I have been to a couple of business exhibitions recently and I have also been helping one of my clients organise an important exhibition for his business at the end of this month. This got me thinking about what makes for a successful exhibition. This is a question you need to ask yourself whether you are going to an exhibition as an exhibitor or a visitor.
As with a lot of things in business, the key to success is in the
planning. You need three plans for exhibitions:
1. The pre-exhibition plan
2. The exhibition plan
3. The follow-through plan
Planning is where a lot of people fall down. Some people prefer the ‘It’ll be alright on the night’ technique and don’t plan any of the activities, trusting to luck. As we all know, luck is an interesting commodity. Some people have lots of it and some only get bad luck. The ones blessed with good luck are the ones who think things through, plan their activities and follow through on their actions. The ones cursed with bad luck don’t plan. There’s a message in there somewhere!
Before you do anything, you need to think carefully about why you are exhibiting at all? Which is the right exhibition for you? Who is going to visit the exhibition? Are they your target audience? What sort of investment is involved? Will you get an acceptable return on that investment? What are your goals for the exhibition? All these questions need to be answered before you even start your planning.
So, what sorts of things do you need to think about to make a success of exhibitions? Here are a few bullet points for you:
• Plan your pre-exhibition promotion. Getting this right will ensure you get the right people visiting your stand on the day.
• Book you stand well in advance to ensure you pick the prime position. Think about the traffic flow of the venue and position yourself appropriately.
• Make your stand visually impactful. What will make you stand out from the crowd? What will draw the right people onto your stand?
• Ensure you have a coherent focus for your stand. What message do you want to communicate? Do you have the right posters, banners and other marketing collateral to re-enforce that message?
• Leverage your brand. Does your stand meet your brand standards in terms of colours, fonts, style etc? Does everything co-ordinate? Does you stand reflect the values of your business?
• Use pictures of people using and enjoying your products and services. It’s worth spending a little money on professional photography. You can use the images for other things too, so think of it as an investment in your marketing tool kit.
• How will you capture people’s contact details? Consider prize draws and other incentives in exchange for business cards.
• Engage with your prospects. Consider all the appropriate senses – sound, sight, touch, smell.
• Create a special offer for the exhibition to generate action now.
• Be clear about your script for the exhibition. What will you say when people come onto your stand? Make sure everyone on the stand is giving a consistent message. Practice your script in advance to hone it into a powerful lead generation tool.
• Agree your dress code for the stand. Make sure it is consistent with your brand and that all people working on the stand are co-ordinated.
• Use a lead form which helps you to organise your data and qualify the prospect. This will impact on your post-exhibition follow-up. A little thought now could save a lot of time in the future.
• Plan your follow-up activity in advance. Once you are back in the office, you need to act quickly so create e-mail and letter templates in advance.
• Review your activity at the end of the day. What went well? What could have gone better? What will you do differently next time? Document your thoughts so you can learn from the experience and make you next exhibition (or the next day of the exhibition) more successful.
• Plan a stand rota. Exhibitions can be exhausting and you will need some time to rest and recuperate.
• Don’t eat and drink on the stand. It looks unprofessional and creates the wrong image.
• Don’t sit down on your stand unless you need to. If you need to sit down with a hot prospect, consider doing this off the stand. Many exhibitions have meeting areas for this purpose.
• Get a list of all exhibitors in advance. They may be good prospects as well as the visitors.
• Plan some time to enjoy the exhibition yourself. Plan this in advance so that you see everybody you want to see.
I hope the above points stimulate your thinking and help you make the most of your investment in exhibitions and trade fairs. They are an essential element in the marketing mix and can create a rich seam of prospects.
In conclusion, plan your activities carefully ensuring you have considered before, during and after activities. It never ceases to amaze me that people will spend thousands of pounds exhibiting and then fail to follow up on the leads they have created.
Oh, and remember …. have some fun too!
Filed under: Uncategorized, business advice, exhibitions, lead generation, marketing, sales
Business Issues 