While the digital world is great for advertising, getting your message out there, and generally being seen, nothing quite seals the deal on a sale more than talking to a person or seeing a live demonstration. While exhibitions are a major investment in time and money, they do offer great benefits that you simply can’t get online.
Running a stand at an exhibition is hard work, a lot of planning and preparation has to take place in the run-up to the event to ensure you get the greatest value out of the opportunity.
Before you go, you need to know exactly why you want to exhibit it and what you want to achieve from it. Set a couple of specific and measurable targets to work towards, such as the number of potential contacts, leads, or new partners, and make a plan of how you will? ll, achieve them.?
Exhibiting in the only medium that allows you to interact with potential customers using all five senses and people are more likely to remember you if you do! If you can, use this to your advantage. People love interacting with things by touching, tasting or smelling (which is why exhibitions work so well!), so if you can, make your products or services come to life in an unforgettable way!
The key to success is careful planning. To drive traffic to your exhibition stand and leave a memorable impression on your visitors, you need to create a detailed plan for all your event activities and identify the role trade shows play in your overall marketing and sales strategy. Unlike digital marketing, trade shows give you the exciting opportunity to interact with your audience face-to-face and build lasting and more powerful business relationships, so go all out and make sure you make the most out of it.
As you know, strategic planning is essential to maximizing your return on investment. Unique design, striking content, engaging activities are all contributing to your exhibiting success. When planning your exhibition stand, instead of following design trends, always aim for individuality. Your trade show marketing plan should already outline what you want to achieve at this event, look at your communication objectives and develop a standing theme that conveys enticing messages and captures people’s attention. Your stand needs to make a memorable impact in a busy exhibition hall.
If you have a dedicated social media following, use it. Advertise that you’ll be attending this event and invite the people who like your page on Facebook. Talk about it on Twitter, Instagram and retweet posts about the event, and communicate with relevant accounts. The more impressions your social media gains, the better.