You must agree with me that a trade show is vital to help you showcase what you have to offer. It’s in a tradeshow that you get to interact with strangers who might turn out to be your potential customers.
Most businesses use trade shows as a marketing strategy. If you have an upcoming trade show, you need to know that it is a golden opportunity.
Use it to attract prospects. How can you do that? In this post, I have shared some insights that will help you prepare for your upcoming trade show.
- Outline your goals
Have you put down what you would like to achieve by the end of the show? This should be a time to brainstorm so that you can have a plan.
You don’t have to accomplish many things the same day during your show. But it is crucial at least to achieve something and is possible only if you set goals.
You should measure your goals and ensure that they are achievable. Identify the audience you are trying to target.
- Venue
By this time, you must be aware of your target audience. When choosing the site of your show, consider whether your audience hangs around there.
What’s the size of your trade show? Some trade shows don’t require a large convention center.
If you are planning to have a small trade show, consider using a banquet hall or a hotel ballroom. Consider booking them a few months in advance to avoid disappointments.
- Prepare your marketing materials
Remember that this is the place to market your products. You need to prepare marketing materials for your audience.
It’s good when your visitors go home with something to remember about your business and some details as well. Below are marketing materials that you can’t afford to miss.
- Business cards– These will help your customers have your contacts and reach you anytime they need your products.
- Booklets- Have you considered writing down some details about your product? While the trade show is a place to market it, you may not have time to tell all its features.
- Stop selling start listening
- Send followup notes to best prospects after the event
- Don’t get into political discussions with people you do not know
Why don’t you put some details about your company and products in a booklet? As you do this, ensure that your booklet is appealing.
You also need to incorporate posters and flyers in your marketing materials.
- Entertainment
Would you love to attract many people in your event and keep them there longer than you expected? Consider having entertainment in your tradeshow.
However, make sure that entertainment suits your event’s theme. After the trade show, consider having an evening party to summarise everything.
This will help you to network with attendees who tend to know more about your business.
Just like the venue, book the entertainers early and mention them in your advertising materials. This too increases the number of people going to attend your tradeshow.
- Create professional social media profiles
If you have a fantastic product, your customers will be glad to share it with their connections. As you create your printed materials for your tradeshow, include your social media profiles/names.
This will make it easy for them to connect with you. Make sure you have a business Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter.
Ensure that you update your social media pages regularly and engage with your audience. They can follow you later and keep in touch with you.
Don’t forget including your LinkedIn profile as well to connect with you.
- Estimate your budget
How much money would you like to spend on that trade show? Remember that you need to make it professional.
Calculate the costs and determine how much you would like to spend on the event. Try as much as possible to cut costs where necessary.
Hiring entertainers and paying for the venue may be quite costly. However, you can cut costs when creating printable marketing materials.
For example, you can choose a cheap booklet printing company that will take care of your printable.
Your business is essential, and you need to make it grow. One of the ways to shoot up your profits is to market your products effectively. That shows the need to prepare adequately for your trade show before the material day.
Have you ever conducted a trade show? How did you prepare to make it a success?
