Are you exciting about an upcoming trade show? A trade show is one of the best places for a company to advertise itself. This is where your brand gets to showcase what it sells. This is where you can build your customer base and make great sales.
But before you head to the trade show, you have to take the time to prepare. While you might only be thinking about your exhibition, you will have countless other booths alongside yours. The trade show will have hundreds or thousands of businesses all vying for the same potential customers.
So how do you make sure you outshine your competition?
This guide will show you how to prepare for trade show exhibitions and promote your brand at your next trade event.
- Plan the Design
Your first step should be to plan the design of your exhibit. You should consider hiring a service such as Rockwayexhibits.com to accomplish this. Most trade show booths look similar. This is a great advantage for your business. It means that you can have a different aesthetic from your competitors.
You want to make sure your logo features prominently on your booth. You want to make sure you use colors that can draw the attendees in. Take the time to research different trade show designs to see which models work best for your brand.
- Set Specific Goals
You want to make specific goals before you head to the trade show. You want to think about what you want your business to accomplish at the trade show. For example, how many attendees do you wish to attract? Give a specific and realistic number.
Let’s say you wish to attract 100 attendees. Out of these 100, how many do you want to get to sign up for your email newsletter? How many do you hope to get to follow your social media accounts? How many do you hope to get to buy your products/services?
Don’t exaggerate your goals but also try not to sell yourself short. Set the bar high so that your team can work toward meeting a goal.
After the trade event ends, you can track the progress of your goals. You can check if you hit your goals or not. This will help you determine what you did right and what needs to improve for a future trade event.
- Promote Your Presence At the Trade Show
Have you finalized the date for the trade event? If so, you cannot waste a moment in promoting your company’s presence at the trade event. The first step is to send an email to your newsletter subscribers. In this email, let your customers know that you’ll be at the trade event and what they can expect. Make sure that the email has a link to buy tickets for the trade event.
Create Instagram posts that give information on when the trade event is. You can also share pictures of your team preparing for the event. You can also use IG Reels and IGTV to share videos of preparation for the trade event. At the event, you can quickly share photos/videos of the trade event to bring in last-minute attendees. In your Instagram bio, share the link to buy tickets.
You can also use Facebook to create an event page for the trade show. You can post on the event page and it’ll send updates to confirmed attendees. On the Facebook event page, you can also include a link to buy tickets.
LinkedIn is also another option for inviting potential attendees. It’s best to reach out to a few connections for this. Write a personalized note to each one of your connections. They must get the impression that you are inviting them and this isn’t a generic invitation. In your personalized direct message, share the link to buy tickets!
There are many ways to promote ahead of time, but as you can see the one constant is to share the link to buy tickets! You can also give away free tickets as a promotion to a select few clients.
- Prepare Your Giveaways
Every trade booth will give away a few free products. Your trade booth has to do the same.
Work with your sales and marketing team to determine what to give away. If you sell physical products, you want to give away a few of them at the event. If you only sell services, consider offering discounts for the service.
You should give away merchandise with your company’s logo. Even if an attendee doesn’t immediately engage with your brand, they will remember it if they keep free merchandise. They might make their morning coffee from your branded mug and then decide to visit your website!
It takes time for custom merchandise to get created, so make sure you order these products as soon as you confirm the trade event date.
- Plan Your Schedule
Once you’ve registered your booth for the next trade event, you have to immediately start planning your schedule. Gather your team together and start delegating tasks. You need to set goals for them to complete until the day of the event.
At least once a week your team should meet to see if you are on track. For example, each week your marketing team can update you with how many emails were sent. Your sales team can keep you up to date on the products you’ll give away at the trade event.
By using a schedule, you will make sure that you hold your team accountable. You can also give each team member a checklist ahead of time. They can check off tasks as they complete them and inform other team members. You also must ensure that every day is put to use before the trade event. Don’t take a single day off if you want to stay ahead of your competition!
See You At the Trade Show
Now you know how to prepare your business for the next trade show. Make sure you follow these steps so that you set up a great trade booth.
This will ensure that you stand out from your competition. You’ll have no difficulty building your customer base and making sales!
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