If you are holding an exhibition or trade show event this autumn, you will no doubt be aware of the scale of the planning and organisation involved. No matter how well the stands are designed and how enthusiastic the staff are, it will only truly be a success if the event is well advertised in advance. Here are some top marketing tips!
Do plenty of advance research
The best starting point is to make sure that you are attending the right event for your business. This may be very obvious if you have a particular niche in the market, or it may need some careful consideration. Find out as much as you can about the other companies which are exhibiting.
It may be useful to talk to someone from a company who has exhibited at the event in previous years, to see how useful they found it. They may be able to tell you how well attended it was, and something about the attendees—were they people in job roles with decision making powers, for example?
Exhibiting at a trade show is a big commitment of time and expense, so you to make sure that the effort will be worthwhile. You should have a clear objective to achieve, such as generating a certain number of leads, or demonstrating a product to X number of your core customer base.
Advertise well in advance
Book your space early to ensure that you have a good location on the main thoroughfares, and do not end up tucked away in a corner. Once you have secured your space, market the event through your own website and on customer email signatures.
Send out direct mail or arrange a phone call to your biggest customers and let them know what to expect from their visit. Even if it is relevant to their own business, they will still need a good reason to give up their time to attend the event.
Harness the power of social media
One of the quickest and most effective ways to get the message out to potential attendees to spread the world on social media networks. Look out for hashtags and groups for the exhibition and join anything relevant.
Plan a coordinated series of posts across all your social media channels in the months leading up to the event, with engaging content, including photos and messages with your company branding.
Make use of QR codes
One of the quickest and easiest methods to get information across to customers in to have business cards printed up with a QR code. They can then scan the QR code for instant access to your website, with whichever piece of content that is most relevant to them. This can also be used to easily collect contact details, so that you can follow up after the show.
Run a prize draw
To give visitors an extra incentive to attend, you could consider holding a raffle with a high-value item that would be relevant to your target audience as a prize. This builds some buzz around your brand, and gets your products into the hands of customers.
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