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How To Exhibit
Is now a good time to spend on a trade show exhibit? Regardless of the economic conditions or competitive landscape, there are many tactics your small business can use to ensure a winning trade show. Your About.com Guide for Small Business Information has assembled the 10 best trade show exhibit tactics:
Trade Show Exhibit Best Practices
Pick an offbeat show. Sometimes an unrelated show to your target market can be the best exposure opportunity. Nordic Track had huge success not at fitness shows, but at dental trade shows. Choose unrelated shows, and stand out, making sure the demographics are correct.
- Focus on quality. Invest in shows that reach the key decision-makers of your target market.
- Create a buzz. Months prior to the trade show, spend time informing existing clients and your market of the upcoming show. Use the show as a platform for a new product or service launch.
Partner with the trade show`s management team. Good trade show organizers will want your business to have success and come back next year. Contact the management team for help with developing an appealing booth, staff scheduling, and marketing campaigning prior to the show kick-off.
Train your trade show team. Trade shows are unlike other sales environments. Limited time and attention of attendees requires quick qualifying, and lead generating tactics. Make sure your staff is prepared and has a clear goal for each day.
Call them while they're hot. Sales staff frequently make the mistake of contacting trade show leads, months after the show. Make sure your sales staff have extra time and incentive to follow-up with all leads within weeks of your trade show exhibit.
Make your business newsworthy. Entrepreneur, Joseph Cossman, was a master of promotion. To create a buzz around his new toy spud gun at a big toy show, Cossman, ordered hundreds of pounds of potatoes and invited the local orphanage to come and play. The Spud Gun was the hit of the show. Use drama and flair to have your business stand above the competition.
Trade shows still continue to be big business for all businesses. According to The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), business-to-business spending for trade shows is third to advertising and promotion. In a world of websites, emails, and voice mails, trade shows offer one of the true opportunities to build relationships with face to face contact. Something every business can use a little more of.
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