While it can seem exciting to consider a trade show, you must focus on the exhibit display and be successful. The point of the tradeshow is to generate more sales or more leads, but this requires knowing the rules that can help ensure your success. For example, you need to know why you’re there, who the audience is and how to attract them to your booth.
Why There
You have to know why you are there and what you hope to accomplish. Otherwise, you could be wasting your time, money and effort. Ask questions about your reasons for being there. Are you breaking through in some way? Are you seeking a new strategy for business purposes or do you want to get your brand out there to more people?
Who’s The Audience
Next, you want to consider your audience. There will be particular audiences at all tradeshows, so it is important that you consider who they will be and if they fit into your demographic. If not, you won’t get as many leads, and it may not be worth your time. Your target audience may require different engagements, so you may want to train the other members on how to engage them and interact with them.
Attracting Them
The whole point of the trade show is to attract others to your exhibit display and get them interested in what you are selling or offering. There are many tips out there to help you attract potentials to your booth, such as providing practical swag, using color and text efficiently and use attention-grabbers. The ideas are limitless, though may be somewhat limited by your budget.
Measure Success
Shows aren’t just about going and getting people excited though that is part of it. You also need to effectively measure your success. There are many software options out there to help you measure tradeshow success, based on how much money you put into the event and how many sales were generated because of it. Once you know this number, you can plan other similar activities knowing you will be successful and to what degree.
Follow-Up
The number one thing you should be doing is following up with your audience. If people want more information, make sure you take down their information and provide it. You may want to employ tablets or smartphones at the event so that people can input their information immediately, so you have it on file.
