For sure, trade shows are a treasure for the exhibitors. Where else can you find prospects in a mass amount looking for solutions? But you need to plan your exhibition properly for you to make a lead in the show. You need work with your team, planners, caterers, venue management, and event party rentals to succeed.
Your presence there alone cannot help. You need a pathway to your goals. Here’s an actionable guide to help you plan a successful trade show.
Promote Yourself
According to research, 75% of the exhibition attendees already know what booths they’re visiting. Therefore, if you’re going to be there in the show, make people know about it.
Promote yourself through email, social media, and newspaper. Create a landing page or send reminders on text. Or else, you can arrange a conference too. Send reminders to your regular visitors. Also, let’s make peace with the fact that mass attracts mass. So, if you’re going to have at least a few visitors in your booth, then only it’ll make others curious enough to visit you.
Train Your Trade Show Staff
Who’s going to represent your company at the show? What is your staff wearing? Are they looking presentable or not? All of these and your general customer services are a significant concern in making your exhibition successful.
And for this, you need to train your show staff properly. Keep in mind, they’re the face of your company. Therefore, make sure they know how to cash opportunities in a trade show. At the end of the day, how your customer felt about your services is what matters. Was the staff helpful enough, friendly, and knowledgeable? These are the things that matter a lot.
Choose The Right Show
There are hundreds of trade shows happening annually. But are you supposed to be there for everyone? Absolutely no.
You need a good amount of research to know what attracts your majority of targeted customers and where you can find them. Or else, try to look for the shows where your competitors exhibit. It’ll help you find a great number of leads and money worth spent.
Note: Make sure you book your booth early to save money. Also, this way, you can choose your desired space and booth.
Set Your Budget
Now you know the date, time, and location of your show, have your staff trained, and promoted yourself as well. Your next step should be to create your budget. You must include the promotion cost into the budget.
There are different event marketing apps that you can use for this purpose. All in all, creating a budget is essential. Or else, your expenses will flood out of your control. Include your at-show expenses, staff, design, booth rent, entertainment charges, and other stuff in it and make a good plan accordingly.
Design Your Goals
Once you know your main goal for the show, you can have a structured strategy planned. For instance, if your main goal is to get more potential customers. You know your primary strategy in the show is to attract more people to visit your business at least once.
Attract And Engage Your Targeted Audience Or Customers
You’re at a show and even know your goals. What is the next step? How will you make your targeted attendees come to you for the solution?
For you to properly engage with your customers, you need enough space. Even many seasoned pros make the mistake of not having enough booth space for the interaction. Communicating with attendees in a hurry and in a crowded space will not work anyways.
Also, make sure your staff is ready enough to grab customers’ attention. You can do so by offering:
- Incentives for early birds
- Entertainment
- Refreshment
- And many more
Follow Up
Trade shows are a way to capture leads. Post the show, you’re required to turn those leads into sales by reaching up to your attendees while the show is still fresh in their minds.
A great strategy to grab potential sales is by sending follow-up emails to your hot attendees after 24-48 hours of the show. For the rest, you can send them emails thanking them for a visit.
A great way to make customers answer follow-up emails is when you add a question at the end. For instance, you can ask them how their experience with you was. And tell them you’re excited to see them again.
To ensure your audience have a great experience, designate tasks to event rentals Rockland NY and your team so you can talk with more people.
