Trade shows, trade fairs and exhibitions are great opportunities to build your business and make more money. They are a lucrative and fun way to promote your business, but, your show display must be organised, creative and strategic to connect with the crowd and attract your audience.
For starters, set up your existing tradeshow stand and get a fresh pair of eyes to offer you an honest critique of your exhibition display, your banners, trade show signage, and colours. Walk past your signage/stand and see what you can see/take in as you walk past as that is all the visitors will see. If something doesn’t catch their eye they will keep walking.
Even though your exhibit display may be just a few years old, it could already be dated. Trade show marketing styles and trade show materials change rapidly these days, and if there is one thing that can kill your trade show stand it is tired dated collateral. Investing in fresh roll-up banners, portable stands, a custom stand and/or trade show signage tells your audience that you’re professional and proud of what you do, and piques their interest in you and your company.
But it’s not just a great trade show stand display that translates into new customers. You’ve got to have a trade show strategy in place to engage your guests and turn their interest into desire for your products and services. Your pre-show marketing, how you greet your trade show visitors, along with compelling trade show giveaways and promotions, help form the strategy that can turn your trade show visitors into new customers and give you return on investment for your trade show exhibit.
Don’t just turn up at the trade show, undertake some marketing prior to the show so people know your there. Give them an incentive to come to your stand – promote new products to see or an offer or competition eg. Visit us at stand C5 and go in the running to win… Encourage people to pre-book appointments with you or hold an event on your stand eg drinks at the end of the day. Even simple things like adding a promotion to your email signature and invoices can help drive traffic to your stand. At the show, make sure you have a process to capture lead information so you can track your results and be able to do a follow up campaign after the show. Give people a reason to come on the stand – show new products, have demonstrations, hold a competition or have a strong show offer if they sign up/purchase during the trade show. Ensure all staff manning the stand know about the products/services, the special offer/promotion, what your company elevator pitch is and key questions to ask to engage passersby. An innovative and cohesive tradeshow marketing strategy teamed with detailed organisation will drive traffic to your stand and lay the foundation for gaining new leads and sales.
