Ruthie Abraham
While some argue that trade shows are becoming an outdated form of outbound marketing, they often offer valuable times for networking and promoting your product or service to an interested audience.
Although you may want to consider showing at less tradeshows and focusing on more cost-efficient inbound marketing strategies, there are some tradeshows that are simply too vital to your business to miss out on.
Here we’ve compiled 6 modern ways to stand out and make the most of your next trade show event.
Location matters: Sign up for the show as soon as possible to get the best possible location. If you attended in a previous year and were happy with that booth location, sign up on the spot for the same position and try to get a discount.
When considering locations, try to be near a high-traffic area, such as a coffee spot, a frequented aisle or near the main entrance/exit. If you can, try to be away from your direct competitors. Make sure there isn’t anything blocking the view to your booth which might not be apparent on the floor plan, e.g., watch out for thick structural columns that go from the ground to the high ceiling.
Pop-Up Booth: It’s a given that the booth should look very attractive and stand out, but often building a custom booth can be very expensive. Technological advances in booth materials mean that you can get a better booth for less.
If the booth isn’t too large, invest in a high quality pop-up booth that can be taken to various shows.
Digitalize: Try not to have much paper (i.e brochures, marketing pamphlets or print outs) at your booth. Rather, invest in exciting and useful giveaways such as high storage USBs with your relevant datasheets/brochures loaded onto them. See here for a helpful breakdown of what marketing materials to bring to a trade show.
Pre-Schedule Meetings: Leverage all means of communication and don’t just rely on happenstance, face-to-face interaction with existing clients and leads.
Email and call key customers and high-quality leads in advance of the show. Make appointments to speak with them and pitch your product or service. This takes the guessing out of seeing them at your booth.
Ask about running a draw with a high quality prize. The purpose of using promotional trade show items, along with drawings and prizes is to heighten your visibility and attract new customers.
While you want a high-quality prize that lures in visitors, you don’t want it to be something that isn’t relevant to your product or service as that won’t give you quality leads. Try to think outside the box about what give-away would excite your target audience.
Sponsor: Host a coffee break, happy hour, or something else involving food and drinks. This is usually cheaper than being an event sponsor, but allow your brand to be seen.
This should also be promoted long before the show, so ask that the event organizers market it to the attendees by email.
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