7 Tips to Pull Off a Trade Show with Great Success

By Guest Author, Carolette Alcoran: 

Trade shows are part of offline marketing. Combined with some unconventional PR and public stunts they can be a game changer for some companies. A trade show can surpass any other marketing technique. Every year, businesses make millions of dollars at trade shows. The best trade show booths clearly get an edge. Why is that?

Some businesses seem like they know the secret of networking at these shows. The truth is, there is no secret. It’s simply about how many efforts you put into. What strategies you use when marketing at trade shows!

Here are a few tips that will help you to pull off a trade show successfully.

Location

The old business adage “location” works here pretty much like anywhere else. Many times, the sponsors of trade shows offer prime locations for you to set up your booth at an extra charge. If you do not mind paying a little extra to get an edge over your competitors, look into this early as most of the prime locations are sold fast. You can, in fact, consider leveraging the prime location while negotiating the contract if you are planning to attend a trade show long term.

Contests and Prizes

Special promotions, contests and prize drawings have attracted people over the years at trade shows and will continue to do so. Be sure that you offer something similar to get the attention of the people visiting the trade shows. It can be anything like a business card or questionnaire or just filling out a contract.

Impress by Looks

Buyers get attracted to the booths that look unique and striking. A simple good-looking trade show table covers with logo can attract visitors. Also, make use of bright colors and put a handful of efforts into the design, which will surely make the difference to the walking by visitors.

Put out a clear message. Ensure it is seen clearly from near and far as well as from every direction. Analyze if your booth can attract enough visitors by experimenting it with the employees. Custom trade show booth manufactures provide a good-looking booth that makes a great impression and can impact your business a lot in a good way.

Offer Value to Attendees

Nothing works better than offering something valuable to the visitors in the favor of a company attending the trade show. Show your expertise to the visitors by offering something of value like top 10 lists of products, the white paper on the state of the industry, or newest trends. If most people attending your show are from foreign countries, offer information about places they should visit or something similar.

Best Booth Hosts

A booth host with a smile on his face can attract more people than the one with the dull face. A smile makes people think they are welcome to approach. Consider having booth hosts who are trained to direct buyers to the right staff members and should know how to answer simple questions.

Hire models, tricksters or another type of entertainer that fits perfectly along with your company theme of the booth, persona or trade show.

Shout Out on Social Media

Social media platform is a place where you will find most of the users active. Consider having a social media marketing plan to bring in more visitors to your booth. Inform them about the trade show beforehand and keep updating regularly. Another way to use social media is by engaging with people who mention the conference on the social media. Also, you can approach people who have checked in at the venue on social media.

Branded Gift Giveaways and Promotional Products

Choosing an ideal promotional product to giveaway free ensures that your investment is indeed worthwhile. It is you who have to consider a promotional product should relate to your brand, and that it should be useful to your customer. Some of the popular promotional products at trade shows include electronic gadgets like thumb drives or USB drives, bags, cups and mugs, binders and notepads, etc.

End-Note

Making a trade show successful involves planning. Since trade shows are a risk because of the short term, one shot deal nature of them and the cost involves, it is important that you do enough, so they are successful.

The points above require planning and research ahead of the time. If you are a regular attendee of the trade shows, you are most likely to form a routine. Even if you are not one, be sure to constantly improve your routine.

Guest Contributor