Top Trade Show Tips You Should Know.

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GomezExhibiting at a trade show as a company can be a wonderful way for you to build yourself as a brand and be able to rake the world by storm. Exposing yourself to a whole new audience which consists of other brands and the public can be a quick way for you to gain a reputation in the real world and a whole new customer base. Today we are going to look at some of the top tips you can follow if you want to exhibit at a trade show this year.

First impressions count

Imagine that you are walking through a shopping centre in the middle of the day. There are stores on either side of you and they are all trying to grab your attention so that you will come inside and browse.

The same thing applies to a trade show because you will be surrounded by similar brands who are all trying to get their customer’s attention. This is why it is so important for you to design a great stand for a trade show with a company like Infinity Exhibits, because you’ll be able to stand out and make a great first impression.

Crowds draw crowds

If you are ever in a food court you will likely notice that there are different lengths of queue for each establishment, and you will be much more likely to go for one of the stands which has a bigger queue because if it has a larger crowd, surely it must be worth it, right?

The same thing applies to a trade show because if you can draw people to your stand, other people will join too because they trust the crowd you have gathered. In other words, what can you offer to your trade show visitors which will make them crowd around your stall and attract even more people? Well, that would be food.

One example of an amazing trade show exhibit was from a kitchen brand called Franke, who set up a whole kitchen in the middle of the event and served free chocolates and cakes. Nothing makes people pay attention more than freebies, so have a think about what you can do.

Extend your reach

When you are at a trade show your aim is to attract as many people to your rand as physically possible, and this can be difficult to do if the trade show hall is vast and huge. If you want to try and extend your reach to everyone who visits, you will want to give away some freebies which are wearable or carryable.

For example, a free jute bag for them to carry other items in, a free balloon, a free hat or badge… when other visitors see people carrying or wearing these items it will make them pay attention and they may try to seek out your stall as a result.

Set up meetings

If you want to get noticed and you are looking to build upon your company’s success, it is always a great idea to book meetings with buyers and other brands ahead of the show. Send out an email to all of your contacts and share a post on social media to say you are attending the show. You can then from this meet up with people before the show even starts and make some great deals and new connections.

Collaborate

If you notice that there are some brands who work within the same market as you but sell slightly different products and services, you can take advantage of these people and ask to swap contact details with them of their customers. You will both benefit from this immediately because you are both looking to widen your audience, and it means that within a very short space of time you will have been able to double your audience.

Interactive

The best way for you to keep people at your stand for a while is to create a display which is interactive and which they can use. People are nosey creatures and they will always try to find a button to press or a dial to turn, and if you can provide things such as working models of your products or touch screen slide shows and games, you’ll be able to keep your audience interested for longer.

Create games

One fun way for you to show people how important your service or product can be is to allow them to try it out for themselves or get involved with a game. For example with a cleaning spray, you could set up a surface which has chocolate spread on it for people to clean up and see how the product works.

If you are campaigning against drink driving you could have people put on beer goggles and try to walk through an obstacle course or drive a mini go-kart…there are so many ways you can make an impression with your audience and make them aware of your brand so be sure to have some fun with it.

Create a friendly competition

One of the internal ways which you can make your trade show experience more successful is to pit your sales staff against each other in a challenge. You can get 3-4 salespeople to go out into the crowd and get as many contact details as they can, and whoever has the most by the end of the day gets a free drink at the pub. This can be a good way to motivate your employees and bring them closer together.

Dress to impress

When you are out and about in the real world and you are looking to represent your company in the best manner, it is super important for you to dress smart and in a professional way which people will recognise and enjoy.

You are the face of your company for a few days and this means that any impression people have of the company will come from you. Be sure to dress in a smart suit or dress to show off the best side of your business.

Get there early

When you go to a trade show; wherever it may be, it will be a challenge to set everything up and be ready for opening. Make sure that you get to the venue very early and let yourself have as much time as possible to get ready for the day ahead. The longer you give yourself to prepare for your audience, the better the stand will look and this will allow you to make the best possible impression.

Follow up quickly

Even once a trade show is over and you are heading home; your job isn’t over yet. As well as packing up and heading home, you will want to take some time out to gather all of your new contacts and send them an email to follow up on any conversation you may have had. The sooner you can do this the better because it will mean that your meeting is still fresh in their minds, and they are more likely to take notice and do business with you as a result.

Keep in contact

After a follow-up email has been sent and you have received some replies, it is also important to keep this connection going and be sure that they don’t forget who you are. This will mean taking the time out every month or couple of months to email or call your contact to see how they are and how you could help them, and this will keep your relationship strong.

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Like Minds is a global thought leadership platform delivering world class events on business development, knowledge and insight aimed at entrepreneurs and business leaders to engage, stimulate and empower them to become global businesses of the future. We also offer a bespoke service for corporate clients and training programmes under the Like Minds U brand. For more information please email bespoke@wearelikeminds.com