Exhibitions are a marvelous marketing opportunity for any company, especially when launching a new product or service. To make the most of any trade show you need to think about how you are going to appeal to visitors and stand out from your competition.
Your Stand’s Location
As with property, the most important part of your trade show stand is location; choosing the right floor space at the venue can make all the difference. If you have the opportunity it is always a good idea to attend the venue for a show prior to your own, this will give you the chance to scout any potential “dead” areas that are less likely to get passing visitors. During larger shows visitors will completely miss some booths so you must consider your placement very seriously.
Promote Your Attendance
Spread word that you will be exhibiting to as wider and relevant audience as possible; if visitors know of your attendance in the run up to the event they will be much more likely to actively seek you out. In the last few years with the growth of online social media sites such as Twitter times have really changed, a business used to be limited to simply sending out letters and emails; now with a single tweet you have the ability to reach potentially thousands of people.
Attracting Visitors
The key to attracting visitors is creating an impressive and inviting exhibit space; choosing the right exhibition stands and graphics will go a long way towards this and should be one of your main priorities when planning for an event. Exhibition stands are a fantastic marketing tool but far too often exhibitors succumb to basic human nature and simply go for the cheapest option; this will put you at a massive disadvantage against your competition as your displays will be an ambassador for your company, if your booth looks unprofessional, your company will look unprofessional.
Another great way of gathering interest is by putting on a product demonstration; this will highlight the total belief in your product and help gather a crowd. To maximize the benefit of capturing a large audience a staff member could be handing out promotional materials to interested spectators.
Any promotional materials you give out should have clear contact information on including your phone number, website, email and social media accounts; you want to make it as easy as possible for people to get in touch with you after the show.
Event Staff
Your staff and how they interact with visitors can make a massive difference is how successful an exhibition will be for your business; they need to be both friendly and approachable. Before the event it is prudent to put your staff through a rigorous training crash course to buff up on their knowledge of your business and its products, this way they will be fully prepared to answer any and all questions interested parties may have.
How your staff is dressed may seem like a minor issue, but at very least it’s a good idea to organize company branded t-shirts for them to wear making it easier for visitors to know who to direct question too.
After The Show
When the doors finally close at the end of the day it’s a good time to reflect, review your performance and consider anything you may want to improve on for the future. The main points to consider are
- Was your budget correct?
- Did you attract enough interest?
- What was your visitors’ reaction to your booth?
- Did you interact with interested parties in the right manner?
- Did you gather enough leads?
- Was your business and product shown off in the most professional and stylish manner possible?
About the Author
Murphy Lapland has over two decades of experience in the events industry supplying exhibitors with displays such as exhibition stands and modular systems.