Trade shows are an excellent way to connect you with interested and vetted customers for your business. However, it also means being in a big room with all of your competitors. How can you stand out and above the competition? For us at Gopromotional, we understand trade shows since we have been in the business of promotional products for many years and they go hand-in-hand with trade shows. Yet, they aren’t the only factor in trade show booth successes. This article will focus on 10 actionable tips to help you achieve new found New Year’s success at your trade show exhibits this year.
- First Impressions Really Do Make it or Break it. What they say about first impressions definitely applies to your booth at a trade show. As we already mentioned, there is plenty of competition at a trade show; all of those booths are competing for the attention of the attendees and buyers as you are. How will you stand out and make that great, first impression? Make sure that your booth is designed with an eye-catching and creative, cohesive designs. If your booth stands out among a sea of competitors, it will make that positive ever-important first impression. In addition to the design of your booth, one of the most important factors in the appearance is the lighting. Make sure that you have the right lighting for your booth, the location, and the surroundings. Lastly, your visual aids should be modern and clear from a distance. You only have a few seconds to entice buyers walking by to stop and engage. If you have had the same look for a long time, your New Year’s resolution should be to spruce and spice it up to make it different.
- Location, Location, Location! The location of your booth is very important. Most trade shows will allow you to choose your location, but that privilege is usually first come first served; so it is never too early to choose your location, as soon as you know you are attending a trade show, ask to pick your location. This can be up to a year or more in advance, so don’t delay. Remember, as with any business, location is everything, but it is even more important in a trade show environment. Ask the organizer where the best locations are, or research it for yourself and concentrate on high traffic areas like spots near the cafeteria, entrance, or bathroom.
- Make Your Booth Approachable. At trade shows, crowded booths garner more attention because other buyers will want to know what all the buzz is about. Create that buzz by having your trained staff ready to help buyers and grab the attention of those passing by. The more, the merrier definitely applies to trade show booths, ones that are busier than others will have everyone wondering what is so special and will entice them to come and check it out.
- Train Your Booth Staff. Make sure that your booth staff is impeccably well trained. They have to be ready to handle any question, close the sale, be personable, and stand up under pressure. Your booth staff should also be easily recognisable. Have them wear matching, branded shirts or uniforms so that they can be spotted in a crowd. One of the best ways to start each trade show day is to have a quick staff meeting at before the start of business each trade show day. This ensures that everyone is there one time, or early and gets everyone on the same page. In addition, a morning staff meeting is a great way to iron out any issues and identify opportunities.
- Make Your Booth an Interactive Experience. There are many different ways to engage your booth visitors and get them involved and engaged with your booth, your products or services, and the booth staff. Not only does an experience bring in buyers, it increases their chances of buying and helps to add that crowd we just talked about in #3. Your booth experience can mean getting attendees involved in a demonstration or other fun booth activity. Another way to engage your booth visitors in an experience is with a booth host. See #5 next for more information on that!
- Consider Having a Booth Host: The original stigma of a “booth babe” was popular for a reason. Of course, your booth host doesn’t have to be female at all, you should choose a great host that can entertain your booth visitors and attract more. A booth host can be a model or an entertainer like a magician. The best type of booth host is one that isn’t opposed to learning a bit about your product or services so that they can answer questions if all the staff is busy in addition to attracting booth visitors.
- Dazzle with Show Specials: Show specials are pretty much expected at every trade show. They are a great way to ensure that buyers will make their purchase at the trade show when you have a captive audience. Show specials should create a sense of urgency to seal the deal. You can also use them to highlight new products or focus on slower sellers as loss leaders.
- Contests and Prize Drawings: One of the ways that you can attract visitors to your booth is by running contests and prize drawings. If you already do this, then your New Year’s resolution should be to change them up, incorporate new trends and give them a game show vibe to really make a spectacle and attract a lot of attention.
- Social Media: Social media marketing hasn’t been around for as long as trade shows have, but it has become an invaluable part of promoting your booth at every trade show. There are many ways to go about using social media leading up to the trade show, during the trade show, and afterwards too.
- Promotional Products. Last on our New Year’s resolutions list, but certainly not least is promotional products. This is our area of specialty. Promotional products are so common at trade shows, they are almost expected. However, with the right transformation of your branded gifts, you can not only draw buyers into your booth at the trade show, but keep them remembering you well after the show is over they have gone home. We can help you resolve to be sure that you aren’t just giving something away, but ensuring that you make a return on your investment. We have three keys to finding the right promotional giveaways for your trade show booth. The three keys are making sure that the giveaway is relevant to your brand, is useful to the recipient, and represents your company well. When you get the promotional product right, they will do the job of helping with your branding, increasing sales, and will be kept for a long time. Some of the most popular promotional products include pens, bags, notepads, mugs, calendars, and electronic gadgets. Those are all good generic promotional product suggestions that work for any type of business and we see companies have a great deal of success with them; but if you can find a specialised branded product that matched your company’s philosophy or style, then it will be even more effective. Your New Year’s resolution task is to find a specialty promotional product giveaway that does just that. It must be unique to your brand. There is something for every type of industry and every theme. Ask us if you need help finding that perfect branded gift for your next trade show exhibit.
Summary and Takeaways for Your Business
We hope you are ready for the New Year and prepared with resolutions from our tips to make the most of your trade shows for 2018. Exhibiting at trade shows can definitely be exciting and profitable. After incorporating any or all of our tips that work for you, be sure to remember to measure your results and monitor your return on investment. See how changes you make increase sales and build upon what works, and tweak what doesn’t.