You and your business/company have decided to either re attend a particular trade show or have decided to exhibit at a show for the first time. How can you make your Trade Show Exhibition Stand that much better and that much more effective?
Try some of these tips that we have found to work to great effect in the past.
Sponsorship – Sponsor a lunch break, tea break or a dinner. Everyone is at that particular tradeshow for a reason. Take advantage of your captive audience to full effect. Speak to the organizers early and see what opportunities are available. A lot of value can be added to your trade show experience by enhancing your experience as a sponsor.
Branding – Sounds obvious but make sure your brand and its uses are easy to view at a glance. Trade shows get busy in waves. If a potential client walks by and you (or other staff) are too busy to speak to them, make sure your message gets across to them very quickly.
Branded clothing is another great branding method to a make your company and its message stand out. It will enhance your image not only whilst on your exhibition stand but as you and your staff walk around, you will be advertising your company.
Offer something for free:
It doesn’t have to be something expensive. There are numerous ‘tricks’ you can use to get people on your stand, ready for you to convert into a customer. Things we have tried in the past to great effect include:
Water: People get thirsty walking around exhibitions and most venues tend to charge an arm and a leg for water. Buy bottles of water, brand with your logo, web address and give them away for free. Not only will this get people on your stand but they will walk off with them, sending your brand around the expo.
Coffee: The same principle as the water but maybe more applicable now in winter. Venues charge exorbitant prices for not so great coffee. Hire yourself a coffee machine, find some great coffee beans and start brewing. If you have a little bit of budget hire someone to make it. This will free up your staff to talk to potential clients and pursue leads.
Alcohol: This is a little more tricky. You will first have to check with the show organizers if alcohol is permitted. But it can be great. You don’t need a full bar, pick something and go with it. Again you can organize yourself a barman if you have the budget. Otherwise it’s not so hard for staff to pour a glass of wine, mix a quick cocktail or serve a beer.
Games: We have seen this used for medical conferences to great effect. Yes, even doctors are partial to playing a quick game. You can push the concept further by running a competition. Playing golf on a Nintendo Wii can be turned into; closet to the pin wins a prize. You will often see colleagues trying to outdo each other, all the while staying longer on your stand.
Business Card Competition: Ask every person who takes interest in your stand, to leave behind their business cards in a big ‘fish’ bowl. At the end of the show pick a card out of the bowl and give away a prize. This is great for two reasons, everybody loves to win a prize and you get a whole ‘fish’ bowl full of business cards, which are all potential follow up leads. (or at best mark the cards which are good leads.)
Interactive – Get yourself a photo booth, shoot pictures of clients and potential customers, print it out with your branding and give it to the people in the shot as a memento. In a similar vein, Dance Heads is also interactive and involves super imposing people’s heads onto cartoon bodies that dance. Believe it or not its very popular.
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Hott 3D Marketing designs and builds trade show exhibition stands. We are based in Cape Town, South Africa but build country wide including Durban and Johannesburg.
Contact us today for all your exhibition needs, here.
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