Exhibiting at a trade show serves diverse purposes.

You build your brand and increase its awareness through interaction with visitors. You give your product an immediate exposure to the thousands of attendees. A trade show provides a breakthrough solution in helping you develop new clients. It helps you to perfect credibility of your brand by generating leads and sales. That’s the benefits trade show offers to any exhibitor.
To conclude, a trade show is a productive marketplace for exhibitors. But it is not productive for those lacking smart strategies and planning.

Here are some of them:

No Set Goal, No Vision

Do not exhibit at trade shows if you lack a set goal of being there. Are you going there to set up just a booth and give some demos to people? No, that is not a measurable goal considered suitable for an exhibitor.

If you want to make your appearance count, your goal must be clear. For example, you need to think about attendees, interactions, follow-ups, leads and sales. You need to make a better strategy for an upcoming new show if the present one yields no expected revenue.

Size Consideration of Booth

As an exhibitor, it is of paramount value to consider standard size for your exhibition stand. Do not go for bigger rental space which would be budget-draining and difficult to manage. It will not serve your purpose either.

The point is, you need a stand correlated with the aim of your exhibition.

Here is what you can do –

Consult your trade show organizer. Ask for shell scheme meted out for all the exhibitors who may need stands in less than 20 square meters of space. Such stands are a more affordable option for budget-conscious brands.

The exhibition organizers offer shell scheme package involving pre-structured rows of stands. Book the stand of your choice and place your products accordingly.

You should be mindful of the difference between choosing a stand or space for your show under the said scheme.

For example, space means an area of floor that will allow you get a stand custom built.

Right Exhibition Venue

Exhibiting at a trade show without proper venue will not justify your marketing ROI. It becomes a thankless venture.

A well-chosen venue drives people’s attention to your stand at first sight. As a result, you get to drive values to your stand. To choose a right venue, consider size, type and orientation of your booth.

Work on the physical layout of the venue for its optimal performance to the eyes of visitors.

Don’t forget the venue to be clutter-free.

Remove physical barrier obscuring your venue from the visual reach of attendees. It is counter-intuitive to your exhibition and will result in a bad engagement.

Cost-Obsession

Do not go for trade show if you think it is way over your budget. Exhibiting calls for financial investment that may influence your budget on certain counts. Marketing experts say it is a cost-effective business-to-business medium for faster lead acquisition. Sales calls and other marketing channels can’t serve the same purpose with immediate results.

A trade show can cost-effectively serve your business needs if you do it right. But if you remain obsessed with the cost and loss, it is not advisable for you to exhibit at a trade show.

You should remember that trade shows may not work well for some companies and they fail in it. Exhibitors fail in some trade shows because of strategies not following the marketing trends. Maybe they were not able to discern to the needs of their visitors.

If you think trade show as a deterrent to your finance, do not go for it.

Unprepared Booth Staff

The way you represent your product/service to the attendees underscores the effectiveness of your exhibiting. Different industries use the presentation to their sales strategy. The importance of trained staff is undeniable for every industry.

If you want to drive results to your stand, you need to get it represented by teams who understand their job. The teams must be knowledgeable about your company’s goal. They must know how to increase engagement with the visitors at the trade show.

Besides, you are advised to follow these quick notes before you appear in a new trade show.

• Early registration will help you avail discount offers on booking of your preferred stand.
• Trade show organizer has shell scheme package meant for exhibitors participating in the show. Ensure to avail the best stand suitable for your need.
• Think more like a customer than a brand. Walk into a local trade show as a visitor, get the full insight of how visitors react towards a product and how exhibiting companies and brands mean to be different from one another regarding presentation and interaction with their respective attendees.
• Show willingness to interact with attendees and improve your network
• Follow up the participants based on their contact details obtained during the trade show.
They are some basic practices an exhibitor must maintain to get the full benefit of a trade show he is planning to appear. These things are essential and without them in your mind, it is not advisable you should exhibit a trade show.