Exhibiting at a trade fair can be a great opportunity to launch a new product or service, raise your profile, make new contacts, build on new or existing working relationships, and generate new business. High-profile trade fairs or exhibitions can attracts thousands, of attendees, including industry experts, speakers and media representatives. It’s also the ideal place to check out what your competitors are up to, and to attract potential new customers to your exhibition trade stand.
If you’re considering booking a affordable trade stand at a upcoming trade event, read on for a few tips.
Choose the right trade fair for your business
Depending on your industry, there are often multiple trade fairs held throughout the year so choose the one most relevant to your business. If you want to target key clients (potential or existing), contact them to see if they are planning to attend the same exhibition trade event.
Consider your budget
Exhibiting at trade fairs is a notoriously expensive exercise, and your biggest expense will be your patch of exhibition space – the more space you want, the more it will cost you. Some exhibitions also offer ready-built booths, exhibition display walls and furniture, but the cheapest option will be space-only. We can supply professional exhibitions stands and temporary walling to hire or to buy. We specialise in low cost trade stands.
Register early
Registration for popular fairs normally starts months, sometimes a year or more, in advance, so it’s crucial to book early, especially if you want to secure a good position in the exhibition area. Some organisers also offer a discount rate for early booking.
Depending on the venue, you may need to book hotels rooms for your colleagues who are attending the exhibition even . Some trade fair organisers reserve blocks of hotel rooms for exhibitors and attendees, but these rooms go quickly, so again, book early.
Do your homework
Several weeks before the trade fair, contact the organisers and ask them to send you a list of companies and/or delegates who have booked to attend. Use this list to identify who you want to make contact with at the trade event. If the list includes contact details, you could even reach out to your targets before the event.
Promote the fact that you’ll be exhibiting at this trade fair on social media, as soon as you book and throughout the build-up. Link to or reference the organisers and anyone else you want to make aware of your presence at this event, and use any applicable hashtags. Encourage people to visit your trade stand, perhaps by offering small incentive.
Work on your stand
In addition to a well-designed exhibition stand, make sure you have enough marketing materials, e.g. business cards, brochures, leaflets, contact forms, pens, promotional giveaways, etc. If applicable, organise your products for display, and prepare any samples, presentations and hands-on demos. You could also consider offering free refreshments to visitors to your stand, or organising an on-stand party for invited guests, the best tip we can give is to make sure you get your lighting right on your temporary trade stand.
At the trade fair
Choose friendly helpful employees who know their stuff to man your stand, and brief them at the start of the day. Encourage them to take photos and short videos of things going on at the fair, and to post these and other updates on social media channels as they happen. And make sure that everyone captures your visitors’ contact details so you can follow up after the event.
Email everyone who visited your temp trade booth. Whatever you promised them at the fair, do it now – send them the information they wanted, put them in touch with a colleague, offer a time to meet up or arrange a demo. If nothing else, thank them for visiting your stand and give them your contact details again.
We can supply professional exhibitions stands and temporary walling to hire or to buy, and we can even help with the design if required. Contact us for advice or a free quotation.
Grateful thanks to the following sites for the inspiration:
http://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/local-marketing/7-steps-prepare-trade-show/