Tag: Trade Show

Trade Show Booth

Five Ways to Help Your Trade Show Booth Stand Out From the Crowd

Have you ever attended a trade show with boring displays and unenthusiastic salespersons? You probably walked out uninspired and disappointed that you wasted your time. Don't be a vendor that fails to make an impression on interested attendees with a dull trade show booth. Grab a visitor's attention and get them excited about your brand and what it has to offer. Here are five tips to help create a striking trade show booth that'll stand out from the crowd: Target Your Audience You'll be most successful if you have a trade show booth that matches the trade show theme. Attending Comic-Con? You'll want to be modern and edgy. A flower and garden show? You'll want to show your softer side. You may want to rent a booth instead of owning one. When you own a booth, you are limited to one design, but with a rental, you can choose from multiple styles that allow creativity and flexibility for different trade shows. Create a Crowd People are attracted to trade show booths that have a crowd. Help create a group by staffing your booth with friendly and enthusiastic employees who can welcome people into your exhibit. Offer light snacks or coffee so people will linger and browse your products. Make sure your staff knows how to manage the booth so they can generate leads and connect with both new and old clients. Create an Eye-Catching Display You have one chance to make a first impression, so make it a good one. Create a presentation with your company name prominently displayed so everyone can see it. Use lights and multimedia—think videos or music—to get people's attention, but don't go overboard and deter visitors because your booth is too loud or distracting. You should always look to invest in your trade show displays. This helps build credibility for your brand, attracts the right audiences, and improves chances for sales queries and conversions. Make sure you are setting up the displays to make it customer-friendly, informative and aesthetically pleasing. Use short, simple headlines to convey a bold message that'll pique visitors’ interests. Lastly, don't forget to publicize your social media links so people can connect with your brand both during and after the event. Turn It Into an Experience Bring a product demo so event attendees can experience your product firsthand. If you can't bring in a product demo, then create an experience for your attendees. For example, if your product helps eliminate odors in a workspace, create a space with perfumes, colognes, food, and other typical office smells. People can step into the enclosed space, try out your product, and have a sensory experience they won't forget. Use a Contest or Prize to Create a Buzz Everyone loves to get something for free, so don't hesitate to give away swag or have a raffle. Use brightly colored stickers, light-up bracelets, and other eye-catching trinkets to get your brand noticed on the event floor. Giving out swag with your brand name extends your reach beyond your booth. If your swag is good enough, people not only wear it on the event floor, but they also may bring it home with them. You can further your engagement by offering a door prize to those who wear your promotional items during the show or share them on social media. Don’t just fill up space at a trade show—let your brand make an impression! Keep these tips in mind as you prepare your booth and staff for your next trade show. Read Also: Top 8 Advantages Of Effective Web Design And Development Execute the Perfect Expo with This Trade Show Checklist How to Plan For a Successful Trade Show Exhibits?

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Trade Show Exhibits

How to Plan For a Successful Trade Show Exhibits?

Participating in a trade show can be time-consuming, tiring, and it uses a tremendous amount of money. However, if you plan for it, you can maximize your investment returns. First, you have to invest in a perfectly designed booth. To get that, you have to contract a reliable booth vendor. An experienced booth vendor will create a cabin based on your requirements and observe the theme of the trade show exhibits that you plan to attend. The good thing is, the booth is the first thing that attracts clients, but once it does, you should know how to maintain a conversation and provide substantial information about the products. Afterward, they will decide whether to buy it or not. So, if the products are of good quality and you've proved their worth, you'll have customers. What to do to Have Successful Trade Show Exhibits? Typically, your vendor will encourage you to rent or buy a booth that mimics the theme of trade show exhibits. However, some things remain constants. Research Before attending trade show exhibits, research the theme, the number of people who will attend, and the objective of the trade show. For example, if you visit a trade show where companies are selling the same products like yours, it will be competitive, and your ROI will be undermined. Also, if the trade show is known to attract a few people, the chances are that you won't get enough leads for ROI are quite high. Therefore, conduct intensive research and evaluate every possible outcome. You should research on every trade show before attending. Set participation goals After determining whether the trade show exhibits are worth attending, ask yourself what your goals are. Do you want to launch a product or promote an existing item? You can have several purposes, but you have to ensure that these goals are achievable and that they will give you a good ROI. Budget How much are you willing to spend on trade show exhibits? First, you have to consider the rent of the space that you'll be hiring and secondly, the price of a display booth. Fortunately, you can either rent or buy a display booth. So, consider the factors affecting the price of the booth and rent one that is within your budget. Nonetheless, if you compromise on the quality of the booth design, you risk losing the investment. Remember to book your exhibit space on time. Focus on the audience Who is the target audience? When preparing for trade show exhibits, you need to consider the people who will attend. If government officials attend the trade show, or CEO and managers, you have to prepare your presentation and products to attract them. Remember, these people run other businesses too, and they know what they want. So, unless your product passes their threshold, your presentation will not be worth it. So, ensure you meet the consumers' needs. Advertise Inform potential clients that you'll be participating in a specific trade show and give them a reason to attend. For example, if you're launching a new product, inform them that you'll be offering free samples. Conclusion Implement doable methods that will lead to business growth, including the trade show. However, ensure that the trade show is worth attending by determining whether you'll have enough ROI. Read Also: Execute The Perfect Expo With This Trade Show Checklist Tips For Creating Effective Portable Trade Show Displays

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Trade Show

A Well-Oiled Trade Show Machine: The Ones Running the Show

Trade shows are important to any business. It is the most cost-efficient way to market and it is the best way to reach people, and in order to make it successful, it is vital that all the cogs to the wheel work in perfect harmony. Integral to the success of the company during a trade show is the show booth. However, a lot has already been said about the stands. What is normally overlooked is the people who man them, and the staff that makes the exhibition booth decoration in Las Vegas work. Without these individuals, your booth, no matter how beautiful it looks, it will be a disaster. On the other hand, staffers should not just be assigned nonchalantly. Serious thought should be put into picking them. Then, there is the question: How should you pick the ones to man the stations? MIND YOUR LANGUAGE: Not the words spoken any staff member helping run a business can manage to strike a conversation. Also, most of the time, we are mindful of the words we use in front of clients. What you should look out and be mindful of is your non-verbal communication because this has a huge impact in the performance of your company. Certain tips that you should remind your staff members: Always pay attention to visitors, even those who are not stopping by Have a pleasant mood every time you are in front Talk to clients and not with your colleagues, unless needed Listen to your customers Greet them politely, with enthusiasm, and graciously express gratitude regardless if a deal was struck or not Avoid showing signs of being lazy i.e. leaning over the exhibition booth decoration in Las Vegas Smile These are things that should be instilled in staffers already, but these simple things tend to be overlooked when in a pressure-packed area. So, they may just be reminded every now and then, or, pick those who are already innately doing these to avoid making any accidents. KNOW YOUR ROLES: It would not hurt if everyone has their specific roles to cover. At least this way, someone is always there to cover certain topics at any time. Although, all staff members should at least know the most basic answers to any query, but they should also know who the client can talk to if it goes beyond their field. That is why, the stand should always be manned by someone who is an expert about the entire operation. Being a master with one role is better than knowing everything but knowing all the answer to one. NOT A TIME TO DINE: This is not saying that staff members are not allowed to eat or drink. However, showing attendees food and drinks left around the exhibition booth decoration in Las Vegas just appear unprofessional. Eat at your own time, and if it cannot be avoided, do not leave any trace that visitors can see. Showing a professional and serious brand is huge in a trade show, and food visible to the public just makes you a slob. Staffers are just as important as the booth itself. Every piece of the wheel should turn perfectly to make a well-oiled machine, and ensuring a good staff is adamant to have a successful day. Read Also: Execute The Perfect Expo With This Trade Show Checklist 5 Signs That Your Business Might Need Custom Software Featured Image: xibitsolutions.com

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Trade Show

Execute the Perfect Expo with This Trade Show Checklist

Are you heading to a trade show? Anyone who's ever tried putting together a public product launch knows a trade show checklist is essential to standing out. After all, your competition includes anywhere from 50-250 companies as hungry as yours. Each one will bring passion and planning to their table. You have to assume that anyway. With that assumption in mind, here's what your to-do list should look like. 1. Get the Budget on Paper Any preparing for a trade show checklist should start with the finances. How much money do you have allocated for things like marketing, travel, personnel, and materials? Will you be there for the launch of a new product? Or will your attendance be more informational in nature? Either way, there's going to be overheard. Will that overhead, justify the projected cost-benefit you hope to achieve from the trade show itself? This isn't something you should ballpark. Details reduce expenses and create profits. They also provide a benchmark for future trade show marketing efforts. Some other benefits of budgeting include the following: Ensuring you don't overspend Helping achieve profitability if you plan on selling anything Providing relevant numbers for tax purposes Giving you a clear idea of which spending efforts are producing the best results And that's just a start. You also may be able to create partnerships from these exhibitions that inform data such as the cost of customer acquisition or indirect revenue generation. 2. Make the SMART Objectives Any trade show exhibitor checklist will need to be written in the form of objectives. Objectives are specific things you hope to accomplish in the planning, execution, and breakdown of your trade show exhibition. But for objectives to be effective, they need to be SMART, not smart. (Okay, maybe it's both.) By SMART, we mean: Specific: Your list shouldn't say, "Pack up all trade show materials." It should say, "Pack booth into box truck rental." In other words, each item or group of items should have tailored directives. Measurable: You should be able to look at your objective and determine whether (and how) it was accomplished. This ensures you remember to pack the important stuff. It also helps avoid partial shipments. Action-oriented: Each piece of your inventory or each goal you hope to achieve should be attached to an action verb. Think "employ," "carry," "ensure," etc. Realistic: Can it actually be done? Or are you trying to do too much, too quickly? Time-sensitive: Being time-sensitive keeps you on track. It makes sure everything gets the level of attention it deserves. Make sure your trade show preparation aligns with these components. Doing so will ensure all your objectives are SMART ones. 3. Learn Your Audience Another essential step in how to prepare for a trade show is getting to know the people who will be there. Take the annual San Diego Comic-Con, for example. Superhero, horror, and fantasy films and TV series earn billions of dollars each year. But that's from general audience support. The audience at Comic-Con is a lot different. A lot more, shall we say, fanatical? Playing to their sensibilities have made Comic-Con one of the largest and most successful trade shows in the world. Exhibitors give the people what they want. These "fanatics" create a culture of fandom that helps put whatever property they're supporting on the radar of general consumers. Only when exhibitors fail to make that connection to the fanatics do their films/TV shows fall flat. So make sure your audience is priority number one. 4. Make Early Reservations Content should be your primary focus. You need your attention on it early and often. So get room and space reservations out of the way early. Determine how many are going, how many rooms you'll need, and when you plan on arriving. It usually doesn't cost anything to make a room reservation, especially when you get ahead of it. 5. Dot I's and Cross T's What are the legal terms of your attendance? Is there anything you may be overlooking? Don't just assume you can show up and be good to go. Read the fine print. It's not a bad idea to hand it off to your attorney either, especially when the contracts are written in legalese. 6. Figure out Your Materials Will you have any tents with your logo on them? Printed marquees or business cards? Flyers, handouts, reports, books - what will help you leave your mark so the audience doesn't forget you after visiting 40 other booths? Now's the time to figure it out. Don't be afraid to try something no one has thought of before. 7. Test Your Wares Launching a product at the trade show? You don't want the show itself to be the first test run you give to it. If it's possible for the product to break or malfunction, make sure it happens long before accepting your first customer. Do extensive testing on your advanced prototypes in the weeks or months leading up to the event. 8. Work out Installation Any trade show exhibit will have a "storefront" of some kind. It could be a simple gateleg table or a more elaborate booth. Whatever you choose, make sure you've got the manpower and the timing down to get it installed so your people can get comfortable with the environment before accepting guests. 9. Select Your Reps Ideally, your representatives will be an even mixture of competent and personable. Now that package can be hard to come by in just one employee. Do a deep assessment of your talent and make sure they complement one another. You wouldn't want a couple of Big Bang Theory-type programmers manning a software demonstration if they weren't very good with people. The goal is to make the product accessible to general customers. Always keep the intention in mind. 10. Make Sure You Document It What good is a successful trade show if you can't blast out pictures on social media? Whether paid or organic, the exposure you can get from a few well-tagged, well-captioned photos gives you a lot more bang for your buck - and meaningful relationships - than a dozen Super Bowl ads. 11. Identify Your Neighbors (And Competitors) Part of getting comfortable with the surroundings in which you'll be operating is reaching out to the people around you. You're both in a strange new setting. Even if you're competitors, it's not going to hurt to introduce yourself and share pleasantries while waiting for the crowds to build. Beyond passing the time, however, identifying your neighbors and competition gives you a chance to learn from them and they from you. Watching each other work in the same environment will tell you whether it's a positive or negative interaction, and it can give you ample ideas for next time. 12. Actively Promote Yourself on Social Media Promoting the event is important before, during, and afterward. It's important before for a rather obvious reason - you want people to show up. During the event? Just as essential. That's because you can pick up impulse traffic with your social media posts or provide updates to followers who couldn't feasibly be at your location. Finally, afterward is a nice time to reflect, post pictures, tag new and existing contacts, and make a new checklist of the things you'll do the same (and differently) next year. One final tip here is to consider building a paid marketing campaign before the event. That said, you can go a long way with organic if you bring your relationship marketing skills to the social network. 13. Bring Your A-Game to the Event In many cases, trade shows are the biggest events of the year for a business. They're a great way to get whatever you do in front of the people or companies who can help take them to the next level. As such, you don't want your B-Team working the room. As mentioned before, bring your most knowledgeable and outgoing people to the event. But don't stop there. Ensure they've prepared a list of personal objectives for the event. Make sure they get the proper rest and show up to the event in proper attire and ahead of schedule. 14. Ensure Demobilization Finally, demobilization is an important part of the trade show experience. That's because conference halls often limit the amount of time you have to clear out your displays and materials before they start charging past the contracted time. Either hire a moving company ahead of time or ensure you bring along the appropriate amount of muscle to disband and transport trade show materials away from the location. And it helps to have an effective portable trade show display going into the event. Make Your Trade Show Checklist a Priority Your trade show checklist will be one of the most important documents you have when gearing up for a major event. The other stuff is important too - exhibits, materials, accommodations, but something inevitably will fall by the wayside if you wing it. And while you're here, check out our top tips to help you build a brand for your small business.

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