Four Expert Tips for Building Online Buzz for Your Booth Starting Today

The latest registration statistics for this year’s SEMA Show indicate a more than 5% increase in the number of buyers planning to hit the Show floor on Tuesday–Friday, November 4–7. With more buyers than ever coming to the Show, an exhibitor’s obvious goal is to entice as many of them into the company booth as possible. You’ll likely do this with new-product introductions, updates to signature product lines, booth demonstrations, project-vehicle reveals and even, perhaps, celebrity appearances. However, all of those tactics do little good if you don’t build buzz about them ahead of time.

Advice for First-Time (and Even Long-Time) Exhibitors

More than 130,000 automotive industry professionals will attend the 2014 SEMA Show, November 4–7, at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), and more than 60,000 of them will be buyers searching the aisles for products to carry in their retail outlets and installation centers. Historically, 87% of those buyers plan to purchase products from the Show’s exhibitors. With some forethought, a bit of research and a successful strategy, even first-time exhibitors can take full advantage of those sales opportunities at what has become the largest annual gathering of small businesses in the United States.

More Than 415 Business Opportunities

Every first-time exhibitor represents a business opportunity. Attendees, looking for the latest trends and hottest new products, know that new exhibitors can be a tremendous resource. This year (as of July 29, 2014) more than 415 new companies have already registered for a booth at this year’s Show.

The online list of first-timers represents the leading edge of what will be a strong freshmen class for the 2014 SEMA Show. Buyers can now browse through and note businesses to visit during the 2014 SEMA Show online.

How Fusion Brakes Handled Its Very First SEMA Show

Thousands of companies exhibit at the SEMA Show each year, and tens of thousands of industry buyers come to the Show for the sole purpose of discovering new products and companies. Of the more than 2,000 exhibitors at the typical SEMA Show, some 400 to 600 are there for the first time. Many are small companies that bring never-before-seen products. In many cases, their decision to exhibit at the SEMA Show represents their single largest marketing cost of the year.

A $50 Raffle Ticket Could Win You an $80,000 Custom F-150 Charity Truck Built by Students

Instead of being auctioned like previous WD-40/SEMA Cares vehicles, the WD-40/SEMA Cares Foose Ford F-150 off-road truck that was revealed at the 2013 SEMA Show is now available through a raffle at $50 per ticket.

“We thought we’d try something different this year,” said Mike Spagnola, SEMA vice president of OEM and product development programs. “This year’s raffle truck will get a lot of promotion because it will be publicized in the Source Interlink Media [a build partner] magazines and bring more attention to SEMA Cares and its charities.”

By John Stewart

The Los Angeles Auto Show is the first international auto show of the season, so it provides an early look at some of the vehicles that could be important to SEMA-member companies in 2014.

The 2013 SEMA Show attendees would have noticed a significant growth in emphasis on custom vehicles, many of which were built for and debuted at the SEMA Show. These vehicles are now continuing to move from show to show and market to market, making the idea of customization more realistic to millions of new-car shoppers.

16 Categories Yield 48 Honors From Among More Than 2,000 Entries

More than 2,000 parts, tools, assemblies and packages were submitted for judging at the New Products Showcase during the 2013 SEMA Show. The displays encompassed items from every segment of the industry, and all were reviewed by a panel of expert judges who ranked them for superiority of innovation, technical achievement, quality and workmanship, consumer appeal and marketability. The judges then awarded honors to products in 16 categories, including two runners-up in each division. Congratulations are due to all those who conceive and create the innovations that drive the industry.

The Hottest Vehicles of the SEMA Show

During the 2013 SEMA Show, the SEMA Award for Hottest 4x4-SUV went to the Jeep Wrangler. This well-deserved honor was the result of the Wrangler's dominant presence throughout the Show. Here now are some examples of builders turning stock Wranglers into rolling, rugged masterpieces. Take time to scroll through each entry and notice that in every writeup, there are direct links to manufacturers with 2013-2014 Jeep Wrangler accessories.

“The SEMA Show has always been the annual event where the newest and most innovative products are seen first,” said Chris J. Kersting, SEMA president and CEO. “The SEMA Award celebrates the industry’s unique ability to identify and set the trends that influence consumers worldwide. It also underscores the cooperative relationship between the automakers and SEMA-member companies.”

SEMA Show Exhibitors Share Their Perspectives

The 2013 SEMA Show was the biggest in the event’s 47-year history, with more than 126,000 people converging on the Las Vegas Convention Center to do business at the world’s largest annual automotive trade show. We visited a few random exhibitors to ask how the Show was going from their perspective, and this is what we heard.

Empowering an Industry

The 2013 SEMA Show left no doubt that the automotive specialty-equipment industry is stronger than ever. While final attendance figures were being audited at press time, organizers reported that more than 126,000 credentials were issued prior to the event, with thousands more processed on site.

More than 60,000 of those badges went to buyers, who came from all over the world. The numbers represented a 7% increase over those from the previous year and were the highest in SEMA Show history. It was the third year in a row that the Show had seen significant growth.