The Reality of Trade Show Marketing
You have a product or a service that you would like to promote at a trade show, but you don’t know where to start, or how to get started. There are a number of resources that you can use to gather the necessary information to get you started. When you do decide to promote your product or service at a trade show, make sure that
your display is done in a professional, tasteful manner. Remember, the trade show display is a reflection of your company, and the first impression that many of the attendees will have of your company.
When you are considering promoting your products or services at a trade show, you should ask yourself the following questions:
1) Why does it matter how my display stand looks?
2) What can I do to attract customers to my display?
3) Does my display truly represent the business or services that I am promoting?
Let’s answer these questions.
- One reason why you should care about how your trade show display looks is because it is a representation of your company, the services and products that you offer. You only have one opportunity to make a good first impression, and at a trade show, usually your trade show display is that chance.
- To attract potential customers to your trade show display, you can have someone distribute flyers. You can purchase ad space in the trade show publication, or try email marketing prior to the show. There are numerous ways that you can attract customers. At the event, be sure that your display is colorful (not so much so that it blinds you!), brightly lit, and clean.
- Your exhibition stands need to relate to the products or services that you are promoting. Otherwise it is going to be confusing to your visitors. Not only that, the person’s visual recollection of your company will more than likely be a mental picture of your trade show display. If the display does not have your company brand or logo on it, the person will more than likely not remember much about your company at all. If your exhibition stand STANDS OUT, their mental picture will be include a great memory!
On a different note, what is it that motivates people to attend trade shows? Some people attend trade shows because they are looking for something in specific, while others attend for the atmosphere, and then you have those, who have no real interest in the products and services that are being promoted at the trade shows, but attend for the freebies, or hope that they will be one of the lucky winners in those trade show giveaways that the management of the trade show venue usually sponsors.As your primary goal should be to attract people to your trade show displays and try to convert them into a sale, keep in mind that with some trade show attendees, you’re not going to be able to convert them into sales, no matter what you do. Again, there are those that attend trade shows because they are looking for something in specific, those that attend simply for the atmosphere, and those that attend for the freebies. You should focus on those individuals who look serious and like they are looking for something in specific, like maybe the next BIG thing…which to them, could be your product or service. Perception is reality you know.