Trade Show Exhibit Marketing Tips and Advice

We just walked the NRA show and saw a ton of new booth designs that I wanted to share with you.  Again a lot of fabric, hanging signs, and LCD lights and screens - and of course a lot of food.  It was a very "happening" show with a lot of movement and high energy.  I thought the spacing in the booths were fantastic - things were spread out and not cramped together and hard to see.  There was plenty of space to walk around, sit down and taste the food, and of course network with your exhibit prospect.  We had several rental displays at the show and everything went pretty smoothly and they all looked fabulous. 

How successful was your last trade show exhibit? Did you meet your goal? Did you even have a goal? If not, how do you define success?  The sad fact is that less than 25 percent of exhibitors bother to set goals, yet it’s fairly easy to do. There’s no one right answer — you must figure it out for yourself based on a number of factors. Yes, you have to do your homework!

According to a CEIR report - 40% of B2B Marketing Budgets are spent on trade show events, 52% of exhibibitors rarely provide trade show booth planning to their employees, and the top four reasons an attendee stops at a particular booth is because of email, word of mouth, exhibitor website, or a personal invite to the trade show exhibit booth.  So what are YOU doing to make sure your budgets are used wisely and you get the right audience to stop by your booth?  Here are some thoughts for BEFORE, AFTER, and DURING a trade show:

What happens when one manufacturers’ representative thinks big about exhibiting? One spectacular trade show booth that combines six companies under the umbrella of Peterson Enterprises to make one very big splash.

I have heard this so many times – it makes me want to scream.“Our staffers have been involved with our trade show booth for years and know what they are doing."  Think about it. What profession graduates its members and never includes educational updating? Yet, when it comes to sales and communications, particularly in face-to-face situations like an exhibition, continuing education is made to sound more like a punishment than a perk.

Your trade show booth represents a costly advertising effort, so you'll want to do everything possible to maximize its returns. The advertising advantage of trade shows is that it gives your company a highly interactive atmosphere in which to attract key clients. It also gives you a direct taste of the competing market. However, if you have chosen to use trade shows as a way to position your company at the front lines, you'll need to treat your trade show booth as a volatile investment that needs detailed care.

B2B exhibitors and attendees have seen growing value from a variety of face-to-face activities – such as exhibitions and conventions – in the past 2 years, according to a study from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR). 37% of exhibitors say that they have seen more value from their exhibits compared to 16% who have seen less value from them. Attendees are even more favorable: 48% have seen increasing value, compared to just 6% who have seen less.

Back in 1936, when Dale Carnegie published his famous How to Win Friends and Influence People, he shared a list of six ways to make people like you:

Having a booth on the trade show or convention floor always involves some kind of risk, but using the right elements can give you the best return on your investment in trade show display rentals. One of the best ways to generate interest and create buzz is to include audio visual elements. By including the latest audio and visual equipment, you’ll send the message that your company is successful, cutting-edge and innovative. You’ll also enhance your booth’s overall message and engage visitors on a deeper level.

Up until now our YouTube channel has been used for simple exhibit design slideshows but now we're taking a how-to approach. Our plan is to provide you interesting educational video's that can help you in your everyday trade show display life.  Watch this video for an overview of what's to come: