Plan ahead and maximise your exhibition presence!
Plan ahead and maximise your exhibition presence!
Here at Green Umbrella, we are coming back into events season, with one of our main events that we exhibit at – Recruitment Agency Expo - coming up in March. Shows and exhibitions are a great way to get your product or service in front of potential customers and business partners. Whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned pro, make sure that you’re ready for an exhibition that will leave a lasting impression on your target audience and be beneficial to your business, so plan ahead and maximise your exhibition presence!
Preparing for an exhibition: What to Consider?
When you’re preparing for an exhibition or trade show, there are several things that you need to consider. First, you need to ask yourself what your goals are. Are you looking to generate leads? Are you hoping to build brand awareness? Or are you looking to showcase a particular product or service? Once you’ve answered these questions, you can start to plan your exhibition stand accordingly.
What type of stand will you be having? Do you need to book furniture or power sockets? What about marketing collateral like brochures, leaflets, business cards, and promotional items? Do you need to have laptops, tablets or screens to showcase products or services? How are you going to record leads? Larger exhibitions may have things like badge scanning to help you record everyone who visits your stand or for smaller events, you might go down the “old fashioned” route of collecting business cards or simply writing down contact details.
Finally, you need to think about how you’re going to staff your exhibition stand. Are you going to need a team of people to manage the stand, or will one person be enough? It’s important to make sure that whoever you choose is trained in customer service and can answer any questions that your visitors may have.
Create a checklist to ensure your exhibition runs smoothly and to ensure you have enough time to plan what you need to do and implement beforehand. If you are working with a team, you should also include a list of tasks for each team member - thinking about what will be happening before, during and after the event.
Designing Your Exhibition Stand
When it comes to designing your exhibition stand, there are several things to consider. First, you need to think about the overall look and feel of the stand. Do you need to have a bespoke stand designed, or will you be using more modular components such as roller banners and fabric stands? When it comes to the actual design, ensure your message and branding are clear and impactful – you need to stand out in a crowded space!
Once you’ve decided on the overall look and feel of the stand, you need to think about the layout of the space itself. Where and how will you display any leaflets, brochures or giveaways? How will you arrange any furniture? It’s important to think about how you will be interacting with your visitors, so make it engaging and inviting – don’t just sit behind a table and expect people to come to you!
Printed marketing colateral
Leaflets, brochures and business cards are essential for any exhibition or trade show...make sure they are well-designed, eye-catching and, of course, on-brand!
Leaflets or flyers should include information about your product, service or special offer, as well as contact information and, of course, a call to action. Be specific about what you want people to do – Do you want them to call you? Visit a web address? Sign up for a webinar? Maybe think about using QR codes as well so that people can take action there and then or adding a shaped cut out to make them stand out!
The humble business card can still be an important part of your exhibition toolkit. They should include all your key contact information and a brief description of your product or service. It’s important to make sure that your business cards are professional and memorable, as they could be the first and last thing a potential client will see of you and your brand. Again, you can think about the use of QR codes for such things as directing prospects to your LinkedIn profile so they can connect with you.
Giveaways and Promotional Items
Giveaways and promotional items are a great way to engage with your visitors and generate leads by encouraging people to visit your stand. When choosing giveaways and promotional items, make sure it’s something memorable or useful that will get your brand noticed.
Sometimes you might be able to tie in the giveaway to a theme associated with the event. For example, last year at the TEAM Conference, there was a festival theme, so we had bright green sunglasses as our giveaway – perfect for the festival-themed evening dinner as well as perhaps hiding away with a sore head the morning after!
We even managed to persuade keynote speaker, Rugby Referee Nigel Owens to grab a pair of GU sunnies and pose for a pic!
Staff and training
When you’re preparing for a trade show, it’s important to make sure that your staff are trained and ready to go. Make sure that all of your team are knowledgeable about your product or service and are able to answer any questions that your visitors may have. It’s also important to make sure that your staff are friendly and approachable. This will ensure that your visitors feel comfortable and are more likely to engage with you on your stand.
Planning For After the Show
Once the show is over, it’s important to plan for what comes next. Make sure that you have a system in place for collecting leads and contact information and ensure that you follow up with your visitors in a timely manner to maximise your leads and opportunities.
Plan ahead and maximise your exhibition presence!
Preparing for a trade show or exhibition can seem daunting, but if you take the time to plan ahead, you can ensure that your exhibition or trade show is a successful one!
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