Attention please! Making a splash at a trade show
As a way to gain exposure, a trade show is invaluable. As opposed to going through the tacky “conference venues and networking” approach, you can hit a convention centre that’s got numerous customers and clients waiting to be grabbed.
But to make sure you get your money’s worth you’ve got to get a few things in place. What are the essentials to hitting a trade show and getting enough bang for your buck?
Liaise with your colleagues
Because there’s a lot of items that you can give away, from logos to t-shirts, pens, and so on, work with the core team on getting the right items to hand out. But in addition to this, think about what you want to present. It’s very easy to set up a tent with a logo, and while this may look fascinating, you have still got to ensure you’re standing out for the right reasons. Having everybody come to an agreement as to the aesthetics that work well with the brand can be a long process. And it’s an essential conversation that ensures that you can marry the image of your business to the personality of the people that will work the event.
The right people to represent the brand
A lot of people will go for brand representatives and hire them just for the day. After all, this is cheap, but you’re also able to get a certain calibre of representatives that are enthusiastic. But there’s a double edged sword with this. While you’re getting the right people who have the enthusiasm, do they know exactly what your brand is about? It’s worth thinking about this before going ahead, especially if the people you have in the business aren’t particularly sociable or outgoing. It’s a very fine balance to tread. But if you can, it’s far better to get people that are knowledgeable about the business so you can get the message across properly.
Build up your brand before the event
You can research who else is attending the event, and exactly how they are building up the anticipation for their entrance, and you can take cues from this and make your own splash as far as a social media campaign is concerned. And it’s all about getting the adequate buzz. You can boast your “as seen on” features so you can get your message further out there. After all, if you haven’t got any form of buzz behind you, it will be a struggle to make any progress during the event. You want to hit the ground running as soon as the event starts. And this is all about preparing everything up to the event, as well as afterwards.
After the event, you can gather the troops together and see what’s happened, and whether certain aspects went well or if there were things that needed improving. When it comes to this sort of event, you’ve got a lot of competition, but you’ve also got to ensure you’re not betraying the personality of the business. A trade show can get you good attention, but it can also get you bad attention. It’s a very expensive thing to invest in, so make sure that you do it right.
