Make your next trade show appearance a success

Do your marketing objectives include one or more of the following?

• Building or expanding brand awareness
• Introducing new product or service promotions
• Reinforcing brand awareness
• Launching promotions targeting specific business sectors

If the answer is yes, then you are probably planning to attend at least one or two tradeshows this year. Trade shows are an excellent way to promote your business and meet potential clients. Follow the advice below to increase your chances for a successful trade show appearance.

Research the show history. The last thing you want to do is attend a show that will not benefit your business. Find out how many people attend the trade show you are interested in and if they are in your target market. Look at the other vendors who are participating, find out if they have had success at this particular trade show.

Do Pre-show Promotion. Let people know that you will be attending a trade show. Send out mailings, emails etc. to your prospects that are likely to be attending this event. This will encourage them to stop by your booth while there are there.

Prepare a professional looking display. Bigger is not always better. You want your display to clearly project what you are offering/selling to attendees. You will want to include eye catching signs, photographs of your products that will easily depict your line of business. Without a professional looking booth, prospects may shy away from taking a closer look at what you have to offer.

Have sufficient brochures and giveaways to hand out. Make sure you’ve brought enough literature and giveaways to last. Running out of brochures is not a good thing; you want prospects to walk away with something in hand describing your products/services.

Write stuff down. This may sound silly, but with the number of different conversations you will have at the trade show, you will want to remember the conversations that matter. This will help you later when you do your follow up calls and it will give you a talking point to start off the conversation.

Send qualified personnel to trade show. You don’t want to send someone you’ve just hired to manage your trade show booth. You want the person manning your booth to be personable, well spoken, and knowledgeable about your products and services.

Follow Up. Take all those business cards you collected at the trade show and do something with them! Have a plan in place for how to follow up with your leads and turn them into customers.

At Boggs Printing we can help you select promotional items as well as displays that will help your company stand out at your next tradeshow event. From banners to brochures to fun giveaways, we are your one-stop shop for creating a top notch trade show package that will ensure your success!