Ways to Exhibit at a Trade Show: Part 1

What goal is at the top of your list when you consider taking your brand to a trade show. For us, it would be a positive return on investment, which does not have to be as difficult as it sounds. Showing off your brand at a trade show can sometimes be more effective than a lot of traditional marketing techniques. The Huffington Post argue that “trillions of business deals are done at trade shows every year”. Why shouldn’t your deals be a part of those trillions? Trade shows give you the opportunity to generate a buzz around your brand – if you want to be a household name, you should be attending these trade shows! A lot of the people you are trying to connect with daily will be under one roof for a set period of time; according to Asif Khan, founder and CEO of Caremerge, “You get so much done in two days that you could not imagine getting done in six months of a year”. We’ve put together a few top tips and strategies on how to be successful at trade shows.

1) Choose the events wisely

There are hundreds of trade shows happening around the UK every year, but it would be silly for you to attend all of them. We suggest writing out a list of key features you would like the show to have, and then scope out which events relate to the nature of your brand. Ask yourself a few key questions before committing to a trade show: will by target audience be there? Is this often a popular show? How old will the attendees be – is that an age range my brand is targeting? You don’t want to be displaying your window cleaning products at a household pet event!

2) Be creative with your stand

Research has shown that we form a first opinion of someone within 1/10 of a second. Similarly, it takes only 1/5 of a second to generate a design-related opinon of a website. So, what should you think about this? Your stand should stand out! It should represent who your brand are in a fun, innovative way that makes customers want to engage with your brand not only in that moment but in the long-term, too. As well as making a creative space, consider giving away promotional materials to help your brand stay memorable. This could be a t-shirt, cotton tote bag or a wrist band – any of these will lead to increased brand exposure throughout the event and hopefully afterwards too!

Part two of this article series will come later this week, where we will discuss more ways that you can be effective when bringing your brand to a trade show!