If your company is fresh on the market, or you’re going to introduce it to the world, you might be thinking about attending a trade show. A trade show is a brilliant way to get the attention of potential investors and get your business noticed before it opens. But, you need to make the right decisions when attending a trade show. Otherwise, it can just be a big waste of time and money. Don’t forget you will need to spend some cash when attending a trade show. That’s why my first little tip is this.
Book In Advance
If you want to save a space and save some cash, it’s important to book your tradeshow appearance a year in advance. This might mean that booking a tradeshow appearance is one of the first decisions you make about your new business. But there is nothing wrong with that. It just shows that you have a lot of well-placed confidence in your new business. This will also give you a lot of time to plan your appearance and make the best first impression possible.
Use Social Media
In the build up to your tradeshow appearance, you should be using social media effectively. You should be thinking about how you can entice people that will be attending the show as well as also generate some support online. It’s possible that by doing this you might attract some early interest. A lot of trade shows and events create and use special hashtags for attendees to follow what is going on. You should also use the same hashtag in your social media marketing so that you are part of the overall conversation. You may want to think about using more SEO in the months leading up to the trade show date.
Design Your Booth
Your trade show booth is what you are going to use to catch the attention of attendees. It needs to be interesting, exciting and imaginative. Have a look at some example booth displays at NormadicDisplay.com to see what we mean. Remember, if you can design a stall that attracts people to you then you can focus more on your pitch.
But an extra tip is to start marketing early. In the weeks leading up to the tradeshow, you will often find billboard space for sale around transport links or the trade show site. If you buy some of these, you can let people see your product, service, or company before they reach the event. It’s a great way to get ahead of the competition.
Make It Unique
Don’t forget that when attending a trade show it’s always a good idea to give the attendees something original to remember you by. This could be the design of your stall or something you can offer them that others can’t. You may want to invest in personalized merchandise. The design of this can often be done online, and you can also buy items in bulk to help reduce costs. It’s something that you can give to attendees to help them remember your company when considering all the possibilities being offered to them.
Got A Bite?
Don’t forget to follow up with people after a trade show. The attendees at trade shows tend to be your target audience so don’t be shy about making a phone call or sending off an email afterwards. If you talk to someone at a trade show make notes about the conversation so that when you follow up with them you have a starting point or a reminder of what was discussed.
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