An exhibition stand at a trade show can be an effective channel to get the word out there about your brand and your product or service. However, many businesses don’t show themselves in the best light at exhibitions. Walk the aisles at your next exhibition and you’ll see stands that are messy, full of poorly designed marketing collateral and manned by disinterested staff. It’s not a good look for any business, and will likely reduce the chances of that business experiencing positive outcomes from the exhibition. This article will discuss four ways you can run a highly professional, highly profitable stand at an exhibition or trade show.
1. Display For The Right Space
It’s important to find out from the organisers how much space you’ve been delegated before you begin to design your display. This is fairly simple to do – most contracts for booth space are often priced based on the size of the booth. Ensure you have enough equipment and material in your booth so that the display looks rich and inviting, not sparse and empty. In saying that, you also need to be careful that your booth isn’t so packed full of material and collateral that it intimidates potential customers. To really get the balance right, it’s worth contracting a specialist marketing display company such as Tenji Concepts.
2. Cross Promotion Is Key
Expos provide a number of opportunities for cross promotion and collaboration. If you’re only selling one product or service, then do you really need a whole booth for yourself? Would it be better for your customers if you were co-located with a number of other businesses that were offering products and services that complement your own? Consider the opportunities for cross promotion at your next trade show – it’s a great way to keep costs down and reach established customer groups.
3. Run A Competition
You may be one of a hundred or thousand booths at your trade show, so you will need to do something unique or interesting to ensure potential customers stop at your booth and engage with your salespeople. Many stands try to stand out by running competitions for their customers. The prize can be something as simple as clothing with your branding or vouchers for your store. The most effective competitions offer something that is universally interesting and desired, like a piece of consumer technology. Think about what information you want from your potential customers when they enter – this is a good opportunity to conduct some basic market or demographics research.
4. Be Knowledgeable
If the trade show goes for a few days, you might want to consider who’s going to help you run the stand – you can’t do it all on your own! It’s great if you’ve got willing family members or friends to help you run it, but you need to make sure they know enough about the brand and your products or services to do the job. There’s nothing worse than going up to an exhibition stand to find out some information, only to find the staff member knows as little about the product as you do.
Exhibition stands are a really great way to generate potential new business. They are often expensive, so if you’re going to do it – remember to do it well.
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