Trade Show Display Tips

 

There are four main reasons companies exhibit at trade shows and exhibitions:

1.    To sell products or services to attendees or gather sales leads for future sales.

2.    To build relationships with your prospective clients, current clients, distributors, business partners or recruit distributors, representatives and employees.

3.    To brand your company, and promote your corporate image, your products and services.

4.    To meet with industry influencers, such as media, press and analysts. 

Whatever the reason your organisation chooses to exhibit, make sure your trade show display looks professional and portrays the brand image you are trying to communicate to your existing and potential customers. Expand a Sign has range of portable advertising banners and signs which offer a quick and easy solution for creating trade show display.

 

1. Choose the right show.

So often companies exhibit for the wrong reasons e.g. we’ve always exhibited at that trade show, all our competitors have already signed up for that trade how. If you have a choice of shows serving the same industry, there are a number of questions you can ask that will help you make the right decision. Is the show sponsored by relevant trade associations? How long have the trade show organisers been in business? How many shows have they organised and how many are still running? Has this trade show been held before and how many exhibitors and visitors have attended each year? What promotions are the organisers planning to attract the buyers and prospects you need? Who is the audience?     

Look at the demographic profile of your target audience: their title, company size, geographic location, budgets, buying influence, purchasing timeframes. Compare the profile of your “perfect prospect” to the data provided by show management to determine which shows have the closest match. 

Last, but not least, consider whether sufficient money has been allocated in the corporate budget. Does the trade show date coincide with dates when your new products will be ready for launch? Does the date conflict with other corporate shows or events? Do you have enough trained people to adequately staff your trade show display stand? Will sufficient products be available to demonstrate or sample when you need them? 

2.  Have a proper trade show marketing plan.
Exhibiting at a trade show should not be a stand-alone activity but form part of your overall strategic marketing plan. Identify your objectives and what you want to get out of the event, e.g. to increase market share with existing users, to launch a new product or to introduce new and existing products and services into new markets. A formal exhibit marketing plan will help you identify the stand size you need, your pre-show marketing activity required and your budget.

When planning your stand and your trade show display choose the location bearing in mind entrances and exits, exhibition facilities e.g. refreshment areas, competitors as well as other exhibitors that you can do business.

 

3. Have a well-defined promotional plan.

Your plan needs to include pre-show, at-show and post-show promotion. Budget will play a major role in deciding what and how much promotional activity is possible. Developing a meaningful theme that ties into your strategic marketing plan will then help to guide promotional decisions. Know who you are targeting. Include direct mail, social media updates, advertising, PR, sponsorships and the internet as alternatives for reaching your target audience.

 

4. Incentivise clients to visit your stand and see your trade show display.

Give visitors a reason to come and visit you. With a hall overflowing with fascinating products and services and limited time to see everything, people need an incentive to come and visit your stand. Product launches are always a draw card but even if you don’t have a new product or service to introduce, think about a new angle from which to promote your offerings. You could also offer a premium item that will entice them to your stand. Your giveaways should be designed to communicate, motivate, promote or increase recognition of your company. You can also use your website to make an offer for visitors to collect important information when they visit your stand at the trade show.

 

5. Use PR.

PR is one of the most cost-effective and successful methods for generating large volumes of direct enquiries and sales. Before the show, ask show management for a comprehensive media list and find out which publications are planning a special show edition. Send out press releases focusing on what's new about your product or service, or highlighting a new application or market venture. Place editorial in the trade show publication which will be distributed to exhibitors and attendees. Print our copies of press releases and leave them in the organiser’s office to hand out to the media.  Have staff members at the stand who are specifically assigned to interact with the media.

 

6. Use your trade show display as an effective marketing tool.

Your trade show display makes a strong statement about who your company is, what you do and how you do it. Your objective is to attract visitors to your stand or exhibition booth so that you can achieve your marketing objectives. You need a focal point and a strong key message that communicates the benefits of your products and services to prospective clients. Your branding must be clear. Expand a Sign’s wide range of banners and portable display stands provide a perfect vehicle for enhancing your brand exposure and communicating your promotional message or product advantages. Our world class printing technology delivers brilliant graphics and colour quality.

 

When designing artwork for a trade show display take into consideration the following factors:
- For artwork to be effective don’t use too many words - if your text takes more than 3 seconds to read, it’s too much. 
- Avoid the features and focus on strong benefit statements.
- Our products have a print area for displaying product features, graphics and logos.
- It is important to remember that text should be a minimum of 12 cm tall.
- Make your type 2.5cm high for every 1m you step back.  
- Avoid fancy fonts and don’t use more than two different fonts per graphics.
- Graphics should be at eye level so don’t put text below the sight line i.e. the area that people continuously see in an aisle full of people.

 

7. Have well trained staff.

Your staff, permanent staff as well as sales promoters hired for an event, are your ambassadors so choose them well. Brief them before hand and make sure that they know why you are exhibiting, what you are exhibiting and what you expect from them. Give them a thorough update on all products featured on the stand. Make sure they don't spend more time than is necessary with visitors so as not to crowd the stand. It is important not to overcrowd your trade show display with your employees and company representatives. Schedule a roster to ensure there is always someone on the stand. Incentives are a good way of motivating staff to perform at a show.

 

8. Have the tools you need to close a sale.

To close a sale at a trade show you may need product literature, contracts, pricing, trading agreements etc. You will also need someone on the stand with the the authority to sign-off on a deal.

 

9. Follow up your trade show leads promptly.

Plan the follow-up before the show. The key to your trade show success is your lead management process. Trade show leads often take second place to other management activities that occur after being out of the office for several days. You need an organised, systematic approach to follow-up because the longer leads are left unattended, the less interested the potential customer may become. Establish a lead handling system, set timelines for follow-up, use a computerised database for tracking, makes sales representatives accountable for leads given to them and measure your results. This is a vital part of measuring the return on investment in the trade show.

 

10. Measure your results

Measuring your results is the way to improve your performance at the next trade show or event. You can measure ROI (return on investment) or ROO (return on objective) or measure the effectiveness of different components of your campaign or marketing initiatives for example, pre-show promotions, direct mail campaigns, traffic to your web site and the number of leads from the show converted into orders.