It goes without saying that if you have a trade show planned for the near future, you’re going to want to steal the show. Trade shows are a fantastic way of networking, meeting customers and potential customers, and marketing your business – but only if you get them right. There are so many mistakes you can make. It probably cost you a lot of money to fund your trade show booth, and it’ll take you a lot of time to set everything up and get all of your ducks in a row so you’re ready to attend. This means you want to make the most of all of the money and effort you’ll be plugging into it!
Shutterstock Licensed Photo – By r.classen
Below, we’re going to tell you 11 ways you can ‘wow’ at your next trade show. Take a look and your show is bound to be a success!
1. Start Preparing Way In Advance
In the weeks leading up to the trade show, you can prepare to make it a success. Never, ever leave it until the last minute if you want to make a great impression! You could start by getting people to vote on what they’d like you to hand out. You could even create a hashtag to create a hype surrounding the show on social media. Get creative and figure out how you can start getting ready right now.
2. Give Something Strange Away
How about giving something strange away that will make your audience remember you? Not something obscure and weird that nobody will understand, of course. Free pens and mugs can actually really annoy passers by – they have tons of them, and they are probably going to take at least a handful home from the very same show. Use your imagination and think up something unique that you can give away. Maybe things like balloons, corporate headphones, cupcakes, socks, etc. Your options are endless, just make sure you’re going to stand out with it and that it aligns with your brand.
3. See If You Can Inject A little Humor Into The Show
If it aligns with your brand, see if you can inject some humor into the show. People love to laugh, and it will always get people talking about you, and most importantly, remembering you. How can you lighten the mood and add some humor?
4. Do Your Research On The Competition
Doing thorough research on your competition at the show will enable you to create a better experience for the people who visit you. You want to know exactly what you’re up against, both staff wise and visually. Who do they have on their team? What do their booths usually look like, and what do they give away? What sort of an experience do they create for the audience? By finding this out, you’ll be well prepared. You can also design one of the most awesome trade show booths known to man for your show.
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5. Accentuate ‘As Seen On’
‘As Seen On’ is a powerful way to get people to pay attention. Get it in front of the people attending and create more of a buzz by displaying this loud and proud.
6. Have A Fantastic Display
Make sure you don’t bring any sad looking tables to the show. With a great display, you’ll look bigger, more invested, and more investable. Consider it a part of your marketing budget, rather than an unnecessary expense! You may also be able to reuse whatever you make for future shows, making the most of the investment.
7. Socialize
Make sure you bring your best, most sociable self to the trade show. Invite people out for drinks afterwards and get talking to them. Be the life of the party! You don’t have to go out to bars to do this – you could always have an interactive booth to attract people, and make friends with everybody you speak to.
8. Make Sure Your Line Is Long
Make sure the line to visit your booth or table is long. You could do this by giving away cool shirts that everybody wants to get their hands on. Tell people you’ll buy them a drink if you see them wearing it later!
9. Create An Awesome Video
A video is a visual asset that will work so much harder than simply talking at people about your company. You could create a video about your company or one of your products and show them what you’re all about. Videos are all the rage these days!
10. Create An Experience
With an experience, you can let people see what you do that is helping the world first hand.
Let’s use Charity Water as an example. This company creates safe and clean water sources for remote villages in developing nations that do not have access to their own clean water. They create an experience out of this by inviting visitors who go to their booth to walk two 40lb jugs of water across a 50 yd platform. This is just an idea of what the people they help have to go through every day, and this allows visitors to develop more of a connection with the brand, and hopefully begin to care about the cause too.
11. Give A Warm Welcome
Whatever you do, make it your mission to offer visitors a warm welcome to your booth. Don’t just give away free t-shirts and other merch, or expect your video to do all of the talking for you. Introduce yourself, be interested and interesting, keep things light, and offer people free coffee and tea to make them feel welcome. Even if they don’t decide to work with you immediately, they will remember how you made them feel and keep you in mind for future projects. It doesn’t hurt to have a ton of amazing contacts, even if you’re not sure they’ll be any use right away.
Which of these strategies will you use to ‘wow’ at your next trade show? Leave a comment!
