Turning it on at the Trade Show: How to maximize the impact of your booth this trade show season!
The trade show season is upon us with thousands of businesses around the country looking to entice existing and new customers through their doors to boost the sales for the year ahead. It’s the ideal time for your company to announce itself and make a statement of intent, but making sure you set up your booth is of utmost importance! Here at SHOUT!, we work with companies to perfect their trade show preparation, execution and follow-up period to ensure an effective marketing campaign that yields real results. Here are some key points for you to remember for the coming season.
Pre-Trade Show Prep!
Preparing for a trade show is not all about the event on the day. There are plenty of tips and tricks that you can follow to maximize interest and hopefully convert this into sales. One of the most important is to generate interest ahead of the show by making a press release, sending out invitations to past customers and possible newly interested clients, and using advertisements that are accessible for your customers to highlight your presence at the show. By doing this, you maximize the interest in your booth by getting potential customers to actively seek you out rather than relying solely on chance interactions, potentially boosting sales for the coming year!
During The Trade Show
Getting in early is important when you want to make the most of your trade show opportunity! Contact the organizer as soon as possible, and ask for a floor plan of the trade show area and where any seminars or demonstrations will be taking place. Using this, you can calculate where to best position your booth to maximize the opportunity for customer interest and then you can start thinking about what kind of marketing material you’ll need to make an impact. The quality and impact of your printed material is critical for the success of your trade show booth, so don’t skimp on this part as you want to come across as professional as possible! Where your booth is placed in relation to the main flow of people will dictate the size and type of collateral you use, including posters, banners, podium wraps, digital screens, flyers, business cards and other promotional material. Use these types of visual material to entice potential clients in, and then get them to sign up to a mailing list so you can tap into their interest after the show!
Post-Trade Show Follow-up
The classic and most widely made mistake for companies is the lack of follow-up activities after a trade show. Many people get huge mailing lists or massive amounts of contact data from interested potential clients and simply don’t act on it. This is like watching sales fall through your fingers, and there is absolutely no excuse for not making follow-up material a huge priority! Use personalized leaflets, promotional mails or even postcards that reinforce the need for them to engage with the service you’re offering.
Trade shows are a brilliant way to reach out to new long-term clients and reinforce those old client connections with your regulars. Ensure you invest in high-quality material and really plan how you will keep interested potential clients engaged with these key points and ideas. SHOUT! have years of experience in helping businesses prepare for trade shows so contact us now to see how we can develop high-quality design that fits your needs and maximizes interest in your brand. To help get you started, SHOUT! will beat any print quote by 10% for any orders in June and July. Use promo code PATRIOT when ordering, and make this trade show season one to remember!
