If you’ve ever been to an exhibition or trade show as a visitor, you’ll know how confusing it can seem when you first walk into the hall. On arrival, you’re greeted by row upon row of exhibition stands, posters, pop-up banners and people – so many people! – all vying for your attention. If you decided to visit the show just to see what’s around and find out about any new products or services you might be interested in, it’s really difficult to know where to begin because there’s too much choice. So you wander around the hall seeing if anything catches your attention.
If you put yourself in the position of a visitor to the exhibition or trade show, it’s much easier to see why you need to do something that’ll attract their attention. You’ve probably got meetings booked with leads you’ve already found, but the main purpose of investing so much time and effort into exhibiting is to introduce your brand to an entirely new audience.
There are a number of tried and tested ways to attract people to your stand, whatever your budget:
Gimmicks – many companies have something on their stand that they know will appeal to people on a personal level, from an intelligent robot engaging them in conversation to games, competitions, free cupcakes, and branded sweets.
Freebies – you could try giving branded promotional goodies to anyone who visits the stand – hopefully, they’ll take them back to the office and use them in some way, ensuring your brand and website details are in front of them for some time to come. A good idea is to have two levels of freebie – more cost-effective ones that can be handed out to whoever wants them, and a few more expensive goodies to give to potential leads after you’ve had a chance to talk to them and assess their level of interest.
Talks and presentations – every exhibition and every trade show will have a central stage area where organisers invite guest speakers to talk about their area of expertise. It is a great way to create leads, so contact the organisers to offer yourself or a senior member of your staff to speak at one of their programmes.
Product launches – trade shows are the perfect opportunity to launch new products and services. In addition to showcasing them at the show, why not organise a special launch party and invite clients and leads to join you. Be prepared to make a short speech and hand round a few glasses of wine or fizz and maybe a few canapés to encourage people to come along and stay to find out more.
Create an outstanding stand – if you have the budget, create a bespoke exhibition stand that will clearly signpost your presence and draw much more attention from potential leads. You need to design it so it will attract leads. Any decision makers at the exhibition looking for new suppliers, or customers looking for a good deal.
If you would like to create an exhibition stand that will attract the right kind of visitors to generate quality leads for your business, contact us to find out how we can help.
