Planning for an exhibition takes a lot of time and effort, but the pay out after the event can be huge. In fact exhibitions have the highest return on investment compared to other marketing methods.
Here are four effective things you need to know about to help you prepare for your next exhibition:
1. Check your displays
As soon as you’ve booked your stand space, start to think about what sort of displays you’ll need. If you’ve never exhibited before then you’ll need everything! If you already have some displays lying around, then you need to think about whether they are still usable, whether the information is still up to date and whether they are still relevant.
There is nothing worse than getting to an event and realising that your banner is either out of date or broken. At that point, there’s nothing you can do about it, so make sure that you plan ahead.
Express Exhibition Displays do a fantastic range of affordable displays, so you can update graphics or start out with your first display without breaking the budget.
2. Prep your ROI
You would not believe how many businesses don’t check their ROI when they exhibit. But without knowing your ROI, how will you know if it’s worthwhile investing in the same show again? The answer is simple: You won’t.
Before you exhibit, tot up all of the costs of exhibiting including displays, travel and stand space. Use this to work out how many sales you’d need to break even. Anything you then make above this figure will then be your profit.
3. Train your staff
A couple of weeks before the event, make sure that all of your stand staff are trained on your products and services as well as know their expectations for the day.
You may also want to use a few competitive motivational tools for your staff to make sure there is something in it for them if they perform well – such as a bottle of champagne.
4. Publicise it
The event may feel very isolated, but there may be additional opportunities for your brand in terms of awareness and drawing more people to your stand.
If you have a new product – why not tell the local press that you’ll be launching it at the event? They’ll most likely want to come and interview you about it.
Equally, you’ll want to tell your loyal customers that you’ll be exhibiting so that they have an opportunity to come and see you. This is especially important if you have an online business as it’s rare to get that face-to-face time that can reinforce your brand and relationship with that person.
Also, don’t forget to tell people on social media that you’ll be exhibiting by using the official event hashtag (if they have one!). This will then tell people who are interested in the event that you’ll be there. Give them a reason to come and visit you – such as a new offer or to grab a goodie bag.
