Three Ways to Win Big with Trade Show Booths
Finding the perfect trade show display location is just like finding the prime piece of real estate for your business.
Many exhibitors will go after high traffic areas like entrances and exits, but these are areas that you want to stay away from. Most of the time these areas are so chaotic and crowded, that your booth will probably go unnoticed.
There is also some talk that depending on what country your audience is from will play a big role on what side of the isle you should keep your booth on. This pattern is stemmed from their driving habits. If you are trained to drive on the right side of the road, you will naturally gravitate to the right, while people who drive on the left side will gravitate to the left. This is an important factor to think about when gauging your potential business.
Depending on you and your partner’s ability to work through a crowd and make meaningful conversation, you might want to choose the less busy side. This will allow you to make concrete contact that leads to meaningful conversations allowing you to fully sale your product.
Don’t get washed out by your Neighbor
Another key component to winning big at a trade show event is making sure you are not directly adjacent to a company with a much larger and dynamic display than yours.
The amount of traffic you receive is significantly related to your visibility. The last thing you want is to get washed out or out shined by your neighbor. You should be the shining star in your area, don’t let someone else steal your light. Choose a spot where your booth stands out from others, this will allow you the best visibility creating optimum sale success. Make your booth has eye catching decor that relates to your product.
Everyone loves free giveaways, but no one wants stuff they can’t use.
Configure a well thought out strategy that incorporates your message into your gifts. How successful you are, falls largely on your ability to attract potential business. As you know the more guests you attract correlates to the number of sales and leads you will attain.
Selecting the Right Event
Most companies will typically have a person in charge of selecting trade show and conferences for the company. If your company is small or a start-up company that person may be you. Being able to choose the right event for your product will determine how you do at the show.
The first thing you want to do is align your event selection with your marketing goals. Here are a few questions you should know the answer to before you choose your event:
- What is the size of company you are trying to target?
- How much revenue does your target company have?
- Do they have the required budget for your product and services?
- Why should the target company purchase your product?
Another key component to choosing the right event is defining your event goal. Each event can have a different intended goal, typically determined by your priority list, product promotion and the time of the year. One event may be geared towards sales and leads, while another geared towards re-establishing relationships.
These returns are measured by Return on Investment (ROI) and Return on Objective (ROO).
Return on investment is usually calculated from sales made. A basic formula to help track you return is (gross profit – marketing expenses) ÷ marketing expenses.
Return on Objective is non-monetary objectives like increase in recognition of your brand, retaining or gaining market share, and new product promotion.
Keep those things in mind when setting up a next project.