Make The Most Out Of Exhibiting With 10 Helpful Tips
Exhibiting at events is a great way to meet and connect with potential customers. Whether it is your first time exhibiting or your hundredth, these tips will help you to get the most out of your exhibition.
What Are Your Goals?
Goals can be different for each business. For example, your goals may be to generate new leads and sell products or services. Or your goals may be to expand brand awareness and getting noticed. Or your goal may just be to get customers and suppliers to recognise and remember you. Whatever goals you set yourself, it’s important to set them and think how you will achieve them. Make a list and plan how you’re going to achieve it to make your experience exhibiting 1,000 times better. Here are some suggestions to consider:
- Sales – price lists, mobile payment device, bags for products, information for services
- Lead Generation – data capture, newsletter subscriptions, register your interest
- Set sales goals – Maybe break them down into tiers, go for Bronze, Silver and the big one Gold!
Having achievable goals is going to take pressure off you. Which means you can stay relaxed when exhibiting. And most importantly, have fun.
Plan Your Stand
It’s important that you plan your stand and it should be one of the first things you do. Most conferences and events will offer a 6′ space with a table and chair. Expos and trade shows usually offer space in cubic metres. Check to see what space you have to plan with.
You want to make your stand eye catching by using colour. Use bright colours so that you won’t just blend into the rest of the room. It is a good idea to use colours that are consistent with in your brand so that you are easily recognised. However, if you feel as though your brand may not give you a bright and varied colour pallet to achieve this, you can always experiment with some colour variations until you have the look that you are going for. This is why it is important to plan ahead, this way you will know how your stand is going to look before you exhibit your business.
An eye catching stand is going to draw the attention of potential customers and connections. Get creative and think what will draw people to you. Could you add an activity or a photo opportunity that will get people talking?
When planning your stand, think about handouts. What can you provide that will make people remember you. Having informative leaflets, booklets or even some of your products on your stand is going to make you look more interesting and professional. However, you do not want to over clutter your stand.
Get Social
Before you exhibit, it’s a good idea to post on social media. Pink Link creates graphics and shares hashtags to market events which you can use to tell your customers and contacts that you’re involved.
Get connected with fellow exhibitors and attendees. Connect with them on social media posts and tag them in posts saying “looking forward to seeing you there”. This way, you will already have people to connect with on the day.
Branding
When you are exhibiting maintain your brand so that people know who you are. You want to make sure that your brand logo is visible, even at a distance. By featuring your logo, people are going to find it easier to recognise you. Even what you are wearing can play a part, pick out your wardrobe using colours that tie in with your brand.
Backdrops
Backdrops are a great way to make your stand look eye catching and professional. Using a backdrop is really going to make you stand out. It’s going to separate you, form the rest of the room. Making you more noticeable. You still need your backdrop to maintain your brand. Using pop up banners are a great way to present yourself in a professional way whilst maintaining your brand. If you have a large banner you may need to check with the organiser to ensure you have enough space.
Products And Information
Exhibiting is an excellent opportunity to show of your products and services. Feature your newest products to encourage sales. You should also feature your most popular products, whether they are old or new. Remember, you don’t want to over clutter your stand! This can make your stand look messy and disorganised. You can keep products under the table to bring out and top up as you sell. If your business provides services, you can still feature these. Have leaflets or booklets that you can present to people.
Video can be a great way to capture interest as well. Whether you have exhibition panels with a in-built screen or a laptop on the table, they can help you bring your message to life. We’d suggest having subtitles on any video so you can talk to your customers without competing over the sound.
Multi-touch table top screens can create great customer engagement. Whilst presenting information, you can also include interactive games or puzzles to help capture the customers’ attention. Don’t forget to tell the organiser that you’ll need a power source.
Go into detail about what your business does and the services you offer. Keeping your sentences short and to the point. People are not going to read through paragraphs when they have other stands to visit. Keeping it simple will give potential customers an overview of what you do as a business. This way, they can soon decide if your services are right for them.
What About Business Cards?
Business cards are a great resource to use. You can give people all of the information they need to contact you. They are a popular way to share information and collect data.
You may also want to consider virtual business cards. These are great for the environment and much more adapted to modern technology. People can just scan a QR code and have all your details on their phone. This means that people will find it easy to contact you, and they have no way of loosing your contact details. I really recommend that you have a look into this if you are interested in business cards .
Take a look at this tutorial : How to Create a VIRTUAL BUSINESS CARD for FREE | Canva Tutorial – YouTube
Freebies And More
Freebies and offers are a must when exhibiting. People love something to take away. Be creative about it. The usual pens and pads are always handy. But maybe consider shoppers with your logo and values. You could even provide biscuits or cup cakes with your logo as the cherry on top. You could ask people to post them on social media post event with a hashtag for more engagement. Ask yourself, “what is the best promotional item I’ve received?” You want to provide something that will make people remember you.
It is also a good idea to provide offers for people attending the event. Who doesn’t love a good deal? This will draw people to your stand. Giving you a chance to make some sales. By providing offers, your going to get people at the event talking about your brand. Which is exactly what you want.
Making Connections
Its very important to engage when exhibiting. Don’t just sit there waiting for people. Hide your coffee cup or half eaten biscuit. Stand up and move around your stand. This way you will always look approachable.
Take note of any new connections that you make. Make it a priority to follow up with people within 48 hours. Industry Statistics say that there is no follow up with leads from 80% of exhibitors. This often results in loss of customers and connections. Therefore, has to be one of the first things you do when you have finished exhibiting. You do not want to loose any of the connections that you made while exhibiting.
Enjoy yourself
Do not forget to smile! You want to maintain a positive attitude. People should leave your stand feeling positive and interested in your brand. If you’re giving the impression that you ‘CBA’, then people aren’t going to engage with you. And you wont be making the most out of your time exhibiting.
Exhibiting is a fun, social event. You’re here to make new connections, friends and have a chat. But most importantly, enjoy yourself.
Happy exhibiting!