A great exhibition has come up, and you know your company belongs there. You arrange your exhibition space with the organisers, mark it on your calendar and spread the word - but what more can you do to get the most out of it?
1. Market your Attendance Prior
Make your presence known long before you enter the exhibition hall. Exhibitions are a great way to generate new leads, but what about your existing contacts? Use social media to make your existing followers aware that they can find your business there. This is the perfect opportunity to catch up with current leads by inviting them to come and check out your stand, while also generating new leads! Use social media to create a conversation to ask what people would like to see from your company at the exhibition. This is a great way to optimise your resources and get people looking forward to your presence at the event. For example, you can create an event, digital event, or even a hashtag to get the conversation going! #CatchUsAtTheExpo!
2. Brand your Stand
When there are a lot of exhibitors at a conference, it can be daunting to propel your company ahead of the rest. Make sure you pay attention to the aesthetics of your stand before you get there, so your stall doesn't get overshadowed by your competitors.
Plan your stand, organise any necessary furniture and even practice setting up any tricky equipment prior if necessary. If your stall doesn't look appealing, or people are confused about what your business is - chances are they will simply keep walking.
Before it's time for the exhibition, arrange to purchase some custom furniture that is quite easy to set up. For example, ordering a foldable and custom printed marquee with your company's name, logo and colours on it will ensure that attendees can easily distinguish you from the rest! Plus - it's super easy to set up.
Additionally, arrange for some promotional items and giveaways to include at the exhibition stand. Thinking of handy promotional materials that attendees can use frequently will help market your brand beyond the exhibition! Great examples of useful promotional materials are USB hubs and notebooks, but the opportunities are endless!
3. First Impressions
Life seems to be all about first impressions. This is the case for exhibitions too! Once you've arranged to brand your stand design clearly and neatly, you have created a great visual first impression for attendees to distinguish your company from the rest.
Think the work is complete? Think again. The first impressions don't stop there. Once you've drawn the attendees to your stand from your signage, you will need to give them a good first impression, communicatively! Make sure you only allow people with excellent communication skills to attend your exhibitions as they are the ones giving first impressions and representing your brand to potential new clientele. Ensure your representatives are happy and full of information to provide attendees!
4. Communicate and Collaborate
Once you have made a great first impression, it's essential to ensure the communication does not end there. Give your representatives some notes to touch on while interacting with attendees - but do not give them a script. Giving sales representatives dialogues can appear extremely forced to attendees - and a good sales representative shouldn't need one.
Give your new visitors an experience! Question yourself, is there any way you can allow attendees to sample your product, or give them a demonstration? If not, try to implement a fun and unique experience to your exhibition stall. Try hiring a masseuse, or arrange free coffees for attendees! Having attendees return to your booth because they want to will benefit your company.
Were you expecting more attendees at the exhibition? When the exhibition is quieter than expected, allow other stalls to become your leads. Far too often, you may find yourself twiddling your thumbs waiting for someone to walk past - this is not productive. Network with representatives from other booths. If there is more than one representative at your stand, take turns in walking around the exhibition yourselves and talking to other businesses. This generates more prospects and contacts than sitting there waiting for the right person.
5. Ask for Feedback
Once the exhibition is done, and your stall is all packed up and complete - the work is still not done! After receiving email addresses and contact information from the exhibition, create a short survey to ask attendees for feedback. This will help generate a report to measure how successful hosting a stall at a particular exhibition was for your company. It will also facilitate a discussion on what to do differently, or keep the same for the next exhibition. Asking for feedback is a great way to gain insight of how well your company was represented, from an external source.
While there is much more that can be done to make the most out of your exhibition stall - following these 5 steps gives you a great basis. Remember to give a great first impression from your representatives and stand designs, market your stall in advance on social media, communicate well to attendees and ask for any feedback!
Good luck at your next exhibition!
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