It’s the one item you see in literally every SHOT Show attendee’s hand: the SHOT Show Directory and Buyers Guide. Not only is it the No. 1 show resource for getting everyone walking the floor to where they want to go, with a shelf-life of 12 months, it’s also the leading after-show resource for manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, range operators, and industry media professionals.
By securing booth space, exhibitors are automatically assigned a listing in the alphabetized section of the category listing to which your business best belongs. But did you know there are directory sponsorship options available that can greatly increase your booth traffic and after-show visibility?
SHOT Show Directory & Buyers Guide sponsorship is an invaluable way to put your company front and center in the eyes of every person who attends SHOT Show. While every exhibitor gets an alphabetical listing in the directory, as well as listing on the SHOT Show website, it’s the larger sponsorship ads in the print Directory that really grab the reader’s attention and reminds people that it’s those booths and businesses they need to put at the top of their must-see list. It also maintains that high visibility post-show, particularly for the shooting range club house operators and retailers who keep the directories on their counters for consumer perusal, as well as those media professionals who utilize the directory as a contact resource all year long.
There are more than two-dozen directory sponsorship display options available to exhibitors and other industry advertisers, and this wide variety means an array of price points that lend themselves to marketing budgets of all sizes. Options include full- and half-page listings in four-color and two-color, directory covers, floor plan sponsorship, bookmarks, and inserts, among others.
A complete listing of available sponsorship options is available on shotshow.org under the Exhibitors tab and the drop-down option “2015 Exhibitor Resource Center.” It also shows which exclusive options (such as covers, inside covers, and directory bookmark, floor plan, spine, and post-it note) have been sold, so that you can adjust your marketing plan accordingly. These premium sponsorship opportunities can sell out quickly, so exhibitors looking to maximize their advertising and show dollars are encouraged to research the available options and make their decisions now.
Every year we have exhibitors who tell us they wish they’d put in a half- or full-page ad in the directory. That tells us these sponsorships have produced a solid return on investment for those who did claim their space. The SHOT Show is the place to be seen, to make your product, your company, and your services known to everyone—the directory is the one way to make sure your message is heard, both at the show, and especially after everyone has gone home and has the next 12 months to use that year’s directory.
The deadline for Directory materials submission is Nov. 20, so we urge every exhibitor to begin their submissions as soon as possible. For more information or to purchase your sponsorship space in the 2015 SHOT Show Directory and Buyers Guide, e-mail Dave Jeannette, NSSF Senior Director, Sales at djeannette@nssf.org, or Chris Tatulli, NSSF Director, Exhibit & Sponsorship Sales at ctatulli@nssf.org.
Dave Jeannette is Senior Director, Sales for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @DaveJeannette.