Trade Show Success Tips

FollowMolly, Nov 15, 2008

Displaying your products and services at a trade show is one of the most successful and most used marketing methods to make yourself visible to your customers and prospects. Trade shows are not only important for showing your products and services but also making a good first impression. Here are a few important tips for being successful at a trade show.

Before you even step onto the trade show floor, you need to establish your goals for attending the show. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself:

• Why am I attending the show?
• Who is my target audience?
• What message am I trying to send to my target audience?
• What do I want to get out of the trade show?

Another important element to any successful trade show is building your target audience's awareness of your brand through your trade show booth. Attendees stepping onto a trade show floor are bombarded with multiple displays and sounds, making it important that you stand out. You want to attract your target audience to your booth before they become overwhelmed by your competitors.

When choosing booth displays or accessories always keep in mind the image of your company. Many different booth products can be imprinted with your company logo to maximize your exposure. Make sure that your logos and other brand images always appear consistently.

The most important part of a trade show is tracking your leads. Studies have shown that 79% of all leads generated at trade shows do not receive proper follow-up. Assign one person the responsibility of managing the leads you generate to prevent leads from getting misplaced or lost.

The person managing the leads should be responsible for:

• Writing/editing lead response letters
• Determining informational package contents
• Making sure the informational packages are sent out in a timely manner
• Distributing leads among sales reps
• Developing a lead form to collect exactly the information your company needs
• Setting up a timetable/flowchart for following the leads once they hit the salesforce so you can come up with a return on investment for the show

Following these few simple tips will ensure that you will have a successful trade show experience that generates business for your company.