You may be thinking about attending another trade show, but the ones you have participated in so far have not been very successful. You want to take another chance but you are worried that it will be another fail.
If in the past, at the moment people came to your booth you could read their faces and they were something like “I don’t really care about what you’re saying, I’m just here for the snacks”. Oh well, you know you have some improvements to do.
Trade show marketing has its place in delivering profitable revenue. Trade shows can bring a significant amount of money to your company and they are a great place to meet with other vendors, potential customers, sponsors, and speakers. You just have to do a few things right.
Basically, trade shows are an awesome opportunity to gain exposure, present your brand and products/services, as well as build new connections in order to grow your business.
But please keep in mind that trade shows are not all about promoting your products or services. You have to create a unique, innovative experience for the visitors because otherwise, most likely they will not care about your company and everything will be just another failure.
So what makes a trade show appearance truly successful? Do you want to take a guess? Well, let me tell you. The answer lies in attending the right trade show for your organization, having a great strategy for the show, and a keen eye for details. Many details.
Here are the secrets that will ensure your trade show is a success:
Prepare and plan in advance
It’s never too early to start planning ahead for the most important things. Proper research can make things run smoothly, so your life will be much easier when it comes to trade shows. Before doing anything else, I think that it’s crucial to review all the trade shows that will take place in the next period before choosing which one to attend. It’s important to make sure that you will invest your money wisely.
There are so many things that you should take into consideration. First things first, start searching for trade shows that are suitable for your industry and your target audience. Then take a look at the number of attendees from previous years, past exhibitors, sponsors, and speakers to see if the trade show is the right choice for your company.
Think about the event logistics too: book your flights if it’s necessary, set up your hotel reservations, etc. Make sure every member of your team (marketing, sales, executive) is on the same page and has all the information needed to better work together.
It’s also important to check your trade show marketing assets: your display, flooring, lights, monitors, and accessories. Do you think you need to rebrand the way you’re displaying your products?
Location is important
Don’t forget about your booth location as this can also have a great impact on your success. If you have enough budget, it would be a good idea to pay more for a premium spot. For example, if your booth is located all the way in the back, you’ll get fewer visitors, and for sure they will be less interested in your company.
Advertise!
The last thing we advise you to do before attending a trade show is advertising. Make sure your audience knows about your presence at the show. This can keep you ahead of your competitors. And keep being active on social media during the trade show.
Be bold
Nowadays it’s so important to stand out from the crowd. Yeah, everyone has giveaways and you can do it too. But try to step out of your comfort zone and be bold. Find something different from other companies and showcase your brand in a unique way. Your booth must be awesome if you want potential customers to remember you after the trade show.
Come up with a fun, creative theme and display your brand in a cool way. It’s essential to offer attendees some snacks and drinks. Visitors get tired of walking around the tradeshow for hours, so it’s nice to give them something.
Besides this, you should carefully choose your booth staff. They need to be welcoming, smiling, friendly, and of course, knowledgeable. Visitors want to be entertained so make sure to also incorporate some interactive elements into your booth like virtual reality, touch screens, etc. They are attracted to light, therefore you can make your booth eye-catching with LED lighting.
Use a trade show template
If you want to have a successful trade show appearance, you can use a template that will allow you to focus on what really matters. This way you can stop wasting time on repetitive tasks and achieve better results.
The Tradeshow Booth Layout Template was designed in order to allow quick and easy development of mockups right from within Microsoft PowerPoint. It comes with different PowerPoint templates for multiple trade show booth sizes.
This template is a truly simple, visual way to create mock-ups showing various possible booth layouts. It’s a great solution that will make your life easier.
If you are attending a trade show, another awesome solution is our Trade Show Checklist Template & Dashboard. This is an Excel checklist that will help you maximize your ROI. This template can take over so many responsibilities such as: tracking the overall progress, assigning tasks and setting their priority, sorting them by due dates, categories, status, etc.
So do you have what it takes for a successful trade show appearance? If you need help with an upcoming trade show, we’re here for you.