If you’ve got a stall booked at an exhibition or trade show, either under the roof of a SaddleSpan tent or in another venue, you’ll need to do some crucial preparation to make your appearance a success. Not only does your stall and its staff need to look professional, and your marketing materials need to be printed and prepared, but you’re also going to think about ways to stand out from your competitors and get noticed.
Here are the 5 essential tips you need to know to get noticed at exhibitions this summer:
- Plan, plan and plan some more. You can never do too much planning when it comes to exhibiting. Organisation and preparation will help to ensure the day goes smoothly, so pay attention to every little detail and plan for a range of worst-case scenarios (i.e. your car breaks down on the way) just in case.
- Define your objectives. Before you exhibit, it’s a good idea to sit down and decide what you actually want to get out of the experience. Do you want to sell, to boost brand image, to reach a new market or to use the event as a networking exercise to make new contacts? Choose a goal, be specific about your targets and make sure you measure your progress/performance on the day.
- Use your company colours to get attention. Colour is a great way to stand out from all the other exhibitors in your event tent, but it’s important to use the right ones. To create a strong image and the right associations in attendees’ minds, brand everything with your company colours.
- Have something exciting to shout about. If you’ve got a new product or service to launch, a trade show is the ideal time to do it. Failing that, think of another ‘selling point’ – i.e. an exciting piece of news, a special offer or discount – to tell visitors about. If you can whip up a sense of excitement, a ‘buzz’, you are more likely to attract people to your stall and get them excited about your brand too.
- Make your stand interactive. It’s easy to walk past an exhibition stall without approaching it, but an interactive element is harder to ignore. Examples of the kinds of things you can do include live social media feeds, TV screens, interactive props, product tasting and testing, workshops and demonstrations. There’s so many options – so take your pick and be creative about it!
These are just a handful of the ways you can make your stall the centre of attention at trade shows and exhibitions, there are plenty more tips and tricks you can try. It all starts with getting a great spot in the right part of the venue, be it a conference centre or a SaddleSpan exhibition tent – be prepared to book early, pay a little more and pull some strings!
