It is no secret that trade shows provide companies and other organizations with great opportunities to show off their work. As a consequence, the typical company spends about 31.6% of its complete marketing budget on trade shows and other events. More than $24 billion is spent every year by exhibitors in the United States. The real problem with this is that at least 70% spend all of this money with no real plan or ideas of what they expect to achieve. If you are looking at exhibit design services companies, here are are a few tips to help you get as much as you can from your trade show exhibit.
- Decide what you are trying to accomplish. Do not be like the 70% of companies with no real plan. Make a list of things you want to accomplish with the exhibit and then you will be better able to determine if you have succeeded with your trade show exhibit design. Are you looking to network? Get more sign ups? Find more sales leads? Set your expectations before you talk to any exhibit design services companies because your design should complement your objectives.
- Be unique in your approach. No matter what kind of interactive exhibit design services company you may go with, you want your trade show booth to be different from all of the others. It has been estimated that the average person will spend 9.5 hours looking at trade show booths. That is a lot of information to process and booths to look at. After a while, they may begin to blur together. You do not want yours to be lost in that blur.
- Remember, your booth is an investment. If you want to do this on the cheap, you should not bother doing it at all. Your booth can be constructed to be used more than once and you should talk to the exhibit booth design services company about creating something that will serve your business or organization well for years to come. A cheaply made exhibit booth will fall apart after one or two uses. Make sure the exhibit design services company understands this.
- Give the best stuff. Swag is an important part of any exhibit booth at trade shows. People love getting free stuff but make it stuff that people can use. Sure, they can use pens and paper but everyone gives that. Spend some time thinking about what you want to give to people at the trade show. If you have bigger items, not everyone has to get them. As you give out your awesome swag, be careful to get everyone’s contact information.
- Make your booth really fun with games. There will be plenty of time for talks and lectures and other important but dry events at the trade show. Make your booth interesting and fun with games. You can put together a “Jeopardy” like game about the industry. Give away prizes and, again, get contact information. Be creative with your games. You may even have some fun yourself.
- Show off your goods and services. The people at the trade show are perfect people to show off your goods and services. These attendees should be in the “sweet spot” of people to whom you wish to market those goods and services. This is where you should make your pitch to people who have a higher chance of being receptive to it. Make the most of this opportunity and the money you spend on your exhibit booth will be money well spent.
- Follow up with your leads. Hopefully, you got a lot of contact information and made some new connections that can help with your work. Make sure you follow up with the people you talk to at the trade show. Do this within a few days of the end of the trade show to have the best results. It is best to strike while the iron is hot and make the most of the connections you made sooner than later.
If you do the appropriate planning before and the right follow up afterwards, you can really get a lot from your trade show booth and the trade show experience.
