If you’re willing to invest the time and money into trade show appearances, your business will benefit in numerous ways. This is because trade shows are a great environment for generating sales, learning from the competition, building connections with companies, and more.
With that said, these benefits can only be experienced if you know what you’re doing. Running your business successfully is one thing. Running a successful trade show is an entirely different story. Get it wrong, and it’s time wave goodbye to a massive chunk of your marketing budget and time.
To avoid any pitfalls and come out on top, here are three vital mistakes to avoid when setting up a trade show display.
1. Failing to have a set goal
Surprisingly enough, business owners will often rock up to a trade show without a set goal or strategy. They will arrive, arrange their display, and think, ‘This is an easy way to get my brand out there to the public.’ It is an easy way to promote your business, that’s true, but is that all you want from the trade show? Will you not even bother measuring its success?
If you answered ‘No’ to both questions, you’re on the right lines. It’s important to have something to aim towards. Whether this is generating ten new leads or selling 50 products, this goal will provide you with a greater focus. Even if you fail to reach the set target, don’t let it get you down. Learn from it, correct what you feel went wrong, and attempt to be more successful next time.
2. Getting the wrong people for the job
What does this mean exactly? Well, the trade show booth will be manned by people representing your business. While it is possible to do this alone, you’d be stretching yourself thin and leaving plenty of money – and connections – on the table as a result.
First things first, don’t go cheap when choosing people to operate your booth. That means avoiding temps or interns. Go for people who are passionate about your business and can comfortably convey your message. Due to the face-to-face nature of trade shows, the personnel hired for the job should also be charming and comfortable approaching people.
3. A drab, unprofessional display
As far as trade show displays are concerned, these can make or break your efforts. The reason for this is simple: the display is your first impression. As the saying goes, you only have one chance to make such an impression.
If any potential customers come across a display that is cheap, boring, and vague in its message, they’re not going to stop and chat. Instead, they will move on until they find a booth that grabs their attention. Plus remember: a trade show features many different businesses, and this means there’s lots of competition.
To solve this possible issue, set a budget aside for a professional display. It should be vibrant and fun. Then once people are drawn in by these characteristics, they need to receive your message loud and clear.
