Trade shows are meant for meeting prospective customers and building business opportunities. However, not all the trade shows are successful for brands. Even after investing money on exhibition stall design and fabrication, it often happens that the brand doesn’t benefit a single penny from that. Does that mean trade shows are inconsequential? Well, No! That only means that there were problems in execution and understanding the business objectives behind having an exhibition stall in a trade show.

A Trade show without generating a lead wastes the investment and man-hours both. But is there a guarantee way to reap the desired benefit from the trade show?

Well, there is no single formula that you can follow to make your exhibition show successful, especially because the success is a function of many factors.

Here are some ways you maximize the ROI (Return on Investment) through your exhibition stall –

1. Strategic Planning –

Before meeting an exhibition stall design company, put the marketing objectives of your company on the paper. You need to have a clear idea of what you exactly need in your exhibition stall to make it successful.

There are many expenses associated with the trade –

• Fee for the trade show
• Cost of exhibition stall design and fabrication
• Flights, hotels, and meals of the stall management team

The expenses will be in thousands of dollars. So, you need to be sure about what exactly you want. A mistaken exhibition stall design will be a waste of money and time.

Moreover, your exhibition stall should be at the right place. That will help you to deliver the right sales leads.

You should also look to collect some general demographics of the visitors from the show trade organizers. This will help you understand if your target audience will be a part of the trade show or not.

2. Marketing Objectives –

It doesn’t matter what kind of trade show it is. It can be either for B2B or B2C, small or large; it’s necessary to get your marketing objectives right. The exhibition stall design company you are working with should also know these marketing objectives.

Your definition of success may vary with your marketing objectives. Some brands want to sell in a trade show. For them, even two conversions will serve the purpose. Some companies are into services. They tend to generate leads and work with those attendees on near future.

Clear marketing goals will give you a clear idea about the success of your brand in a particular trade show.

3. Small Trade Shows –

As a brand, you will be tempted to feature in a flamboyant trade show located in well-known exhibition grounds. These trade shows will be very expensive and there is no guarantee of ROI.

However, if you participate in small trade shows and invest good money in exhibition stall design and fabrication, it is more likely that you will generate leads that would convert later.

You can also consult your exhibition stall design company and decide the best place for exhibition and the size & layout.

4. The Probable Leads –

You will be coming across a gamut of visitors in the trade show, some of whom are not even in buying your products. They are more interested in window shopping than doing some serious business. You need to spot such visitors and try to invest as less time as possible without being arrogant with them.

If you have sample products or some bait, you need to ensure that you are presenting them to the right visitor. You can introduce a user-engagement activity to decide if the visitor is really interested in your product.

5. Choose the Right Location for Your Trade Show Booth –

You need to select the right place for your exhibition stall in a trade show. A space near the food and beverage store is a great idea as it will attract more and more traffic. Choosing a space near exit or entry is not recommended as such stalls are sometimes neglected by the visitors. The stall to the right side of the aisle generally has more visitors than that on the left side. It’s important to keep the target audience in your mind.

You should also book the space as early as possible or you can ask the exhibition stall design company to do that for you.

6. Simple yet Attractive Exhibition Stall Design –

Too much of graphics and designing can make your exhibition stall look tacky. It should be simple but at the same time, it should be able to convey the message of the brand.

Do not spend thousands of dollars behind design. Create a design that converts. This can only be done by making it look appealing. You should also have a banner with a great copy that conveys the message of your brand.

The message of your brand should be simple and straight forward. Cluttering up the banner with exuded content, images and logo will detriment the overall effect of the exhibition stall design.

7. Representatives at the Exhibition Stall –

Doesn’t matter if you have the most flamboyant exhibition stall in the trade, you will need well-trained people as the marketing personnel at your exhibition booth. Even the most scintillating design will be doomed into the zone of futility if the representatives are not welcoming.

The people managing your booth will be representing the values of your brand. Choose them wisely. Additionally, you need to ensure that they know about all the products that you brand sells. You can consider organizing a training session for the representatives.

The dress and etiquette matter a lot. A representative in jeans and tee-shirt will impart a feeling of casual approach. However, if the tee-shirt has a logo of your company, visitors will take him seriously. Small things make huge difference in a trade show.

8. Sitting Arrangement for Exhibition Stall Team –

A day at a trade show is a tiring one. Your team will get tired and will need rest intermittently. You can make an arrangement of some stools so that they can rest in the idle hours. However, providing chairs will make them lazy and uninterested. You need to optimize the comfort.

9. Your Competitors –

Your competitors are not always your competitors in a trade show. Trade show is also for networking as much as it is for generating leads. Moreover, there are chances that if you are in a B2B trade show, your client is hosting an exhibition stall next to you. Take a stroll across the booths and see if there is a probable lead among the other brands in the trade show. You can always do the same to check the amount of competition you have in the trade show.

10. Importance of Communication –

Even if you have been successful in creating enough leads from the trade show, you need to seek an opportunity to communicate with more number of visitors. There are many ways to make an impact in a trade show. You can have a workshop or use speakers to convey your message.

Such information sessions introduce your brands to the audience. They enhance the chances of conversion and widen your reach.

You can also demonstrate your product or can give a presentation on a topic that’s relevant to your industry.

While speaking up, do not push to sell the product. It should an informative session or an awareness program.

You can add a strong call to action along with your speech but that’s just enough.

11. Emails of the Attendees –

Be ready with a spreadsheet in which you can note down the email IDs of the visitors. You can also have bait for the visitors who give their email IDs.

Moreover, sharing business cards with them is a must. It doesn’t matter how you note the data but ensure that you don’t miss it in future. If your organization has an MIS, ensure to enter the data in it.

You also need to ensure that you are noting the emails of people who are your prospective clients. Don’t waste time in cluttering your excel sheets with emails and numbers of people who don’t intend to make a purchase.

12. Follow Up –

It doesn’t end at gathering emails or collecting business cards. Every effort you put is inconsequential if you don’t follow up.

You should follow up within a day or two. People tend to forget brands that appear in a trade show. A follow up will remind them of your brand.

Have an already drafted email for follow up so that you can make some quick edits and send the customized copy to them.

13. Analytics –

Even if you have hired the best exhibition stall design company that has created the most captivating booth for your brands, it is the ROI that your organization will be interested in. Tracking results will lead to some key takeaways on what exactly works in a trade show. By doing so, your brand can perform better the next time.

Looking at the number of leads you have been able to generate and amount of money spend over the project will give you a clear idea of what went wrong and right. This hugely helps an organization in the next trade shows.

If you have further queries about exhibition stall design and fabrication or have an interesting exhibition booth project to discuss, feel free to contact us.