Exhibiting at trade shows. How hard can it be? All you do is show up and talk to people, right? Exhibiting is actually much harder than it looks. With that being said, trade shows have continually remained very popular because they can yield great results when done correctly.
If you are exhibiting for the first time, DoTradeshow.com wants to help shorten your learning curve with these four tips you need to succeed:
- Know what your goals are: Everything you do at your trade shows should support your main goal. So, if you don’t have any goal in mind for why you’re exhibiting, there is no way to succeed. Decide if your trade show goals are to boost brand awareness, generate leads, or to strengthen relationships.
- Design your trade show booth to accomplish your goals: Design your booth with large graphics for building awareness, create a lot of workstations for sales leads and meeting spaces for strengthening relationships. Some exhibitors design booth spaces to accompany all the buying phases in one large exhibit space.
- Capture the right lead data: Even for your first trade show, the most valuable outcome of a trade show is the leads that you take. Your leads will be even more valuable when your booth staff can capture your necessary lead data that will matter to your sales team.
- Follow up quickly on your trade show leads: The trade show leads you take away from your exhibit are your most valuable asset, but quickly lose their value over time. It is important to follow up on your leads right away. Get the appropriate materials to each lead after the event and get your best leads into the hands of your sales team.
It can be intimidating planning for your first trade show, but there is nothing like the experience you will get meeting face-to-face with a valuable stream of potential customers over several days. If done right, you will create significant value for your business. Using these tips, you should be off to a great start!