Trade shows can be expensive investments. You pay with both real money, spent on displays, space in the show, and travel and employee costs, and with your own time and energy. With a little planning, you can make the trade show you invest in pay off nicely for your business.
Choose the Right One
There are hundreds of trade shows to choose from. To know which are right for your business, you have to ask yourself some questions. First, what is your goal for the show? What exactly do you want to be the end result of having spent time and money to be at that particular trade show? In order to form your goal, you might ask yourself are you trying to get customers to purchase your product? Are you trying to get them to support your brand? Are you only trying to get leads or actually make a sale? Or, are you just trying to get publicity?
The answers to those questions should guide you to choosing appropriate trade shows. Your goals will most likely change from show to show. That’s okay. Goals change all the time. What you want to achieve at one show is probably not the same as another. Let the goals dictate your show choices; support those goals with your exhibit designs.
Choose the Design
Your exhibit for the trade show will vary by the amount of floorspace you are able to get. That, of course, is limited by your budget. Design preferences will be dictated by your business, and again, the goals you have for the show. Want to sell product? Then your product better have a large presence in your booth. Want to get leads? There better be a very clear place for potential customers to fill out the information you want to collect on them.
Engaging the potential customer is always important. One new advance in the display industry revolves around technology. The iPad Kiosk allows business owners to prepare an informative video or survey or other customer information for the iPad before the show. The iPad kiosk is then placed in the display. It’s a nonthreatening, non-invasive source of information that customers usually feel comfortable accessing. Again, you need to evaluate your goals to see if this will help you meet them.
Choose Your Post-Show Strategy
You invested a lot of time and money to plan and carry out your exhibit at the show. Don’t waste all that effort by not having a plan for what you will do after the show. Remember, by not planning, you may as well be handing your leads to your competitor. In today’s world, you have about two to three days to contact your leads. That’s all the time available. It’s better if you have an app to respond with information in real time as the show is proceeding. But you certainly must have a plan before the show for following up with those people you met during the show.
Originally posted on April 20, 2015 @ 7:11 am