, and the next logistics and supply chain. Help them out by providing some context.
But don’t linger. Name three or four players in the space who you think you truly compete with and bridge to something you want to talk about. Don’t devolve into side-by-side comparisons with the competitor’s products which will quickly eat up your interview time and promote the competitors more than your own company.
If you feel your product is so breakthrough it really doesn’t have a competitor – that’s ok to say too – just have two to three proof points to back it up.
3: What are your sales numbers?
Questions about growth are unavoidable. Ideally, you have some year-over-year growth percentage you can share. Everyone thinks of growth as sales number. But you can use other business markers to answer what is essentially a growth question:
“We grew our install base X%.”
“Our customer base has doubled.”
“Sales grew X% year-over-year as of the end of 2024”.
4: Who are your customers?
Customer stories are cherished gems in the trade media space. They are few and far between so if you have permission to share customer success stories you are in a winning position. Being able to name customers is a 99% guarantee of media coverage. But be sure to ask your customer for permission first and ensure nothing in your customer agreements prohibits you from doing so.
5: Is there anything else you want to add?
Just like the first question, nearly every interview ends with “Is there anything you’d like to add?”
This is a softball and the perfect opportunity to remind the editor one last time what your most important message point is. Circle back to answer number one (“What’s new?”) and you’ve bookended the interview with your most important messages.
If you say no and walk away I’m going to give you serious demerits!
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Read other blogs about how to engage the media at trade shows:
Navigating Tough Tariff Questions in Trade Show Interviews (or Any Interview!)