By Andrew Gillespie
A trade exhibition is always a critical part of your marketing objectives. Whether it’s a small show or a large industrial event, a trade exhibition is always a significant source of new leads for your business. Normally, there are countless activities occurring in an exhibition, but like any other form of marketing, it is always about the results. Therefore, if you manage to attract a higher amount of attendees at your display, you are more likely to walk away from the display with more leads. This guide intends to share with you some of the tips you could use to attract more visitors to your display and generate a traffic flow of essential business leads.
Contact the attendees
For starters, you should access the list of all registered attendees from your show organisers. Once you get the list, make sure that you’ve contacted them by sending them a personalized email requesting them to sign up for a one-on-one meeting or invite them to meet your and your team at the show. You may also follow them up with a friendly email few days before the day of the show, just to let them know that you’re looking forward to meeting them. In the follow-up emails, mention the various competitions, gifts and stand-out activities that you’re be hosting in your show. This will excite and entice them to stop by the display.
Choose your stand/display location
If you have a chance of selecting where to locate your display stand, consider setting up in a key location with estimated high population. A display in a highly populated area will keep your staff more professional and busy and trust me; no one wants to visit a display where staff appear uninterested and bored. However, considering that many exhibitions will offer you an opportunity to pre-book your stand size, shape and location, ensure that you book at the earliest possible time to get the best display spot.
Publish your business or product before the exhibition
A trade publication is a better platform to promote your business or your products, especially if you plan to parade your products in an exhibition. A couple of months before launching your exhibition, seek writers and editors of the best publication in your industry to publish your new products, news about your business and products or anything that might interest your target market. By doing this, your attendees will familiarize with your products before they attend the exhibition. Also, if your products are attractive and of superior quality, a multitude of people will make a stop at your display. You might also want to spend a part of your marketing budget to seek coverage in a publication or invest in a column space as even the smallest ad or impression can close you a worthwhile deal.
Stand layout and graphic design
Make sure your exhibition display stand encompasses different components such as iPad stand, pop-up stand, branded tablecloth and leaflet dispenser, it is critical that you create an attractive layout, one that will exploit the available space that you have. Cestrian Imaging can now print large-format fluorescent prints which is a great way to make your display stand out amongst the crowd. A good idea is to try out different designs and layouts, then ask a colleague to input what they like or what they would change. This way, you create the most visually appealing and eye-catching exhibition stand and one that’s more likely to attract potential attendees to your exhibition.
Recruit enthusiastic staff at your display
Having the right staff to work at your exhibition is critical to attracting more visitors at your display. A staff team comprising a mix of outgoing, friendly and knowledgeable individuals is exactly what you should be looking for. You should use a ‘spotter’ and a ‘hook’ candidate in your show. A ‘hook’ candidate is an individual who attracts curious people to the store while a ‘spotter’ candidate is an individual who approaches people, bringing them onto the exhibition display. An enthusiastic team of staff who understand the purpose of the exhibition will be willing to strive and achieve that purpose as well as execute their responsibilities concurrently.
Giveaways and competitions
Nothing excites people like getting a chance to win free stuff. Similarly, including a competition that attendees can partake and eventually win a prize is very engaging and inviting. For instance, I was once invited to the Columbia Business to Business exhibition three years ago. The organizers had printed a banner with the faces of their staff members, running a competition for us to guess the combined age of all these on the display. It was considered a large success. The completion created so much buzz in the exhibition attracting so many visitors that they had to find space to accommodate some of them. Competitions are often a great way to create buzz about your display. It is therefore important to ensure you’ve used it to your advantage to get the business lead that you’re looking for.
Creating a hands-on experience
Finally, you’re supposed to engage your attendees by providing them with interactive touch-screen technologies and product demonstrations so that they can practically understand every aspect of your products. An iPad is an example of such an interactive marketing tool. Interactive tools give attendees a greater incentive to visit your display, not to mention an enjoyable user experience.
