A lot of people see marketing as a mean of reaching out to their audience from far away, however, this is definitely not always the case. A perfect example of this are trade shows where you get an opportunity to get face-to-face with your customers, see what makes them tick and present yourself in the best light. There’s so much that a trade show can offer you, ranging from a chance to do some networking all the way to an opportunity to debut a new product. Still, for this to work in your favor, what you need to do is go there prepared. Here are several tips to get you going.
- Announce and hype up your presence
Before you go to the trade show, you need to make sure that a large portion of your audience knows that you’re attending. For them, this can be an opportunity to catch with your brand in person and ask a couple of things that they want to know. Keep in mind that you should first ask to be listed on the official website of the show. Second, you need to leverage the power of social media and use your accounts in order to promote your business.
- Prepare promotional products
During this trade show, you’ll need to distribute a lot of promotional products to your customers. This is why you need to prepare them in bulk, in advance. First, make a list of all you need like brochures, leaflets, promotional t-shirts, mugs, pens and hats, etc. Now, think about the quantities of these items that you need. Also, make sure that their storage might be a massive issue. In general, it’s better to print more than to print less, due to the fact that all the undistributed materials can be deposited somewhere to be used on the next occasion.
- Have a display stand
The next thing you need to do is find a personalized display stand for your company. The reason why this is important is due to the fact that it’s a platform that you will use as a headquarter for the event. Here, you can display some of the merchandise, place a brochure holder in front of it and have a capable member of the team behind it, ready and willing to answer all and any questions that people might have. This is an essential part of your attendance, which is why you should handle this as soon as possible.
- Instruct your team on how to behave
The next thing you need to pay close attention to is your team. You see, customers who are trying to check out whether or not to do business with you might come closer to inspect your staff. This is probably the best way to assess an organization, which is why there are several rules that you need to abide by. First of all, every single one of your employees needs to wear a corporate uniform in order to demonstrate team unity. Second, try to make your team as diverse as possible. Finally, make sure that you pick the most empathetic and assertive people on your roster.
- Be there in person
These events will be attended by so many different people, some of which are valuable contacts for your company. In the future, you may decide to collaborate, exchange experiences or even outsource to some of these companies. This is why you need to be there in person. As an owner, manager or executive, in general, you’ll have the authorization to make deals and negotiate at the highest instance. Needless to say, this is just one of the reasons why your presence needs to be mandatory.
Conclusion
In the end, it’s important that we mention some potential risks. First of all, you can’t just wing it, you need to have a plan, a proper, written plan. Second, you need to have an event budget, which includes travel expenses and accommodation for your team, amongst other things. Nonetheless, with some preparation and some ahead of time planning, this shouldn’t be that hard to achieve.
You need to register in order to submit a comment.