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Garside
Signs and Displays Top 10 Trade Show Display Tips
Here
are 10 great trade show tips we’ve come across that are sure
to make your organization stand out at that next trade show. What
are some of your favorite tips? Let us know!
Market your trade show exhibition.
Depending on your budget allocation, market to target customers
before the trade show. Use a short clear direct mail/email piece
letting target companies know your company will be exhibiting,
what the booth number is, where your booth is physically located
at the show and what their benefits will be if they stop by your
booth. Even better, send out personalized email invitations and
get responses on who will be attending and who won’t.
Establish
a Gender Balance in Your Booth
Some people may feel more comfortable approaching your booth if
it’s not just full of one gender. It mixes things up, and
allows visitors to your exhibit to choose to relate on different
levels. How often have you seen a booth full of all men, arms
folded, and ready to hit you with their carefully rehearsed sales
pitch? It doesn’t work for them and it won’t work for
you.
Stay
put
Make
sure there’s always someone manning your exhibit. If you
absolutely need to leave, make sure you have someone to cover
for you. You can always wander around in the early morning before
trade show delegates arrive, or later after everyone leaves.
Stand
Out
This is a pretty basic one, but you’d be surprised how many
people make this mistake. Make sure that you and any of those
staffing your exhibit are wearing similar attire. Even if you’re
just a small company, a couple branded golf shirts, dress shirts,
or t-shirts (depending on your market) in your company colors
will go a long way to in standing out from minglers.
Stay
on Budget
Establish your trade show budget ahead of time and weigh the costs
of the trade show over the benefits. Stick to your budget, and
try not to get caught up in all of the excitement and last minute
expenses.
Get
Carded
Bring
a healthy stock of business cards - at least twice as many as
you think you’ll need. If its time to order new cards, consider
a unique card design that is less traditional - if only for trade
shows. Think about when you arrive home from a trade show and
sort through your pile of business cards. Which ones do you revisit,
and which ones end up in a box somewhere?
Promotional
Items
Take a look in your desk drawer. See all those pens, pencils,
magnets, and clips you collected from your trade show visits?
When was the last time you thought about half of those companies?
Do you even remember what half of them even do? Go easy on the
promotional items - and if you absolutely insist on giving something
away, make sure its remotely useful.
Contests…
Setup a ballot box and some ballots including their Name, Company
Name, Email, and one unique thing about the person or company
(favorite hobby, etc..). Not only will this help you to better
analyze the traffic to your exhibit after the show, but you’ll
also have an interesting tidbit to work into conversation.
Follow-up
with your visitors
Just because you created a great booth doesn't mean you'll attract
good traffic at your booth. Our fourth tip discussed limited pre-show
marketing. Not only do you need to market your attendance before
the show, but you must follow up after the show on all the leads
generated during the show to effectively ensure your trade show
investment will be optimized. Those show leads cost you a lot
of money. Make sure you translate some into sales for your company.
Pull
a crowd to your trade show booth
Use an interactive display, such as a quiz or game on a computer,
a contest draw, a scheduled demonstration; it doesn't need to
be fancy to draw people's interest and get them to cluster around
your trade show display rather than the others.
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