It’s hard to beat a trade show or exhibition in terms of the rich and varied opportunities offered for your business to take advantage of. Not only can you interact directly with potential customers, but you also get the opportunity to examine what other similar companies are offering too. It’s a golden opportunity to learn from both visitors and other exhibitors, and then put that information to good use growing and developing your own business.
In order to get the most out of the exhibition experience it’s essential to make sure you consider the following factors:
Location
Try to make sure you have a prime location within the exhibition venue. This will make your business highly visible and lead to a greater number of visitors automatically.
Exhibition stand
The choice of stands for such events is overwhelming – but start with the basics. Think functionality; what do you need to be able to do at the exhibition. If your product demonstrations rely heavily on technology such as video, projectors or multi-screen displays, etc. then look for a suitable stand which will accommodate (and conceal) all the necessary backroom hardware. Check out how you can use pop up stands, roll up banners, pop up banners, pull up banners and other similar display items to complement your presence at the event.
Visitor engagement
If your exhibition stand or booth is overwhelmed by visitors, how can you deal with it? Make sure that any visitor who might have to wait is able to interact somehow with your business; either through a product demo video, tablet, or other media while they are waiting to talk to one of your representatives. This will avoid them drifting off to another exhibitor’s stand.
Essential supplies
Presenting at an exhibition is somewhat like running a marathon. It takes careful planning to make it a painless and profitable experience. Make sure that your exhibition stand or booth is always manned with sufficient staff to attend visitors. You also need to make sure that those staff who are dealing with visitors get frequent breaks and that you keep their energy levels up. It’s worth planning staff rotation so that you can make sure there is always someone in attendance and that they are hyped up and raring to go when visitors do arrive at your stand.
Try to ascertain the peak times of the event and avoid taking any breaks during those times. Ensure that you have a stock of water, snacks and any other supplies to keep your staff going though the busy times – and take any breaks when there is a lull. Remember, this is possibly a one-day or two-day event, so make the most of it. There will be time to relax after the event is finished.